A/N: A chapter on the shorter side, but one that I enjoyed writing because it has lots of classic Sarah/Snape interaction. I miss the more light-hearted moments. Hope you enjoy! Love to know what you think of the chapter if you get a chance!

Chapter 37: Going Home

Sarah paced around the room, biting her thumb, nervous. Draco had left her alone after they realized their error to find his mum. He had acted calm, but she could tell, he was panicked that their night could have resulted in a child. She couldn't say she blamed him.

She ran her hand through her tousled hair, trying to comb out the tangles. She had pulled on jeans and a tshirt but had neglected to brush through her hair, too worried to bother with it.

There was a knock on the door and Draco entered, white faced. His eyes locked with hers and she knew who was behind him.

She swallowed hard at the invasion into their room- their sacred place, by the man who she was desperately trying to hide so many secrets from.

"Sarah" Voldemort pushed Draco to the side, "Draco, go sit on the couch"

She cleared her throat, "Yes?"

"I overheard Draco talking to Narcissa and I decided that I should come talk to you about your little issue myself"

Her eyes widened. "I'm fine"

"Did you or did you not forget to take your contraceptive potion?" he asked, his voice becoming stern.

"Well, yes, but..." she bit her lip.

"You are being transparent, Sarah. Go get the contraceptive potion you are taking" Voldemort said. "and bring it here"

She went to the lavatory and brought out the potion, placing it in his hand.

"Stop shaking, I'm not going to use dark magic on you" Voldemort said, "Snape makes this for you, correct?"

"Yes" Sarah responded, finding her composure, "he says he is too young to be saddled with my child"

Voldemort chuckled. "You would do fine taking care of a child on your own, but you are young" He handed her back the potion. "Let's go"

"Where are we going, sir?" Sarah asked, her voice even.

"I'm sending you to Snape to deal with" Voldemort said. "He'll need to figure out if you have ovulated or not and then brew you the appropriate potion. Don't you know the way your body works?"

She frowned, "Of course"

"Your words say one thing, your expression another" Voldemort shook his head at her, "You are transparent tonight. Maybe it would be a good night to use legimancy"

"Maybe if you didn't tell my husband to come home and make love to me under the effects of dark magic none of this would have happened!" Sarah retorted.

He chuckled at her outburst. "Draco, unlike you, obeys orders quite well"

She crossed her arms, refusing to move.

He laughed harder, "Now, don't become angry, Mrs. Malfoy. I ordered it for your benefit"

Her face reddened significantly, "That's, that's, that's..." her temper sparked.

He traced her face. "At a loss for words, are we?"

She glanced at Draco, who gave her a warning look, her temper abating instantly.

"No" she murmured.

"Did you like it?" his eyes were on her and she swallowed hard as she looked again at Draco.

"I'm not answering that" she said, evenly.

He chuckled, "Next time, keep your head about you, Sarah. I'll see you tomorrow for tea"

"You will?"

"Oh, yes" Voldemort said. "Need to make sure everything was taken care of properly"

"I'll see you for tea then" she said, quietly. "Is Draco coming with me?"

Voldemort shook his head, "best you deal with Snape on your own"

"Goodie" Sarah mumbled as he dragged her away, she turning around to throw Draco a desperate look, but him unable to do anything to intervene.

"Are you insane?" Snape thundered as he paced around his office. "All you have to do is one thing. Remember the damn potion"

Sarah held up her hands, "The blame isn't solely on me, Uncle Sev"

"You are the woman" Snape hissed, "Draco is a teenage boy too hormonal to know up or down when he is near you"

"I hardly think that is true" she retorted. "you put him in charge of the potion at first"

"Yes, but only because you were nervous about your first time. After that, I assumed you would be responsible enough to remember"

"It was an easy mistake"

"It could result in a child" he slapped his fist down, "a child that would be born under the very nose at the Dark Lord. Once he knows you can conceive and bear children, he'll take you to his bed. He is awfully interested in you in case you haven't noticed. He went to your damn room to question you- he is always watching and you let him in your room- it sets precedence. You are hiding secrets in there"

She sank on the couch and buried her head, "don't remind me"

Snape closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face, trying to get control of his temper. He swept over to her and sat on the sofa next to her, his hand on her back. "Don't cry"

She shook, "he wanted to know if I liked it"

"What did you say?" Snape's hand automatically rubbed her back, a habit that even though he might be as mad as can be at her, he couldn't stop comfort when she needed it.

