A/N: This chapter is currently unbeta'd (I haven't even reread it all in one sitting, so an edited version will replace this one in the near future. I was anxious to update... :)

Chapter 11: Milestones

She was already awake when his eyes opened, about a foot away from him on the bed. She'd kicked the covers off her legs at some point, leaving her in just a long-sleeved onesie and a sock, as she'd tugged off her other one. Her good mood indicated that she'd slept well, and she was radiating infectious contentment, making him smile slightly as he watched her play. She'd been discovering her body recently and it seemed that her toes were her newest source of study. Tiny fingers managed to get a firm grip on her remaining sock, and she made a gurgly triumphant sound when she tugged that one off too.

"Well done," he said quietly, his voice still rough with sleep.

Roslyn startled, but not on the level that would indicate he'd truly scared her, just surprised her, and the way her sweet face brightened and morphed into a stunning smile caused his chest to stir with warmth.

"Dada!" She cooed cheerfully.

"Good morning, my Rosie."

She made another one of her happy rolling gurgles of pleasure and he chuckled as he pulled her close. "You slept well, hm? Hungry?"

She nodded, rolling onto her stomach so she could push herself forward and pressed her nose — her entire face, really — against his. He snorted softly and kissed her cheek.

"Affectionate thing," he said, and wrapped his arms around her as he lifted them both of bed.

He grabbed his wand from the nightstand and cast a silent spell to put him in casual muggle day clothes. Roslyn's didn't seem to need a diaper change yet, as she was usually quick to ask for one, and her onesie was clean enough for her to wear for now.

The elves had already set out a fresh pot of tea and an empty sippy cup, to Roslyn's delight. He made her tea first, spelled it to a drinkable temperature, and out of pure laziness, let her sit atop the table. She was right in front of him and had no chance of even getting close to one of the edges without him noticing, but it still made him somewhat nervous to have her on such a high surface, even if he was the one watching her.

"Should I even bother trying to get you to eat cereal?" He asked her blandly.

The steady squeak of her sucking her sippy cup paused briefly and one of her small, dark eyebrows twitched up, though it didn't stay. With practice, he was certain she'd give him a run for his galleons.

His lips twitched. "Alright then. Stubborn girl."

She blinked at him, eyebrow twitching again.

"Clever little monster," he said without heat.

She smiled around her sippy cup and fluttered her lashes a bit before she resumed sucking down her tea. He was glad he'd watered it down a touch. She would be a nightmare at nap time if he hadn't.

Salazar help him once she could talk and use those charms more effectively.

Topaz appeared with a soft pop, asking Severus what he and Roslyn would like for breakfast, and after dropping a kiss atop Roslyn's head, vanished to relay her orders to the kitchen.

Roslyn hadn't quite figured out how to laugh yet, not fully at least. Sometimes she'd give the smallest giggle, like she had for Topaz, and usually did for Severus, but usually she'd give a high, rolling trill of a gurgle if she found something really amusing. Theodore and Draco had belly laughed early, and Severus had witnessed the infectious result several times. He tried not to think on it too much, as Roslyn was very well ahead for her age in most aspects, but it would be nice, he thought, to hear her laugh.

Topaz returned with Severus' plate and a small bowl of bite sized bits of waffle for Roslyn. She fussed at him when he tried to feed her, making him sigh as he handed over her (ostentatious) fork. This had been a battle for the last few days and given that it always ended the same way, he didn't fight it. He wished, sometimes at least, that she wasn't quite so clever, that way she wouldn't get so frustrated when she couldn't do things...like use a fork with the same efficiency he did.

"Roslyn," he said gently when her irritation started to show. "You, my dear, aren't even six months old. Draco and Theo can use a fork as well as you, and they're older."

She frowned at him, then glowered at the fork in her hand before glancing at the (not-ridiculous) adult-sized fork in his.

"I have had far more practice with utensils, Roslyn," he said firmly, raising a brow at her. "Several years of practice, in fact."

She glared down at her fork again while he waited patiently for her to begrudgingly pass it to him so he could help her eat. He hadn't expected her lips to quiver or her eyes to tear up.

Internalizing a sigh, he pried the fork out of her hand and set her bowl aside so he could lift her off the table and settle her in his lap. She promptly hid her face in his neck with a frustrated whimper.

"Roslyn," he said gently. "My clever one, if you weren't able to do something Daddy thought you ought to be able to do, I would be sure to teach you. Just because you cannot do it now does not mean you won't learn as you grow." A stubborn grunt was her only response. "Come now, if you could do everything by yourself, what would I do all day?"

