A/N: Sorry for the delay! I have the next chapter just about ready for editing, and then there ought to be one more after that. Thank you all for your love and reviews!

-11-

"Nearly ready, Bren?" Hermione shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yep! Coming!" came the muffled cry. A few seconds later, the boy appeared with a bulky bag tossed over his shoulder. "I didn't know which toys I wanted to bring."

"So you brought them all?"

"Not all. Just a lot. In case I need them."

Hearing a loud snort behind her, the witch turned around to see Severus smirking from the armchair. When his lips parted, she held up one finger in warning. "Don't you dare say it."

Brendan looked up at his mother in confusion and then to his father. "Say what?"

"Nothing," she intoned, steering her son toward the center of the room.

"Say what?" he repeated.

"Just that you are your mother's son," Snape explained, earning an eye roll from the woman in question.

"Oh." The boy frowned and looked up at his mum. "But I am, right?"

"Absolutely," Hermione smiled, ruffling his hair. "Your father is just teasing me, because I used to do the same thing with books."

"You do like books!"

"I do, yes," she sighed before raising her eyes to meet her lover's. "Are you ready to go?"

Snape exhaled deeply as he pushed out of his seat, using his cane to steady him. The pain had remarkably diminished, but the stiffness the Healer had explained would fade with time still remained. "Not exactly, but don't let that hold us up."

"Severus," she murmured, touching his chest. "It's going to be alright. You'll see."

"Yes, well... just promise me you won't do anything that could see you sent away," he replied, slipping one arm about her waist.

Hermione arched an eyebrow. "I don't believe you have anything to worry about."

"Not if you promise to leave the Minister's anatomy intact."

Smiling, she pressed her forehead against his sternum and then kissed the underside of his chin. "I promise. I shall keep my assault entirely verbal."

"Hermione," he protested, cupping the back of her head with his other hand. "I just got you back; I can't lose you again."

"You won't. I just... after... what they did to you-"

"It isn't worth it," Snape whispered into her hair.

"Are we gonna go or not?" Brendan whined, impatiently smacking his bag of toys against the sofa.

His parents both snorted quietly before pulling away from each other. Hermione extended her hand toward the boy, who jumped forward to take it before holding out the hand holding his toys to his father. The tall wizard felt a small smile creep outwards as he took the bag, slipping the drawstring over his wrist, and then wrapped his long fingers over his son's.

Beaming, Hermione squeezed her boy's hand, slipped her arm around Severus, and then prepared to disapparate. A second later, they appeared with a loud pop on the front stoop of 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Ready?" she asked. As the Slytherin stiffened and tightened his grip on his cane, she placed one hand on Brendan's head and then knocked on the door.

Within the matter of a few seconds, the door was pulled open to reveal Harry's smiling face. "Professor, Hermione, Bren - hello! Come in, come in! So far it's just us, Andromeda, and the Weasleys, but the others should be here soon."

"How many Weasleys?" Severus grumbled under his breath, causing Hermione to snicker as she steered their son into the house.

"It's just easier not to count, sir," Harry replied good-naturedly as he closed the door behind them.

"Yes," the former spy sneered as he glanced about the entryway, "double digits can be tricky."

The witch laughed once and turned back to see her best friend rolling his eyes.

"I don't know how we've ever gotten by without your guidance, sir."

"Miracles do happen," Snape replied, meeting her gaze briefly before frowning up at the uncovered portrait of Walburga Black. "For instance, she seems inexplicably silent."

"Took me a few years, but I figured it out," a new voice explained. "Isn't that right, Wally?"

Severus followed the portrait's death glare to see George Weasley leaning against the end of the staircase. He swallowed heavily upon seeing the odd scarring on the left side of the ginger wizard's head where an ear should be.

"A couple of simple charms we developed for some of our sweets, gave them a conditional trigger, and used the typical portrait spells for the base," George explained, stepping forward. "Long story, short: she says anything foul, bubbles spill out of her mouth, her hair turns bright purple, and she farts feathers. Took her a few tries, but she came around."

He patted the frame playfully. "Such a sweet, ol' gal now, aren't you?"

Mrs. Black scowled darkly and readjusted herself in her seat.

"Professor," George greeted, holding out his hand. "It's good to see you again. When Gin told me this morning, I could scarcely believe my ear."

Snape grimaced as he shook hands and then cleared his throat. "I... am sorry."

The younger man smirked and briefly touched the side of his head. "No worries, Professor. At least now Mum can't tell me I'm supposed to listen twice as often as I speak. Oh, and of course, chicks dig scars."

"Gross!"

"Gross, he says!" George chuckled, grabbing Brendan about the waist and quickly spun him in a circle. Setting the boy down again, he tapped him on the nose. "Just how do you think you got here, little man?"