She hiccuped. "I told him I wasn't going to answer that"

"Good for you" he told her, still rubbing.

"Really?" she turned to look at him.

Snape nodded, a pat and then dropping his hand, "Yes, good for you. Now" Snape wandlessly summoned his calendar, "let's sort through the logistics of your cycle together and see what kind of damage you did"

Her face blushed. "Seriously?"

"Oh yes" Snape shook his head. "You better not have been fertile or I'm spanking both you and Draco for being so reckless"

Sarah laughed, "Oh, Uncle Sev, I don't think so"

"No, but I can threaten" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"But without any follow up..." her voice trailed off at his indignant look.

"You are still a student at Hogwarts, both of you...whether through distance learning or not, not too old for a ruler to your hand for being so reckless and thoroughly idiotic"

Sarah gulped, "Okay, let's talk about my cycle"

"That's what I thought" Snape grunted. "When did you have your last period?"

Her face reddened as she hesitated. "I don't remember"

"You don't have to remember the exact time, even the general week would be sufficient"

She frowned and bit her lip, "Um..." she stared at the calendar, "Sorry, I don't remember"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Black, really?" Snape growled at her. "Now that you are sexually active, you need to be diligent about keep track of your cycles. Every month. Without fail. Do you understand me?"

"Okay"

"Write it down if necessary" Snape shook his head.

"I will"

He thrust the calendar at her. "Take this back with you. Circle the days in which you start each month. I'm going to be following up with you and if you haven't done it..."

She took the calendar, "I understand"

"I don't want a little spawn of you and Draco running around for years, understood?"

"I get it, Uncle Sev. Really. You are making your point known"

"I better be. Now, lay down. I'll run a diagnostic charm"

"Well, if you could just run the charm, then why would I have..."

"Because that is the responsible thing to do for one who is of age and a wife" Snape snapped at her. "Lie down"

She lay down and he ran his wand over her abdomen, creating a bit of a discomfort as it reached her pelvic area.

"Since when do diagnostic charms hurt?" She grunted.

"Hush" Snape silenced her. Words began to show up on the calendar.

Sarah held it up to look at it, curiously.

Snape reached for her arm and helped her sit up. "Now, the Dark Lord told me that you have no idea how this all works and I should explain it to you"

"What?" her eyes grew wide. "Of course, I understand"

"Really?"

She frowned, "um, not quite"

"Honestly" Snape grunted, "I should have sat you down for this talk years ago complete with charts, diagrams, and videos. Would have saved me a load of trouble these days"

She grimaced, "Oh Merlin, I'm so glad you didn't!"

"Sex education should be mandatory" Snape said. "Minerva could have taught you imbeciles in Gryffindor. That would have been a sight to see"

"There are charms..."

"Ones that you and your troublemaker of a husband have managed to thwart from time to time"

"Well" she frowned, "I didn't thwart them to have sex"

"Draco did" Snape pointed out.

"Well, Draco is the trouble maker, not me!"

"No, you were just a trouble maker in different ways. How many times did you sneak out of your dorm at night?"

"I didn't do that past my first year" Sarah crossed her arms.

"I know exactly when you are lying to me" Snape put a finger on her chest. "The Dark Lord also said that you were quite transparent when he visited you"

"I was out of sorts over..."

"Doesn't matter" Snape raised an eyebrow. "One time with your guard down, one time to let him in...it's all it takes"

She felt the weight of her task on her once again. "I know"

"I know you do" Snape nodded in acknowledgement, "Come, let's discuss this" he sat with her on the couch. "Here is when you started your last monthly"

"Okay"

"Do you remember?" Snape asked, "it was the week before you married"

"Yes, now I do" she nodded.

"And see this here...you ovulated two days ago"

Her eyes widened, "Does that mean...?"

