Long-Awaited Talk
The first thing he noticed as he slowly regained consciousness was the roaring sound in his ears. It was nearly deafening to listen to it. He tried to open his eyes to ascertain where he was, but found that he was unable to do that. The familiar sterile scent hung in the air, so he knew he had to be in Hospital Wing. His face felt warm too, which made him guess that he was underneath one of the massive windows. Drawing in a steady breath, he relaxed as the roaring sound slowly retreated with the breath of fresh air. He then tried again to open his eyes, which he succeeded in after a few moments.
The long blond curls attached to the sleeping little girl on his chest made him smirk. His eyes darted around to see if he could find Aurora, but he didn't. In fact, he only saw Angel and himself in the Hospital Wing. He brought his hand slowly towards his daughter and gently pushed back her curls to look at her face. When her head soon came up, he smiled at her. She must've been sleeping rather well because she was blinking at him owlishly. His eyes then noticed her left arm.
"What happened here?" he asked, softly pointing at the wrap that surrounded her small arm. His eyes narrowed slightly on his little girl when she grinned widely at him. He couldn't see what she'd be smiling about with her being injured. He knew he wasn't happy about it.
"Madam Pomfrey says I broke my shoulder bone, both bones in my arm, a bone in my wrist, and my hand," she responded happily. She then tilted her head slightly when he clenched his teeth. "Daddy, it's okay," she said, gently resting her good hand against his chest. "She said that as long as I didn't whack it against anything or move it too much that I'd be as good as new." Her eyes then lit up with excitement before she bounced atop of him slightly as her news burst out of her. "Oh, and Grandpa gave me TWO chocolate frogs, TWO, Daddy, for not squirming when Madam Pomfrey healed me. He said I was a good little girl, and then you know what he gave me, Daddy?"
"Undoubtedly more sugar I'd say," Snape drawled as he gently wrapped an arm around her so she didn't fall off him accidently with all her bouncing and squirming she was doing on him.
"He gave me a lollipop that was this big," she said before spreading out her arms. However, she instantly cried out sharply before grabbing her left arm. "That was stupid," she said, sniffling slightly.
"Yes, it was," he replied back before kissing her forehead gently. "I still love you, though, Angel." He then watched her angrily wipe the small tears from her eyes before she smiled softly. "Why did Grandpa give you a lollipop?"
"Because I didn't cry when she cracked my bones," Angel quietly said, still sniffling.
"You didn't cry?" She nodded proudly, which made him sigh. He needed to fix this thought of hers before she turned it into a habit. He should have known that she'd take after him. He then brushed back another curl before gently cupping her chin so she stared directly at him. "Listen to me, my Angel. It's all right to cry. Daddy has even cried a few times when Madam Pomfrey's healed him."
"You have?" she asked with big brown eyes. "But I thought nothing could hurt you, Daddy, because you're big and strong and can scare anything."
"Yes, well, Madam Pomfrey is one witch that even Daddy can't scare," he replied before pressing a kiss to her forehead again. "But, Angel, listen to me. There's no reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed if you cry. No one's going to think any differently of you, and if they do, then I'll find them and scare them." He quietly chuckled when she giggled softly before she kissed his cheek.
"I love you, Daddy."
"I know," he replied with a soft smirk. "Where's your mother at?"
"She's still fighting with your mummy and her mummy and now Grandma. They're not very happy with you, Daddy. None of them is, but most specially Mummy. They were here a few hours ago, but Madam Pomfrey kicked them out, saying that this is a Hosp petal Wing not a Quit itch pitch."
He tried to hold back his chuckle. However, it slowly bubbled out of him. His chest shook gently as he chuckled at his little girl's words. He didn't usually laugh so much before, but she was so cute sometimes that he couldn't help it. Even with all the vast knowledge of the Elders in her, she still was his little girl who was a bit too cute at times.
"Good afternoon, Severus," Albus quietly said as he walked up to them. His blue eyes twinkled madly when he noticed Severus chuckling. "Has my granddaughter informed you of all my misdeeds while you were unavailable?"
"Oh, yes, she told me all about the two chocolate frogs and the lollipop that was this big," Snape replied, holding his hands a few feet apart.
"No, no, Daddy, it was this big," said Angel, spreading his arm out even farther.
"My apologies, this big," he responded with a chuckle. His eyes then glanced towards his mentor. "Perhaps it would be best if you didn't give my daughter so many sweets, Albus." He watched the older wizard incline his head slightly. "Well, did it work?"
"Oh, yes, it worked," said Albus thoughtfully. His blue eyes then briefly flickered over to Angel before resting back on Snape. Albus sighed softly. "The potion appears to have infused raw magic into the genes you received from your father. It altered the genes in such a way that it appears as if your father was in fact a wizard."
"How is that possible, Albus?"
"Well, I'm not sure if I know the exact details, Severus. However, from what I've gathered so far, magic from the potion infused with the genes you inherited from your father, causing a genetic mutation to result."