She shifted, peaking at him with one eye while keeping the rest of her face hidden against his shirt. He suppressed an amused snort.

"It's my job to take care of you. I can't exactly do that if you're taking care of yourself, can I?"

Her frown deepened, and he tried to ignore how cute the expression was given the circumstances. She really did understand too much for her age, but it wasn't anything they could change, not that he cared to. He just had to help her learn to be patient with herself...not that he was qualified to teach anyone how to have patience in any capacity.

She sat up again, her tiny hands pressed against his chest while he held her around her torso, steadying her. He waiting to see what she would do. Sometimes when she was thoughtful, she'd figure out how to communicate with him, but usually it was a bit of a lost cause. She simply didn't have the vocabulary and motor skills to talk on his level.

Roslyn seemed to realize this, not for the first time, because aside from a few soft babbles, she deflated into a resigned sort of complacency. His chest ached uncomfortably.

"As much as you hate to be sticky," he began, gaining his morose infant's attention once again, "I know you're capable of eating with your hands."

She eyed her bowl of waffle bits with trepidation.

"I'll clean you up the moment you're finished," he swore, setting her back up on the table.

After he rolled up her sleeves a bit, she hesitantly pinched pieces of food in her fingers and brought them to her mouth, content with the little bit of independence she garnered. She was very offended by the stickiness of the syrup however, but with a quick, gentle Scourgify, she was set back to rights.

Severus eyed her as he took a long sip of his tea, her dark emerald eyes glinting at his as she picked her sippy cup up again, and proceeded to mimic his stare.

He almost choked, sputtering out a surprised bark of laughter, and it took him a moment to realize that Roslyn was letting out bright laughter of her own.

Proper, bubbly, infectious laughter.

"Find that funny did you?" He asked, gently poking her ribs.

She laughed harder, swaying enough from the force that he reached out a hand to steady her even as he found himself unable to stop laughing right alongside her.

"Dada," she managed to say a few moments later, making it sound like a playful admonishment even though her twinkling eyes told another story.

He chuckled and stood, lifting her up off the table as she pressed her face into his shirt. His lips found the downy soft, inky hair atop her head.

It was mornings like these where, for a little while, he could forget about the world outside Prince Manor and, if only for a moment, the mark burned into his arm.

There were few things Severus preferred to do the muggle way. Magic was typically more convenient for errands and shopping, but recently he'd felt driven to do something without magic.

It was likely not a coincidence that each instance where he found himself resorting to muggle methods directly correlated to a bonding experience with Roslyn. And Roslyn seemed to enjoy their little outings so much that he kept looking for reasons yo have them.

So, after conferring with his elves to avoid offending the notorious grudge-wielding creatures, Severus and Roslyn floo'd to Spinner's End. There was a grocery store he'd sometimes accompanied his mother to as a child and he knew the walk to be short.

Still, he'd put Roslyn in one of her thickest footed onesies and a wool beanie made from the finest and softest bulky yarn Narcissa Malfoy could find. Each time Roslyn wore it he got the enjoy the mental image of Cissa taking the time to learn knitting of all things, but Roslyn was so enamored with all her little gifts that he couldn't bring himself to ask the witch to show restraint.

It helped that Roslyn's was so obviously pleased with her growing collection of head bands and ear warmers. Especially since Narcissa had branched out to include crochet in her new hobby, meaning Roslyn's accessories now featured sewed on snowflakes and roses.

He cast a quick silent set of glamours over Roslyn just in case something startled her enough for her hair and eyes to change color before they left Spinner's End. The walk to the grocery store took less than ten minutes, which he spent responding to Roslyn's soft coos and babbles. Lately she'd sometimes been able to convey some of her feelings to him, just not verbally. He assumed she was just influencing the magic in his parenting watch, because without looking at it he would know what the emotion hand said or the need hand. It was…certainly convenient for when his arms were full, usually with Roslyn, and he couldn't easily look at his watch, but the level of intent behind her displays of magic was…startling. Amazing, surely, and it made him more than proud of the clever little monster, but he worried she might get too comfortable with such displays in the future.

At least for now her magical displays weren't visual in nature.

Roslyn let out an excited trill from the back of her throat as they passed through the automatic doors, drawing an amused smirk from her father as he selected a cart. A silent, wandless scrougify was cast on every surface within reach before he gently put first Roslyn's blankets, then her, in the front of the cart.

She kicked her feet and blew quiet raspberries when he started to push the cart, pulling a chuckle from him.

"Enjoying yourself?" He asked her.