"It means you could very well conceive depending on the variability of the charm" Snape stood. "it's too early to tell if what you did tonight resulted in a child. Come, we have some brewing to do"

Her heart thumped in her chest. "It doesn't kill the baby, does it?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to her, "Sarah"

"I'm serious"

"For Merlin's sake" Snape shook his head, "It does no such thing. We don't know there is even a baby at this point"

"But..." Sarah frowned, "if there is that potential"

"The potion that I give you is specific tailored to prevent any..." he looked at her, evenly. "I will force the damn potion down your throat if I need to. You have to trust me that it doesn't abort"

"You know how I feel about the charms and potions that do that" Sarah said, quietly.

"No, do tell" his eyes narrowed.

"I won't force my views on anyone, but for me, I don't feel comfortable with anything like that"

"I see" Snape shook his head, wearily. "Some days I can't take your damn Gryffindor sense of right and wrong, especially when you have so little understanding of things"

"Then, explain how all of this works" she countered, holding her ground.

"Very well" Snape sensed her seriousness over the issue. He took her arm and sat her on the couch again. "Let's discuss it thoroughly to ease your mind about it"

He went over the properties of each contraceptive potion and how it worked to prevent pregnancy. When he was finished, he looked to her, "ready to make it now? It's the middle of the night and some of us still have to teach in the morning"

"Okay" Sarah nodded, "Don't you have some in stores?"

"No" Snape shook his head, "to whom would I need to provide that to?"

"Um, well, I don't quite know...maybe Madam Pomfrey has some" she countered.

"The charms Sarah...honestly..."

"But I know Fred and Angelica..."

"Fred was also gifted at charms...and if I'm not mistaken, I really don't think Molly supervises her children well on breaks. Now come along. You are sorely testing my temper tonight. I'm about to summon my ruler if you don't move in two seconds"

"Okay, okay" Sarah held up her hands, "I'm coming" she hurried along after him.

Sarah felt a persistent nudging in her side. She groaned and rolled over. "Leave me alone"

"Come on, Black" Draco grunted, "The Dark Lord sent me to fetch you home and I just had to listen to a thirty minute lecture from Snape. Wake up!"

"I brewed potions all night long"

"It's early afternoon" Draco countered. "And the Dark Lord wants you home for tea in an hour"

"Damn him to hell" she retorted and rolled back over.

"Honestly, Draco" Snape swept into the room, "you can possibly put a child in her, but you can't complete the simple task of waking her up" he used his wand to pull the covers off and open the curtains, light flooding through the window in her room.

"Damn you, Snape" she muttered and was rewarded with a smack on her backside.

Sarah groaned and pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes. She looked at Draco, "Did you just smack me?"

"No, that was Snape" Draco rolled his eyes.

"Don't curse. It's not ladylike" Snape told her, "I have soap in the lavatory awaiting you for one more curse word"

"I'm of age and married and he still thinks he can get away with smacking me and soaping me" she grumbled.

"That's because he can" Draco responded.

She buried her head in her knees. "I'm so tired"

Snape helped her on with her robe. "Coffee and oatmeal at the breakfast table to wake you up. And then you need to go home and shower so you can have tea with the Dark Lord"

"Why, oh, why" she shook her head against her knees. "I have such a headache"

Snape leaned down and kissed her head, grabbing her by the waist and easing her out of bed. He planted her feet on the floor. "I have headache relief potion for you too. Now off you go" he swatted her gently as Sarah began to walk to the other room. Snape turned to look at Draco.

"That, son, is how it is done" he smirked at him.

"Oh bullo..."

"watch yourself" Snape glared at him, "before you continue that sentence. I don't need to remind you that all of this is your fault or do we need to discuss that again?"

"No, no" Draco said quickly, "That's not necessary" He quickly followed his godfather and his wife...just glad that he wasn't going to be a father quite yet.

The weeks melted together in the same pattern- schoolwork, potions, tea with the Dark Lord, lessons with Snape, dodging the Malfoys and Bellatrix and keeping her head down. She was growing restless as the days got shorter and the weather turned cold and dreary. Draco and her continued to find their way together- thankfully with no more hiccups with their contraception.