Holding his hand out slightly, Snape summoned a mirror. He stared at his reflection and noticed immediately that he didn't look any different. His raven hair was still shoulder length and had that healthy shine to it. As always, his eyes were black as night. His nose was still long and hooked. His face was even still pale, except for a dark bruise above his eyebrow. The mirror quickly vanished, and he glanced back to Albus.
"I am also shocked that it didn't change your appearance. I had thought that'd be a possibility with the mutation. However, it seems as if the raw magic that he infused into it was somewhat controlled by another of the ingredients. I am unsure of which one, though."
"Then I'm a pureblood?" quietly Snape asked. When he watched Albus nod, he deeply inhaled. It was what he had always wanted to be. At one point in his life, he gave himself the nickname of the half-blood Prince, honoring the magic he received from his mother. However, he would have given anything to be the pureblood Prince.
"I would not be so happy if I were you," Albus softly spoke. "I am under the impression that Aurora is quite upset with you for doing this."
"She has no reason to be angry with me, Albus."
"No? You do not see a reason for her being upset that you would not trust her judgment?"
"Albus, I trust her."
"She was willing to marry you and overlook the risk, Severus."
"She can still marry me, Albus. Risk just isn't involved anymore."
"My boy, she—"
"You're going to reiterate to me yet again that love conquers all, aren't you? I would think by now, Albus, you would understand that I have not had that much experience with love throughout my life. It is not in my nature to believe that fallacy of love conquering all. Love did not conquer Tobias and stop him from beating me. Love did not conquer the Dark Lord and stop him from murdering Lily. Love truly did not conquer the Shadow when it attacked me and left me defenseless. How then am I to believe that Aurora's love for me would conquer that disease in her? All of you were asking me to take a leap of faith, and I've taken so many of those throughout my life. Too many times, I ended up on my face. Too many times, I lost everything that I held dear to my heart. I will not lose her, Albus. I will NOT lose yet another woman that I love because of that erroneous belief, love conquers all," he growled.
"Severus—"
"Over the years, Albus, I have learned that love conquers nothing. Determination, however, does. My choice to take that potion was, yes, out of love, but it was more out of determination of finally having a life where I can truly be happy." He then glanced down at the little girl in his arms. "Twenty years ago if someone had told me that I'd have a daughter and a soon-to-be wife, I'd have laughed. For so long, I only wanted one thing." He then glanced up and caught the wizard's eyes. His mouth was dry, but he forced himself to continue. "If you had not manipulated me to protect Harry, I'd have had that one thing too." Glancing back at his daughter who was staring at him with her big brown eyes, he choked back his emotions. "And I-I would've missed out on all this," he said with a slight falter.
"Severus, your love for Lily conquered your wish for death. You cannot deny that."
"But my determination to make things right again was what finished everything," he replied.
"I believe an Elder was what finished everything, Severus," a soft voice spoke behind Albus.
"Aurora," Snape quietly said as he watched her slowly approach his bedside.
"Angel, sweetheart, can you go with Grandpa to the dungeons while Mummy and Daddy talk?"
"Mummy, please don't be mad with him. It was my idea."
"Somehow, darling, I doubt that," Aurora drawled. "But I promise not to hex your Daddy until after he's feeling better and can cast a shield."
"I love you, Daddy." Angel then kissed his cheek. "Just be good, and Mummy won't hex you," she whispered in his ear before hopping down and slowly walking away with Albus.
"It was not that I didn't believe you, Aurora."
"I know," she responded quietly before sitting on the edge of his cot. "You just didn't want to lose yet another woman you loved," she said, repeating his words verbatim. "A part of me should be happy, knowing that you're a pureblood now. However, there's that bigger part of me that just isn't." She then gently grabbed his hand. "I didn't want you to change who you were for me."
"I didn't do this for you. I did it for us and perhaps for me." He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "I've always wanted to be a pureblood. You needed me to be one. It was a strategic move, Aurora. You didn't tell me to change. You didn't make me change. I chose. I chose to drink it so that I could get what I want." He slowly sat up before tenderly resting a hand on her neck. "Do you know what that is, Aurora?"
"To be a pureblood because you've always been ashamed of whom you are," she answered.
"No. I mean, yes, I did want to be that, but my main reason is so that I may be your husband."
"We could have made this work, Severus, without you taking that potion."
"Yes, we probably could have. However, for the first time in my life, I wanted to play it safe. I cannot just think about myself anymore. I have to think about what's best for us, all of us. And taking that potion is what's best for all of us, Aurora. You told your mother that you wanted Angel to have a little brother or sister. If you truly will become what she claims, then we would have had an issue. This way at least I won't have to worry about losing you to some pureblood Slytherin."
"No. You just have to deal with me biting you."
"It isn't the first time you've done that to me, Aurora. Perhaps you've forgotten your fourth year of teaching here."
"That was different, Severus."
