AN: Warning: possible out of characterness and some minor violence.

Chapter 19: Remembering

It took Bella loaning Mary her school books for a few days but she finally convinced her best friend she was a witch. They spent the remaining days to Christmas at one of their two houses just playing or talking. It was Christmas Eve when Mary left with her Grandpa to see her father in Ireland.

On Christmas Eve night Bella fell asleep early and Delilah put her to bed and gently tucked her in with a soft kiss like she had the first night Bella had come home. Ebony jumped on the bed afterwards and snuggled up to the young girl, content with her chosen family. Delilah left them and went back out to the family room.

The day after Bella had told Mary she was a witch, they had decorated the whole house with Christmas colors. Hung on all the walls was a long chain of homemade rings of green, red, and silver, charmed to glow when the lights were turned off. They gave the whole room an almost eerie feeling but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Like a warmer common room," Bella had said when Delilah mentioned it.

As Delilah got to work on taking out the presents her relatives had sent her and Bella that year and resizing them so they were normal again, she stumbled on the letter Bella had brought home from Hogwarts. She left it where it was until she had finished with the rest of the presents.

Taking it down from the shelf, she took out the charmed blanket. When she resized it, just as the note had told her, it was large enough to cover Bella's day bed twice. It had a beautiful swirling pattern of greens and silver that didn't quite hurt her eyes when she looked at it. Once Delilah had wrapped it in some of the left over paper that happened to match the colors, she took out the letter again.

It seemed heavier than it had before, almost as if it was bursting with energy. She carefully broke the seal without tearing the heavy parchment and read the first few lines before she noticed something had fallen out.

Dear Delilah,

After reading this letter, I will be surprised if you let Bella come back to Hogwarts while I still teach here.

The headmaster and I have laced this letter with as many counter spells as we could find to help you remember what you have been forced to forget about Bella's father. I have also placed similar spells on the scarf he took from you those many years ago. With the combined magic between the headmaster and I, you should remember it all soon.

Delilah stopped reading as she finally noticed the green and silver scarf she had lost before Bella was born. Just looking at it was giving her a head ache for some unknown reason. She picked it up and resized it. It still felt the same as when she had lost it. She put it on and the pain intensified.

"What..." she said before she was forced to bite back a scream as the memories came back.

She was sitting in a bar, not far from her loft, waiting for her Professor to give her her grades before she left for home for break. Down the counter was a dark haired man that she knew was familiar. When she left the counter and made her way to the door, he followed with a scarf in his hands. Her scarf.

"Excuse me miss, but I think this belongs to you?" he said to her. He was taller than her by nearly six inches. He held out her scarf to her.

"My scarf," she whispered as she carefully took it from the man's outstretched hand. "Thank you Mr.?"

"Call me Severus," he replied, giving just a hint of a smile.

"Thank you Severus," she said again as she put on her winter coverings. When she put on her scarf though, the memory became fuzzier but Delilah could still see everything that was happening.

"Perhaps I should walk you home?" Severus suggested as he pulled on his own coat. Delilah nodded and let him lead her out into the cold and down the street. Now she knew why he knew the way to her loft without asking.

"My loft's just down this way," she managed to get out through her muddled thoughts. Severus held onto her arm as she stumbled down the road. When they finally reached her building, he also insisted that he help her up the stairs. A few minutes later, they were outside her room.

"Thank you again Severus," she said as she leaned against her door. He stepped towards her and gently kissed her on her lips. Suddenly, she was overcome with longing. They stood there for a few minutes, just kissing and touching each other's faces. When they finally pulled back, they were both flushed.

"Would you like to come inside?" Delilah whispered, afraid to break the spell of the kiss even as she relived her memories.

Severus nodded slowly, almost hesitantly. "Yes," he answered just as quietly as she had asked.

Delilah remembered everything that had happened the night Bella was conceived. She remembered dreaming that there were voices in her apartment; one cold and powerful, the other submissive and ever so slightly over shadowed by sadness. She remembered feeling a warm light around her and then cold as she slipped into a deeper sleep where she heard rustling in her apartment and surprised cursing. Then there was a pop and Delilah was finally able to open her eyes to the present.

She was crying. She hadn't cried since she was a teenager when she broke her arm climbing the tree with her cousins on the farm. Now she wanted answers, no matter if they hurt her. She turned back to the letter.

Delilah, I want you to know I never meant to hurt you as I did. I had thought you were a muggle but when I saw your wand, I promised to make things right if I survived the War. I never thought we would have a daughter, one that was untainted by the Dark in me.

A part of me loves you and Bella, even if you will hate me forever. I hope I can continue to teach Bella everything I can. Please let me teach her; don't take her away from me now that I finally found you both.