Christmastime was approaching quickly, which was a welcome distraction, even though she knew that this Christmas would be so completely different than in years place- stuck at Malfoy Manor with Voldemort and his minions.

"Draco?" she turned onto her side to face him after ten minutes of trying to fall asleep to no avail. "Are you awake?"

"No"

"Yes, you are, love. I know you are" Sarah poked his side. "Come on. I want to talk"

"What is it?"

"Is there any way we can go home to Snape Manor for Christmas?"

Draco grunted and rolled onto his side as well, reaching for her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Mother and Father are going away to Paris on holiday for Christmas and the Dark Lord is thinking about going to one of his other mansions"

"Exactly" Sarah nodded, "you could tell the Dark Lord you want to be around family...and Snape is family"

"It helps that they sent everyone home from Hogwarts for the holidays"

She nodded, "Yes, please, I want to go home too"

"You will never be comfortable here, will you?"

"Not with your parents and Bellatrix and the Dark Lord watching our every move" she said. "Snape Manor is my home"

"For both of us at times" Draco responded, leaning over for a kiss. "I'll talk to the Dark Lord tomorrow. I doubt he would object me wanting to spend the holidays with my godfather, especially knowing we are so close"

"Will he think it strange that I agreed to it?"

"I'll say that you promise to play nice with your uncle and I didn't give you much of a choice" Draco smirked, "I think he will believe in a truce made in the holiday spirit"

She giggled. "Tell him we fought over it and you had to take me to your bed to shut me up"

"Oh, he'll love that" Draco laughed. "Now go to sleep"

"I'm really not sleepy" she sighed. "Want to practice shutting me up?"

Draco's smile was wide, the moonlight filtering through the windows so they could see each other's face. "Gladly, Black"

She giggled as he pounced on her, grabbing his wand on the nightstand to summon her potion.

Sarah unhooked her wool hooded gray cape and hung it on the hook in the entrance way to Snape Manor and Draco handed her his coat.

"I was about to take those, Mistress Sarah" Wiggles scolded. "Don't take your bags. I'll unpack for you"

"I have some presents hidden in mine...can you put them in a safe place?" Sarah asked, pulling the bottom of her blue cable knit sweater over her jeans.

"Yes, I will" Wiggles took their bags. "Master Snape is in the study. He said to come find him when you arrive"

Sarah grinned. "Perfect"

"He also wanted me to assure you that the charms are safely up throughout the manor and that you will have tea together in the study"

She nodded, "Thank you, Wiggles"

Wiggles left them and Sarah turned to Draco, "Come on"

She took his hand and they went down the hallway to Snape's study. Sarah knocked on the door.

"Enter"

Sarah opened the door and stepped inside, dropping Draco's hand so they could fit through the door.

"Sarah" Snape stood, smoothing down his pants legs. "Welcome home"

She met his eyes. The stress that she had been carrying for the past few months broke as she finally felt safe again. No Dark Lord. No Bellatrix. No hidden secrets. Just her family. She was home.

She flew across the room and Snape opened his arms. She couldn't stop the tears that began to flow, sobs took over as Snape held her tightly.

"It's no reason to cry" Snape said, gruffly as he patted her back.

"I'm just so thankful to be here" she sniffled. "Thank you, Dad"

He pulled back to wipe her tears. "This is your home. Always. You are safe here"

"I haven't felt truly safe in the longest time"

Snape's expression turned pained. "I know" He pulled out her handkerchief. "Here, take this and blow your nose. That's a good girl" He led her over to the couch to sit down with her. She dropped her head to his shoulder, as he rubbed her head, affectionately, her calming down almost immediately through Snape's efforts to soothe her.

He turned to Draco, who was frozen to his spot over his wife's meltdown, unsure of what to do. It was hard for him not to take it as a slight to him- that he couldn't make her feel safe when Snape could.

"Draco, do you want to pour the tea? I think Sarah could use some" Snape murmured, sensing his godson's discomfort.

"Sure, Uncle Sev" Draco said and reached for the tea, pouring three cups and passing them around.

