Chapter 9
Severus Snape returned at eight am as Hermione was drowsily waking up with an exuberant Rose ready to play with new birthday toys and have breakfast. Pulling her hair back, she took Rose down the stairs and saw that Ginny had brewed tea and made scones. She didn't expect to see Severus chatting with Harry at the end of the table. Rose ran over to Harry and hugged his leg, meeting James and Albus at the middle of the table where they had sticky buns and oatmeal for breakfast.
"How is it already morning?" Ginny chuckled, as Hermione poured her tea, feeling watched by the two in deep conversation. She took a seat across from Snape and next to Ginny, unable to function without her caffeine.
"Shacklebolt is sending us to Blythe before the end of the week, something about some recently sold items care of the Malfoys. Draco isn't involved, but Lucius is back under watch." Shop talk.
"Perhaps this time Kingsley will heed my warning and raid the entire manor, unannounced, he acts as though Lucius still has friends in the Ministry." Ron straggled through the door, the look of hangover written all over his face and slumped against the table. The Potters and Rose saw this as an opportune time to tickle him.
"Rose, Uncle Ron has a headache, eat your breakfast, we're going to Hogsmeade today." Hermione advised, her tiny girl stopping and furrowing her brow, her lip curled in a sneer as she sat to eat. Hermione locked eyes with Snape, who finally saw the look Hermione had mentioned the night before. Wordlessly, Hermione mimed, 'I told you.' And he nodded, his own mouth forming a master grin; it pleased him that Hermione was dealing with her own knowitall but with a Snape attitude.
"We're headed to the Burrow later today for games and tea, if you'd like to come." Ginny offered, ready to let James and Albus run free in the meadows around the house. Plus, Granny Weasley loved seeing her boys.
"Perhaps, I know I need to get Rose some new underoos and probably some shoes, so I might go to Hogsmeade and catch up with Minerva. She said she needed to speak with me about something with Professor Durden, the new Muggle Studies professor." Snape's attention turned to her, as though he had wanted to accompany or had something else in mind.
"Well stop by if you have a chance, I'm taking the boys so they can stay with Mum and Dad while I cover the Chudley Cannons this weekend."
"I'll make sure to owl if we can't make it. I don't want Molly to expect Rose and then not see her, I don't need a howler today." They laughed, sipping their tea and nibbling at their scones.
"So no one thinks it's weird that Snape is sitting here for breakfast. Just me? Alright!" Ron's voice broke their laughter, his tone nasty and rude. Hermione wasn't surprised at his behavior, least not when he had been drinking the night before.
"It's not weird at all, mate, he works with us at least every other mission." Harry reflected, and then pointed at Albus. "And my son bares his name, you know." Hermione was thankful to Harry for defending Snape, even if she herself hadn't been so knowledgeable about Snape working with them so often. No wonder it was hard to track him down.
"Well I still think it's weird and probably weird for her, too." Rose turned to look at Ron, who had never used a tone as such in her presence before. She stepped off her chair and walked to his side, putting her delicate hand on his arm and beckoned him to her.
"Are you sad, Uncle Won?" She asked, in her sweet voice, and Ron couldn't resist bringing her into a hug. Her soft curls cascaded across his arms as she tickled him again, so he kissed the top of her head and set her back down.
"I'm not sad, Rose, just not feeling well." Hermione wanted to thump him, but instead she reached out for Rose as she ran passed.
"Here's my sweet girl, come here and let me braid your hair before we get ready for the day." It dawned on Hermione that she did need to explain to Rose who Severus was, but she wanted him to take that task, to engage himself with her and begin building a relationship.
As she gently braided her hair, she caught Snape's eye again, a look of understanding crossing between them. As he and Harry needed their conversation, Snape came with her up the stairs.
"Would you like to accompany us?" She asked, but she could see the last thing Snape wanted to do was shop for underoos and shoes.
"If I must, but I think we should talk to her first, about me. She has to wonder who I am."
"She's pretty wonderful with strangers, but she is rather curious, and I agree she needs to know, especially what you want her to know you as." Snape looked a bit uncomfortable, but as Rose came through Hermione's bedroom door, he crouched down to her.
"I'd like her to know me as her father, say two years ago when she was born." But he wasn't being cruel, he was simply stating a fact. "But, as it is, I don't want to be a father like mine, I won't." His earnest answer surprised her
"Rose, come here." Hermione beckoned, Rose running over to Severus and hoping on his knee as best she could.
"What's your name?"
"Severus, Severus Snape and I'm your father, Rose." He answered, her hands now playing at the buttons of his shirtwaist.
"Like Albus?" He nodded, his heart beating rapidly against his chest; why was he so nervous? Had she heard at all that he said he was her father?
"Yes, just like your…" he looked to Hermione. What did she call James and Albus. "Cousin." Hermione interjected, watching Rose get more comfortable with Severus.
"Well, hello. Da like Uncle Harry?" She cheered and kissed his cheek and he nodded.
"Yes, dad like your Uncle Harry, but you can call me what you'd like, you know. My dad was called Pop, and your mum calls her dad, Daddy." Severus held her tightly to him and stood, pulling something from his breast pocket and showing it to her.