As a slight flush appeared on Severus's face, Hermione stepped forward, seizing her son's hand and giving George's shoulder a hard shove. "Not funny."

"We app'rated!" Brendan declared loudly. "That's how we got here."

"Indeed," his mother agreed, fixing George with a glare when he giggled.

Severus cleared his throat as he prepared to follow his family down the corridor. "You got lucky, Weasley."

"It seems you have as well, Professor," the ginger-haired wizard returned with a waggle of his eyebrows.

The Slytherin opened his mouth to snarl, but caught Hermione's gaze when she glanced over her shoulder. His eyes dropped briefly to the swell of her blue jean clad bottom as she led their son into the library, and his lips upturned into a slight smile. "So I have."

Ignoring whatever undoubtedly-inappropriate comment Weasley had to offer, Severus stiffly made his way down the narrow corridor, but slowed down considerably as he neared the library door. George may have forgiven him, but he could not see how Arthur and Molly could ever do the same. If anyone had disfigured his son – or had allowed him to be treated as cruelly as Ginevra had been during his reign at Hogwarts – he would find it exceptionally difficult to not kill them, let alone forgive them.

Or Andromeda, who had lost both her daughter and her husband, and had to watch her grandson grow up parentless. He had not knowingly contributed to any of their deaths, but the fact still remained that he had been given a chance at happiness when they had not. His son would now have both parents to care for him, while her grandson would have neither.

A small hand touched his, and Severus looked down to see his son attempting to tug him forward. Snorting under his breath, he knelt down and pulled the boy closer. He was not as certain about how the day would turn out as Hermione appeared to be, but he knew with all certainty that he did not want his son to fear him. "Brendan, whatever happens… whatever you may hear… I love you, and I love your mother, more than anything in this world. You will remember that, won't you?"

"Yeah."

"If I tell you to go upstairs, will you do so immediately?"

Brendan frowned in confusion, but gave a decisive nod.

"Good lad," Snape murmured before standing. He continued to hold on to the child's hand. "Lead on, then."

"Hermione, dear, you don't need to lurk in the doorway," Molly stated warmly as she looked up from the knitting in her lap. Her husband sat beside her on the sofa, reading the paper, while Andromeda chatted amiably with Ginny, who was holding little James on her hip.

"Come and sit!" The elder witch patted the empty cushion beside her before spotting the tall wizard entering the room behind Hermione. "Oh, have you brought someone? I didn't realize you were seeing any…one. Oh, my… heavens and stars… Arthur!"

Hermione grinned widely as she watched Molly slowly stand, forgetting her knitting, which fell to the floor in a tangle. Blinking several times, she gaped at the doorway and reached behind her to slap her husband's shoulder.

"Arthur! Arthur!"

Arthur Weasley glanced up at her in concern and then looked to where she was pointing. His eyes widened with surprise, and his rumpled paper quickly joined his wife's knitting on the floor as he rose to his feet. "Merlin's beard!"

A loud gasp emanated from Andromeda, while Ginny failed to hide a smile as she met Hermione's gaze.

"Granma! Granpa!" Brendan puffed out his chest and held up the hand that was attached to his father. "Daddy came back!"

"I see that," Arthur smiled, stepping past his shocked wife. Patting the boy's head, he cleared his throat and held out his hand. "Severus Snape, as I live and breathe. I must say I never expected this."

"Nor did I," the younger wizard replied gruffly. He nervously looked around the room before returning his eye to the man in front of him. "I hear that I have you and Mrs. Weasley to thank for –"

"Oh, nonsense!" Molly cried, shoving her husband out of the way to force a motherly hug on the unsuspecting wizard. "You helped protect my babies; it was only fair to return the favor."

"Well, I…"

"Ohhh!" Molly tightened her embrace.

Hermione watched him stiffly receive their greetings until she poked her head out into the hallway at the sound of the front door opening. She had wondered if it was Kingsley, but when it only turned out to be another round of Weasleys, she relaxed for the moment.

"Heya, Mione!" Ron exclaimed as he attempted to pry Victoire from one of his legs. He looked behind him for assistance, but found none. Bill was engrossed in conversation with George and Harry, while Fleur was busy fetching the articles of winter clothing that little Dominique was eagerly tossing about the entryway. With a shake of his head, the man decided to struggle onward, hauling the giggling blonde girl with him.

"There seems to be a strange growth on your leg," Hermione teased.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Getting heavier by the minute, too."

"Oh, Ronald!" Molly called out upon seeing her youngest son. "Look who it is!"

As Severus turned to cast an uncomfortable look at his witch, Ron came to a sudden standstill. Disappointed, his niece tugged impatiently at his knee, nearly causing him to lose his balance while his eyes bugged out of his head. "Snape?!"

"Professor Snape," Ginny commented cheekily.