Goodbye for now Delilah,

Severus

None of her questions were answered. Absolutely none of them. He, Severus, just expected her to understand what had happened with this short letter? Why hadn't he told her himself, in person?

Delilah stood up quickly. She took her wand and lit a fire in the fire place as she grabbed a flower pot off the mantle. She through some of the floo powder into the grate.

"Severus Snape's quarters! Hogwarts' Dungeons!" she shouted into the fire once it turned green and she had cast a silencing spell around herself so that Bella wouldn't hear her. She stuck her head in and saw the same black haired man from the bar sitting in a chair reading. "You bastard!" she yelled at him as she stepped through the fire.

Severus abruptly dropped his book. He would never admit it, but when he heard those two words from the fire, he was actually startled. And then seeing Delilah, as beautiful as the day he had left her, well, he knew he was in for it.

"Delilah," he started but she cut him off.

She stalked right up to him and waved the letter he had written in his face. "What is this? Why didn't you come and tell me yourself?" she demanded in anger. Severus actually took a small step back. "What did you expect that I would just understand everything from a vague letter? You erased my memories just because you thought I was a muggle! You're nothing but a coward!" she shouted.

While Severus wanted to retaliate, especially when she branded him a coward, he knew he needed to just let her vent. If he tried to stop her, he would most likely end up cursed, hexed, slapped, or any combination of the three. So he let her continue to insult him.

Finally, after five minutes of shouting, Delilah finally stopped as she broke into quiet sobs. Severus hazarded putting a hand to her shoulder to help her to sit but all he got in return was a stinging slap to his face.

"Don't touch me," she whispered. She pulled away from him and refused to meet his eyes.

"Delilah, I didn't want to hurt you," he started but he was cut off again.

"Then why did you?" she snapped harshly.

Severus sighed, much like Bella often did. "My master needed someone to test his power on and he left it to me to find someone. I thought you were a muggle, that you would have absolutely no memory of what happened. It never crossed my mind that you would become pregnant," he ended, walking away from her in case she decided to hit him again.

In the end, she didn't. She just sat down in another chair, too weak to stand any longer. "How long have you known about Bella?" she asked coldly when he turned back around to her.

Severus looked away. He knew he was going to get slapped again soon. "Since she was five. I was going to return your memories then, or at least try, but when I saw her, I left. I couldn't take how you thought of her away. If I had told you who I was-"

"I would have loved her just the same," Delilah cut in. "She's my daughter and I don't care if you're a fucking asshole. It doesn't mean she isn't still the loving young girl she is."

Severus once again stepped back. Her words betrayed what her face didn't; she was pissed and was ready to hurt him if he said anything close to wrong. Before he could speak again, Delilah asked another question.

"Have you told Bella?" she whispered, almost afraid of his answer.

"No. If she were in a different house, maybe but not while she's unable to defend herself." He didn't want to tell her just how dangerous it would be if she was known as his daughter but Delilah wanted to know. "My house, Slytherin, is full of Death Eater children, followers of the Dark Lord, the monster that took away your memories. I have been branded a traitor by many of these families and if they knew Bella was my daughter, they would hurt her and most likely you. I won't let either of you be hurt because of my choices," he promised Delilah.

"So you're not going to tell her?"

"Not until she's older. She'll be safer then." Severus walked towards Delilah and when she didn't shy away he gently put a hand on her shoulder. "I want to be a part of her life, even if she doesn't realize why," he pleaded to her.

Delilah nodded slowly. "She needs a father. She's never had one," she told him. "You can teach her whatever you want, just as long as she doesn't get hurt."

Severus moved back from her as she stood up. He was still a good six inches taller than her, more now since she wasn't wearing any shoes. He wished he could just hold her then and take away her hurt.

"I don't expect you to believe me but I am sorry for what I did," but he should have known she would cut him off yet again.

"Don't be, at least not for all of it," she said quietly. "If you hadn't done what you did, Bella wouldn't have been born. And I do believe you," she added even quieter.

Severus once again settled for placing his hand on her shoulder comfortingly but she shook it off this time.

"I should go," she told him. She was looking towards the fire, looking worn out and tired.

Severus nodded. He grabbed his meager supply of floo powder and handed her some. She went towards the flames and cast it in, mumbling her address clearly but quietly.

"Have a merry Christmas, Severus," she said in farewell as she stepped into the flames and was swept away from his sight.

"Have a happy Christmas too, Delilah," Severus answered to an empty room as the fire died down and turned to smoldering embers once more.

AN: Happy New Year's Eve and/or New Year's Day everyone!