Another trilling giggle was his answer and he smiled as he guided them towards the only sane region of the store to begin their trip – The cereal and tea aisle.

He ended up getting a box of strawberry oatmeal in the hope that Roslyn would like it better than Cheerios. He got more Earl Grey and variety pack of fruity herbal teas for Roslyn to try, smirking after he handed her the box and she made soft noises of awed appreciation at the colorful sketches on the packaging.

Severus had been debating the validity of several branches of muggle science and medicine with Narcissa and Theron when they got together for 'playdates,' causing him to pause at the snack pack juices and milks in the next aisle. Whether they wanted to believe him or not, cow's milk was not actually meant to be ingested by humans, meaning it was an unnecessary strain on their children's sensitive digestive systems to give them large amounts of standard dairy products. How much gloating could he get away with, he wondered, if he could get Roslyn to try vanilla and chocolate almond milk and see if her behavior changed enough to make his point.

Enough to warrant investing in the somewhat overpriced single serving cartons, probably.

Roslyn made the sign for milk when he grabbed a pack of each flavor from the shelves and he kissed her hair. "Yes, my clever little monster. Those are milk. Well done."

She trilled a raspberry at him in, what he assumed, was pride for her astuteness.

They continued through the store at a leisurely pace, allowing Severus to point out familiar items to Roslyn and introduce her to new ones. A moment of weakness led to Oreo's and cookies n' cream ice cream finding their way into the cart as well. Judging by the steadfastness of Roslyn's curious gaze trained upon the package of cookies, he knew he'd have to share them with her. He'd dip them in vanilla almond milk to soften them enough for her to enjoy as well.

He needed more protein items for her though. She'd been rebelling against purees for almost as long as she'd been eating solids and she just didn't have enough teeth to safely eat tough meats. He could get her to try eggs, perhaps, but he wasn't letting her anywhere near peanut butter until she could communicate much more effectively with him than she could now, in the event that she had an allergy.

Eggs were good, but she'd tire of them quickly. Bacon she ate with no protest — go figure — but it wasn't something he let her eat a lot of and wasn't a sufficient source for her dietary needs. She hardly ate many vegetables, not that he could blame her. He didn't like them by themselves either. Perhaps he'd ask the elves to make a pot roast this week? She'd probably eat carrots and potatoes then, and if the roast was tender he could feed her small bites of it…

Severus came up with a few other meal ideas to talk to Topaz about, all of which he knew made him enjoy vegetables and provided a decent balance of food groups, as their shopping excursion came to an end. For now, he had enough things for Roslyn to snack on over the next several days, which was all he needed to be content with their trip.

The smile Roslyn graced him with when he picked her up after discretely casting weightlessness charms on their groceries, however, solidified his plan to make similar outings a common occurrence for him and his little one.


Severus shifted slightly while being careful not jostle Roslyn, who was laying against his chest, asleep. Theron and Narcissa were across from him, taking up each side of his couch in the main drawing room at Prince Manor. Little Theodore was quietly sitting with his back against Theron's chest with a teething ring, fighting sleep even though every time he blinked it seemed to get more difficult for him to open his eyes again while Draco was hidden under a thin blanket in Narcissa's arms. Judging y the slight frown Narcissa's lips made every time she glanced down at him, Severus could only assume he had, to his mother's annoyance, continued his recent (much complained about) trend of being too stubborn to stop feeding long after he'd fallen asleep. While he empathized with Narcissa, Severus couldn't help but find the situation humorous. Theron felt the same apparently, because he caught one of her frowns and quietly asked her if Draco took after his father more than she'd prefer.

Only the presence of his sleeping child kept Severus from laughing loudly at the indignant flush that rose to Narcissa's cheeks. "So crass," she muttered. "Don't be a prat, Theron. Theodore's bottle fed, you wouldn't understand."

"I'm teasing," Theron promised. "Though that's more of an insult to your husband, insinuating that he has the self control of an infant."

Severus snorted softly. "It's excusable behavior for a breastfed child to have an emotional and physical attachment to his mother that intimately. What's Malfoy's excuse?"

Narcissa studied her nails briefly, seeming to ignore the other two. "Good question, but I have a better one." After successfully regaining their attention, she continued, "Why didn't Orion keep tabs on Aschere? I'd have someone shadowing Draco constantly if I had to hide him away for his own protection. Even once he was school aged and after he graduated. Why was she ever out of his sight?"

Severus sighed quietly. "The Seer told them no contact. He wasn't going to risk semantics and get her killed."

"And Sirius doesn't know?" Asked Theron.