"Me?" Rose asked, looking at a picture of Eileen Snape.
"No, this is your grandmother, Eileen. She has the same eyes as you, see." Hermione peered over his shoulder and was shocked to see so much of Rose in Eileen.
"Pretty." Rose giggled, tracing the lines of Eileen's face and then Severus's. "Granny? I see her?"
"No, I'm sorry she is no longer here. But, I have more pictures I can show you. Here, look at this one." It was Snape as a child with Tobias and Eileen, such a look of optimism and wonder on his face.
"Boy? Is you?" Severus nodded, showing her the four pictures he had of him and his parents, the only ones he had with him before Tobias ruined their lives with alcoholism and Eileen wasted away.
"Granny Helen likes pie; you like pie?"
"Yes, my favorite is pumpkin."
"Me too! With cream." Rose showed Hermione the pictures and then hugged Severus tight and hopped down.
"I hope you have copies of those."
"Of course, but I thought it might help if she saw them."
"I'll put them in the frame by her bed." He took her hand and pulled her in for a kiss, tugging her pony tail slightly as he did.
"It's a small step, I don't want to overwhelm her." But Rose ran back in and out the pictures on Hermione's desk, carrying her little bag.
"It's a great start and you don't have to go shopping or to the Weasleys, it'll be a mundane 'domestic' day."
"Thank the gods. Besides, we still have much to discuss, like Weasley's that outburst this morning and this living situation." Rose tugged her pant leg, stopping Hermione from giving Snape the surprised look she couldn't avoid otherwise.
"Mummy, can we go?" Hermione nodded and took her little hand.
"I'll owl when we get back, okay?" But Severus stopped her.
"I'll just come back later, is that agreeable?" Hermione followed Rose down the stairs as Severus disapparated, catching Ron still at the table.
"Thanks for that." She smacked the back of his head as she walked by, but he didn't respond. She and Rose flooed into the Three Broomsticks shortly thereafter, but Minerva was too busy to meet that day so they shopped and then went to the Burrow where she was spoiled like her cousins and loved as family.
True to his word, Snape was waiting for Hermione when she returned, napping in her lounge chair as Rose ran through and hugged his leg.
"Look." Rose showed him her new shoes, stockings, and underoos. He was surprised at how easily she accepted him, even if he hadn't quite figured out what that meant or how he would adjust to fatherhood.
"Oh look, underoos. Those are for little girls to wear and not to show, Rose." Severus joked, pulling her onto his lap and tickling her sides.
"She's two." Hermione teased, taking Rose's bag to her room and calling Rose.
"I don't want a tart for a daughter, whether she's two or twenty." Hermione rolled her eyes and helped Rose change into her pajamas, rebraiding her hair and washing her face. Before getting her story, Rose waved to Severus and motioned him over.
"Pictures." Snape took the frame next to her bed and put the pictures in, transfiguring the spaces to fit them. He told her again who they were and then added, "and that's me when I was five, next to your grandmother Eileen, she loved to eat pies, too. This is your grandfather, Tobias, he did not like pies, in fact, he didn't like sweets at all, can you imagine?" She giggled, as his inflection changed; Hermione wondered what his classes would've been like had he actually joked with them every now and then.
"Mummy, tell me about dragon at Hagger's." It was Snape's turn to roll his eyes.
"Seriously?" He mouthed, but Hermione launched straight into the tail of Norbert's hatching, keeping Rose's full attention. When she'd gotten sleepy enough, Hermione kissed her and tucked her in as usual, but Rose refused to let her hand go.
"Mummy, don't let Alby and James in." Hermione charmed the door before charming the ceiling again and pushing her covers up again.
"They cannot come in, dearie, so it's time for rest, remember they are at Granny Weasleys. "
"Sevrus," she huffed and then said, "Da, kisses." He acquiesced, kissing her sweet cheeks and then her forehead, then followed Hermione into her bedroom.
"So, there were words we needed to share?" Hermione said, flopping on her bed, exhausted from a day of shopping and spending time with the Weasleys, always fun but so exhausting.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, what was that?" He asked, in one of her chairs, watching her as she propped herself up on her elbows.
"You know the story, he broke up with me because he couldn't handle what happened and as soon as I was cured, there he was, begging me to take him back, how stupid he was...but we're completely wrong for each other, whatever I saw in him at one time has been completely replaced by the same feelings I have for Harry, except not exactly, there's animosity there." It was harder for her to talk with her hands while she propped herself up.
"And now, he knows of course about you and me, at least so far as Rose, and he's being spiteful."
"Understandable, you'd be in therapy for the rest of your life if you married that one." She shyly smiled at him, sure he was right and feeling more tired by the moment.
"As for this housing arrangement, I'd thought about getting a flat before Yaxley hit me with that countercurse or whatever it was, but then Rose came and I was worried I'd mess her up terribly. I already helped with James so often, it just felt right to stay. And now it's all Rose has known." Her eyes closed for a second as she finished, then snapped open as he shifted in the seat, eyeing her as he had so many times before in a dark alleys or across a cobblestone street. He looked ravenous, like a hungry wolf eyeing his prey. It unnerved and excited her beyond measure.