"You still bit me, though." He then gently kissed her before resting his forehead against hers. "I still want to marry you, Aurora. Does the same go for you?"
"Of course I still want to marry you," she replied with a slight huff. "But I know how you react with Remus. Are you going to look at me like that? Because there's not that much difference between a werewolf and vampire," she said.
"There is a very big difference between a vampire and a werewolf, Aurora."
"No. Really, Severus, there isn't. Remus can't help what he is, and neither can I. There's no cure for lycanthropy, and there's definitely no cure for vampirism. Well, there is one cure, death."
"Aurora . . ."
"I don't want to become a monster. I don't want you to think of me like that."
"I won't."
"How can you not, though? All throughout school, they taught us that vampires were truly dark creatures. How can you not think that, Severus?"
"Because I know you," he responded, staring deep into her eyes. "And for all intensive purposes, your mother doesn't seem evil or dark. She cared very deeply about our daughter, someone she's never even met. She could have just kept it to herself and just informed you about the nature of your sickness, but she didn't. When she learned of Angel, her first thoughts were fear for our daughter and us. And it wouldn't be the first time something we learned proved to be incorrect." He then sighed. "My dislike for Lupin stems mostly from my hatred of the Marauders. It is not in response to him being a werewolf. While I will admit that a part of me is weary of him, you are correct in stating he cannot help it."
"So you'll still love me even though I'll be a walking corpse that drinks your blood?"
"Aurora, the students of this castle for years have believed me to be a vampire. It'd be nice to scare the little dunderheads."
"Mum says that I can't turn you. In fact, according to my mother, my grandmother, says we're different from true vampires because Syrene, my grandmother, tried once to become human again."
"Did it work?"
"Not the way she intended, but in a way it did. She could control herself around witches and wizards without feeling the urge to slaughter everyone all the time. She actually spent some time with Merlin in the hopes to become truly human." At his puzzled look, she continued. "Well, you know how I'm a hopeless romantic?" He nodded slowly. "It seems that I get that from my grandmother. She fell in love with a Muggle. However, whenever they were together, she felt the urge to kill him. So, she decided to leave him and search for a cure so that they could be together."
"She never found it, though," he quietly said.
"Yeah, but that didn't mean that she couldn't keep trying to find her cure. I don't know if I believe this at all, but my mother says that Syrene met Salazar Slytherin and they had a sordid love affair one night. According to Mum, he's my grandfather, but that's just beyond absurd, though."
"Perhaps not," Snape responded. "It is strange. I will give you that, but so is the fact that we have a six-year-old daughter that has the infinite knowledge of the Elders in her." He then glanced at the Slytherin amulet around her neck. "However, you do wear the Amulet of Slytherin."
"But Slytherin had a locket, though. We all know that."
"If you are from an unknown line, then perhaps it makes sense that others do not know about it."
"Severus," Aurora said, shaking her head slowly.
"When I touched your amulet last August, it said blood of Prince and blood of Slytherin. I'm obviously the Prince, which would make you the Slytherin, Aurora. We must not forget that Syrene was a vampire. She could've easily brewed Living Death to keep the bloodlines secret."
"So you think that my mother's story is plausible then?"
"I wouldn't rule it out, no," he replied with a sigh. "Aurora, I do still wish to marry you tonight."
"Severus, do you realize how much preparation goes into a wedding? I doubt we have time."
"Your parents are here, as is my mother," he pointed out.
"I don't have a wedding dress, Severus."
"You are a witch, though, Aurora. But if you think that you can't transfigure a dress, I'm certain that Minerva would be glad to help you."
"Where would we even get married?"
"The Great Hall," he responded immediately.
"Who would officiate?" she asked, folding her arms as if challenging him to answer.
"Albus could pull strings. After all, he owes me several hundred favors over the years."
"The only reason you want to marry me is because of our wedding night."
"Perhaps," he drawled softly.
"We can't get married tonight, Severus, but tomorrow is a possibility." His eyes narrowed. "Well, it is bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day, Severus. Surely you know that." She then softly laughed. "We also have some rituals to complete before we can get married. Plus, my dad's old-fashioned. You're going to have to ask him for my hand. Otherwise, he'll make our lives a living hell. Then there is also the fact that it's Christmas, and you and I have yet to see our other children."
"Did Minerva tell you what those two idiots did?"
"They went down with our daughter to the Chamber of Secrets to find you that stupid potion. I spoke with Poppy earlier, and she said that you're free to go whenever you're ready."
"Then perhaps we should head down to the dungeons and speak with my godson and . . ."
"Son," she finished. "You can say it, Severus. I know you signed the papers and finalized Harry's adoption. I think Lily would've liked to know that you considered her son as your own."
"I must say that I'm amazed that Black didn't protest the adoption. I was sure he would."
"Maybe Sirius understood that you weren't doing it to fill Harry's mind of horrible James stories, but that you were doing it out of love. Come on, Severus. Let's go see our meddlesome boys."