Severus shook his head. "Nor may he until the other spy is disposed of."

With a nod, Theron said, "Everytime I think I'm getting closer I hit a brick wall. I'll let you know when that starts to change. The Dark Lord has carefully Obliviated people who have interacted with the other informant, but he's arrogant. He'll get lazy and sloppy eventually."

"I'm in no rush to start joining Order meetings," Severus said dryly. "And the less people who know Roslyn's true lineage, the better."

Narcissa and Theron agreed, switching the conversation to less stressful topics while the children continued their nap.


Regulus and Severus both tensed, gaining Roslyn and Orion's attention even though neither made a sound.

"Go," Orion said sharply. "If Roslyn gets anxious being here without you I'll floo to Malfoy Manor and stay with her there, Severus."

Though he didn't like the idea of Roslyn staying with Orion without him, Severus knew she'd gotten very comfortable with both Black's in the last few weeks, limiting his displeasure to a resigned frown. He stood, crouched beside Roslyn where she sat on the drawing room floor with her grandfather, and kissed her cheek.

"Daddy will be back in a while," he told her. "Be good for your Poppy, alright?"

Roslyn whined and shifted onto her knees to wrap her arms around his neck. Her attempts to tug him beside her and keep him there made his chest ache. He kissed her cheek again and hugged her back.

"I love you," he said quietly. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

Her lip was quivering when he gently pulled her arms away, but she let him go, thankfully not crying, but her lips were drawn into a firm, heartbreaking pout as he stood up again. He and Regulus apparated away before he could see the tears fill Roslyn's eyes, and she turned her pitiful gaze to her grandfather.

"Mine," she said softly.

Orion sighed and pulled her up into his lap for a cuddle. "They both are, sweet girl. Please don't fret. They'll be back before you know it."

He was wrong. Roslyn had long since fallen asleep for the evening when Severus appeared half dragging Regulus to the couch. Orion recognized the effects of the Cruciatus in his son instantly, causing his grip on Roslyn's peacefully slumbing form to tighten protectively as he cursed Tom Riddle a thousand times over in his head.

"He didn't get the worst of it," Severus said quietly, his voice sounding off. "He did get blasted across the room first though. Took the wind out of him. He might have a slight concussion as well."

"I'll take care of him," said Orion. "Trade."

Severus took Roslyn's sleeping form with shaking hands and tucked her against his chest in a way Orion had only seen one other time, when Roslyn had been trying to stand upright with the help of a side table. She had stumbled, panicked, and fallen backwards onto the floor. She'd had a slight knot on her head from hitting the floor, quickly remedied by her father's wand, and had been otherwise unharmed, but frightened. Just like Severus had been.

"I think between the lot of us it's safe to say she's perfectly well protected," Orion said soothingly. "She was very anxious for your return, but played until she got tired. She understands more about the situation than I'd realized."

Severus gave him a tired, curious stare that prompted Orion to continue. "She said 'Mine' right after you two apparated, the exact same way her uncles would say it when they didn't want to share something." He shrugged. "Don't punish yourself for leaving when she didn't want you to. I think she knows you don't have a choice."

Discomfort prevented Severus from saying anything except, "Thank you for watching her."

Orion waved him off. "Don't thank me for spending time with my family, Severus. Run along. It's late. I imagine Regulus will drop by to see that one once he's well, assuming you don't bring her over again around that time."

Severus neither affirmed nor denied the idea before vanishing into the floo, but Orion knew that he was starting to realize Orion loved Roslyn just as much as he did.

The boy just needed more time to adjust.

After vanishing Regulus' Death Eater robes and levitating him up to bed, Orion allowed himself a bittersweet smile. Had Aschere grown out of her similarly distrusting temperament, he wondered, or had she simply seen a kindred spirit in Severus?

Did Severus know just how much he'd had in common with Roslyn's mother? Perhaps Orion would have the pleasure of watching the realization hit him as Roslyn grew. It would be an amusing situation, he was certain.


Roslyn was sitting between Theo and Draco, frowning as they fussed at each other and licking icing from her fingers. Boys were strange. Draco and Theo weren't always, but sometimes they'd yell like they could actually talk and she wasn't quite sure they realized that they couldn't understand each other. Their special 'play date' was no exception.

Today was a happy day apparently. At least, that's how Daddy, Uncle Theron, Auntie Cissa, and Uncle Lulu were acting. They were having a party for Theo, a birthday party, Daddy had said. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but Daddy said it was celebrating the day Theo was born, which almost made sense.