Ignoring his sister, the wizard shook his head in disbelief. "Holy… you're alive? You're fucking alive!"

"Ronald!" Hermione snapped, gesturing toward the two children nearest them. Across the room, Ginny placed a hand over James's head and glared.

"You said a bad word," Brendan giggled, leaning back against his father's hip.

"Yes, I did," the redhead winced, rubbing his face. "And you should never say it until you're old enough to not have to do everything your mother tells you."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley," Molly hissed, while Hermione smacked his arm.

Brendan cocked his head. "How old is that?"

"When you're forty-five," Severus replied automatically, squeezing his son's shoulder.

"Is that how old you are?" the boy asked, looking up at him.

Realizing that it was, in fact, his exact age, the former spy grimaced and sheepishly glanced at Hermione. When she returned his gaze with a reassuring smile, he took in a more confident breath. "It is."

Brendan spun around so that he was facing his tall father. "So you don't hafta do everything your mum tells you anymore?"

Given the fact that the majority of instructions Eileen Snape nee Prince had given him had to do with keeping his mouth shut, his head down, and keeping out of the house as much as possible, he could easily answer in the affirmative. At the same time, however, he could feel several pairs of eyes staring intently at his person. "I do not, but that's only because now I do everything your mother tells me."

A number of chuckles filled the air, and Hermione blushed fiercely as she stepped out of the way so that Bill and Fleur could enter the library. She grinned at Severus before he was distracted by their exclamations of surprise, and then returned her attention to the front door that had again opened.

"Oh, good morning, Hermione," McGonagall called, while Poppy nodded from behind her. "Are you waiting for someone in particular?"

The young woman nodded her head. "Kingsley. I need a word with him."

"You mean to tell me that he isn't here yet? He demands we all be here on short notice and yet isn't on time himself. I had to reschedule a meeting with the Board of Governors for this!" Minerva shook her head in frustration as she strode into the library. Upon noticing the dark-haired man surrounded by Weasleys, she raised her eyebrows in confusion and then completely froze.

The chatter of those gathered almost immediately died away, and all of the Weasleys drifted toward the edges of the room. All of the room's occupants over the age of seven knew that the last time the two former colleagues had seen each other was when they had squared off against each other in the Great Hall. Several of them had personally witnessed him deflecting each of her nasty strikes before fleeing the castle to the sound of her screaming about his cowardice.

"You," she stated sharply before taking a few cautious steps forward.

Severus swallowed nervously and gently steered his son behind him to stand with his honorary grandparents. Praying that the stern witch would keep in mind that there were small children present, he took in a slow breath and cleared his throat. "Minerva…"

"Severus Snape."

There was a hard edge to her voice, and he ducked his eyes to avoid seeing the anger and betrayal he knew was held within hers. He remembered perfectly well how angry she had been with him during the year he had served as Headmaster. She had undermined him at every turn, and if it had not been for her concern for the welfare of her students, he was entirely certain she would have challenged him far sooner than she did.

It seemed that everyone held their breath, and Hermione bit down on her bottom lip as she watched the current Headmistress continued to approach him at an almost glacial pace. Her earlier confidence that everything would be alright had deflated somewhat, and she was starting to grow concerned that Minerva had more unresolved anger that she had not admitted to in the past seven years.

"Minerva," the wizard tried again. "I am sorry –"

"You son-of-a-bitch," McGonagall whispered before suddenly launching forward and throwing her arms about his neck. As the tension in the room dissipated, tears were evident in the woman's eyes as she squeezed him tighter. "Gods, why didn't you tell me? Everything I did… everything I said to you… I am so bloody sorry, Severus! If I had only known…"

Snape hesitantly returned the embrace and glanced over her head to where Hermione stood in the doorway with her hands covering her mouth. When she lowered her hands and gave him a teary smile, he closed his eyes and relaxed in Minerva's grasp. "I'm sorry I couldn't. You weren't supposed to know. You did exactly as you needed to."

The elder woman sniffled and pulled back to look up at him. Touching his cheek with one hand, she smiled as much as her tears allowed her to do. "Am I ever so glad to see you again, Severus. I've tried so hard to get your bloody portrait to wake up so I could apologize, and… but where have you been?"

The wizard grimaced. "I believe that that is a conversation that is best had when not in front of children."

"Oh," she gasped, stepping back and glancing about at the silent room. "Oh, of course."

As Madam Pomfrey stepped up to give a similarly warm embrace, Hermione pulled her eyes away at the sound of a loud knock on the door. Harry and George stopped their conversation to open the door, and when a familiar bald head appeared in her line of sight, her face hardened into a glare. Without glancing back at the library, she folded her arms to her chest and forcefully strode down the hallway.

"Oh, Hermione!" Minister Shacklebolt greeted. "Good morn—"

"Kitchen," she snapped, pointing down the narrow staircase. "Now."