"I want something more consistent." He said breathily out of nowhere, pulling her up against him as he crawled onto the bed, pulling her hair back and claiming her neck.
"Would you be agreeable to that?" He asked, his hands traveling her spine and then grasping her hips.
"What does that mean?" Her words escaped before she even knew she'd said them, but she didn't regret admitting that she wanted to know exactly what he meant.
"More...I've never thought I would have a child, actively tried not to for twenty-five years or more, but how could I not now that she's here, or at least real to me. And I know us, me, I won't be able to leave you alone if we are trading custody. But," he ran his index finger across her jawline, "that doesn't mean my predilections will change, I want to hurt you and I want you to enjoy it." Her eyes widened as he pulled her wrist behind her back, enough pressure to cause irritation, but not enough to harm her. His words excited her but at the same time, she worried: what if he decided in a month or more that it was all too much?
"I'm agreeable, but I will say, that regardless of me, if you choose to continue in Rose's life, please don't stop. She is tender-hearted, you've seen it, I don't want her heartbroken because her Da hasn't come to see her." Hermione fell into a sitting position as Snape moved behind her, massaging her shoulders, neck and head, his left hand dipping eventually below the neckline of her shirt and moved slowly in her bra, grasping her breast as he littered her neck with kisses.
"What can I do to assuage your fears, Hermione? I don't shirk responsibility and I always do what I say I will." Hermione looked at their reflection in her mirror, how she wanted him to truly mean what he was saying.
"You don't have to do anything but be in her life, Severus, it's all I ask of you." He paused, hearing the pain and hurt in her voice, as though at any moment she would cry. Turning her around to him, he pushed her face up to his.
"Give me more credit than that, you may not have before but I swear if you'd told me originally, things would've been remarkably different. How about this," he said, kissing her between words, "let's figure out a new living arrangement, you do so love York." Not to let her feel him too romantic, he bit her lip slightly as his last kiss fell on her mouth.
"When you think Rose is ready for that, I mean." He added and made Hermione's breath hitch, he actually wanted her to live with him.
"We're going to need strong locks, that one is more clever than you know and I don't want her walking in on you practically breaking my legs. But, you're right, in time. I don't want to rush you and have you hex me for slurping my tea." With that, he continued what he started and stayed the night, sleeping as he normally did with his body either enveloped around her, like a thermal blanket or completely on the edge of the bed, practically falling off.
When he finally woke, rubbed his eyes and rolled toward her, he saw Rose staring at him from across Hermione in the floor, so he beckoned her over and put her between them, snuggling her as she hugged Hermione.
"You're spoiling her already." Hermione grumbled, turning toward them and giving Rose kisses. He didn't reply, simply held Rose tight and the put his arm around both of them.
"Breakfast?" She asked, stretching as Rose rubbed her eyes and stood between them to jump off the bed.
"It's my turn to cook, so I'll see you downstairs, old man."
"Old man? I'll show you old man." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back into the bed, holding her down against the mattress and staring into her eyes. Her laugh filled the room as he nibbled her neck and she wrestled herself away.
"I like my tea with honey, you know." He added.
"The come make it, loaf." He paused momentarily, the weightless feeling of contentedness making it hard for him to leave the warmth of her bed.
Ron was silent that morning as they were the only three at the table, Ginny and Harry in Cornwall and Neville now secured at the Leaky Cauldron. Rose finished her breakfast first and went to the library to look at the books while Hermione cleaned and waited on either Snape or Ron to trade barbs. Finally, Ron spoke.
"So, you'll be living here now?" He prodded, taking the last sip of his English Breakfast.
"Although I have now been to breakfast two mornings in a row, that does not constitute an address change. Last I checked, I lived in York, in a flat across from the Mad Hatter and Livermore Lymes. Furthermore, unless Mr. Potter has something to say about the matter, I find that it's none of your business." Put in his place, Ron thought to challenge him again, but Rose wandered in with a book about the Second Wizarding War, in which they all figured prominently.
"Da!" She exclaimed, holding the book open and showing Severus his picture and chosen regarding his involvement. Although he had seen the book before, there was something about the idea of seeing it through a child's eyes.
"Mummy!" Rose flipped to the next page as Hermione came back through to get the rest of the breakfast dishes. There was a photograph of Severus in St. Mungos and a very young Hermione standing next to him, receiving an update on his condition. It worried her immediately that Snape would revert to his former feelings, that he'd rather died that day in the Shrieking Shack.
"Your Mum saved me from a huge snake, with large fangs and a nasty bite." Rose pointed to Severus's throat where he still had some scars, using two fingers to appear as flags. "Yes, and if she hadn't, I wouldn't be here." Rose clapped and took the book again, running back to the library.
"You weren't lying, she is clever." Ron snorted and left the room, obviously miffed that his attempted showdown had failed once more.
"Still angry with me?" She asked, referencing the antivenin and saving his life.
"Increasingly." But his kiss said otherwise.