Did Theo remember being born? She'd have to ask Daddy when she could figure out how to say more words. Not being able to say lots of words was frustrating. She knew lots of words, but there were so many sounds and she couldn't make very many of them. Daddy liked it when she practiced the sounds she knew though, even if he didn't always understand what she wanted to say.

Theo and Draco kept shouting 'Mine!' at each other and Roslyn continued to frown. Her cake was all gone except for the crumbs too small for her to pick up. Theo and Draco still had cake. She wanted more cake.

She patted each both with sticky hands. Yucky.

They both turned to her and made sounds in much happier tones, though they glared at one another. Honestly. She couldn't exactly talk to or understand them either, but they still tried.

Slowly, as not to upset Theo by simply snatching it, which she had been informed recently was not a polite thing to do, Roslyn reached for his half full bowl of decimated cake and icing. She made her hands say 'all done,' unsure if Theo knew how to talk with his hands, but assumed that Theo's lack of protest meant she could do with his cake as she pleased. She repeated the process with Draco, who frowned at her before he grabbed another fistful of mostly-icing. She watched him before she pulled his bowl towards her lap, but he seemed satisfied with his loot-coated hand and didn't seem upset by her thievery.

She had lots of cake now.

The boys resumed making angry noises at each other, though she wasn't sure why, and Roslyn enjoyed their leftovers in silence. Occasionally, and purely out of a bored sort of curiosity, she'd glance over at the grownups. Daddy was smile-laughing like Uncle Theron and Uncle Lulu, but Auntie Cissa looked worried. When Roslyn got tired of watching the boys a second time, another person was sitting beside Daddy and her quickly depleting supply of cake was momentarily forgotten.

"Weg-gus!" She cried, as she quickly crawled between the boys towards the grownups, hurting her knees slightly in the process.

"Rosie," Uncle Regulus yelled back, making her smile. He was silly, and picked her up gently before pulling her into a warm hug. "How's my favorite niece?"

She offered him the smear of icing on her wrist as an answer, which he licked off. Laughing at him, she pointed to her bowls of cake and tried to convey that she was enjoying herself.

"That's quite a lot of cake for you, baby girl," he said, his voice as playful as his smile. "Is there enough for Uncle Reggie to have a bite or two?"

She nodded with a smile for emphasis, pleased when Reggie took her back to where she'd been sitting on the floor. This time she got to sit in his lap, which kept her pleasantly warm and comfortable.

It took much less cake than she'd expected to make her full, and Regulus polished off her left overs in two bites. Daddy rolled one of her bottles across the floor, which Regulus uncapped for her. The milk made the leftover icing in her mouth seem too sweet and she was glad to sip long enough for her mouth to be clean.

By then Theo and Draco had stopped yelling at each other, instead playing with toys while lying next to one another on the rug, and the milk had added to the warmth of being held by her uncle. Roslyn's eyes grew heavy.

She was dozing when soft fingers brushed over her head, almost too gentle to be noticed. She blinked her eyes open a little wider.

Mumma.

If Roslyn hadn't been so tired, she'd crawl to sit in Mummy's lap instead of Regulus'.

"Shh, My Rosie," she said quietly. "I'm just checking on you."

The only sound Roslyn could make without exerting effort by moving her bottle was a whimper, which drew both Regulus and Daddy's attention to her. They didn't see Mum, not that they ever had before.

"Rosie?" Regulus said quietly. "Honey?"

She blinked at Mummy, who leaned in to kiss her cheek. Roslyn tried to place how she smelled, sluggishly remembering that the scent was similar to when the elves made biscuits at home. Mummy smelled like home.

"I'll come see you again soon, baby," Mum promised.

And then she was gone.

Roslyn whimpered again. She didn't want Mum to go and she hadn't had enough time to say so.

Regulus standing up startled her slightly, if only because she hadn't expected him to, and she felt him kiss her other cheek. The next thing she knew, she was cold and cuddling Daddy.

"What's the matter, my little one?" He asked quietly.

She didn't know the hand word or the sounds for Mommy, so instead of trying to answer she just pressed her face into his neck where it was warm. Daddy smelled like home too.

Roslyn hardly noticed when he pried the bottle from her mouth and hands, but let out a quiet sigh when she felt him wrap her favorite blanket around her.

Daddy always knew what she wanted, even when she couldn't say it or didn't know it herself.

A/N: Hi all! Sorry this hasn't been getting updated regularly. This term has been killer, but hopefully I can wrap up a few other fics and bump Sev&Rosie higher on my priority list, non ;) Thanks for reading! xoxoxo