Sarah placed the saucer in her lap as Snape leaned back on the couch.

She turned to face him, taking small sips of her tea. "So..."

"So" Snape looked amused.

She titled her head. "It's Christmastime"

"Yes, Black, that would be why you are here- to spend Christmas"

"Christmas is in two days" the smile returned to her face.

"Yes" Snape's eyes twinkled in a way that would have even rivaled Dumbledore's eye twinkles. The look surprised her and Snape would have died on the spot if he knew he was giving her such an open, affectionate look that made him look like quite the softie, but his guard was down because having Sarah home again fulfilled his greatest wish for Christmastime as well.

"Oh, brother" Draco snorted. "She wants something, Uncle Sev"

"She does indeed" Snape said, "it's the question of what exactly"

"Can we decorate a tree?" Sarah looked at him hopefully.

Snape nodded, "It's already in the living room for you awaiting your decorating"

"Really?" she squealed, her tea disturbing.

"Honestly" Snape shook his head, "you will burn yourself" he took the tea from her and put it on the coffee table.

"I'm just so excited" she said. "Oh" she turned to Draco and met his eyes. "I know what else I want to do"

Draco's eyes widened. "Not in front of Snape, Mrs. Malfoy" he teased.

"Oh, Merlin" Snape grunted. "I'm pretending you just didn't say that..."

"We are married, Uncle Sev" Draco pointed out.

"Yes, I'm aware of that" Snape sighed, suffered. "you can keep your hands off my daughter for a week"

"I don't know" Draco said, titling his head. "have you met your daughter?"

"Draco" Sarah squeaked, "honestly"

"if you must engage in anything like that, you better use silencing charms, understood? I don't want to know about it. She's still my little girl...that means the thought of your hands over her in the bed I tucked her into every night makes me want to curse you with the darkest curses imaginable" he said, dryly.

Sarah blushed. "I wasn't talking about sex. You two have such dirty minds" she shook her head, playfully.

"What were you talking about then?" Draco asked, curiously.

She clapped her hands, "We are going to bake cookies! We'll have to go to the store. We'll find cookie cutters...and sprinkles...and, oh, I should make a list"

"I don't know" Draco frowned, "the last set of cookies you burned and then cried over"

"That's when Daddy hated me" she said. "This is entirely different circumstances"

"Daddy?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Do you not like that?" Sarah asked, innocently.

"Um..." Snape, for once, was at a complete loss for words.

Draco and Sarah exchanged a look.

"Dad..." Sarah smiled at him, "I was just teasing you and got carried away. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm sorry"

"No, Black" Snape leaned over and kissed her. "I was just thinking that I wished I had you from the beginning"

"I think that is the sweetest thing you ever said to me" Sarah responded.

"Now don't get carried away" Snape's voice was again brusque.

"You know, Dad" Sarah said casually, "when this war is over..."

Snape turned to her and stared. "What?"

"You could find a nice person to marry and give me a brother or a sister"

"You really have lost your mind" Snape shook his head at her. "undoubtedly from the stress of the war"

"I'm sure Narcissa could recommend someone appropriate" Sarah said. "Right, Draco?"

"Leave me out of this, Black" Draco said, putting his tea cup down.

Snape leaned over to feel her forehead. "You aren't feverish, but you are saying the most delusional things"

She rolled her eyes, "We'll discuss this when the war is over"

"Sure, Black" Snape said, sarcastically. "First thing"

"Or Draco and I could just give you a grandchild" Sarah offered.

"Not for several years" Snape said, sternly, patting her knee.

"No, not for several years" Sarah smiled at him. She sighed, contently. "I'm so glad to be home!"

"I'm glad you are home too" Snape said, smiling at her. "Both you and Draco. The house is too quiet without you two troublemakers. I have my stores full of headache relief potion and my decanter full of brandy. Feel free to wreck as much havoc as you want"

"You must really be glad we are home to say that!" Sarah giggled.

"Maybe" Snape mumbled, "just stay away from my potions unless you ask permission"

"Of course. I wouldn't dare touch your potions" she responded, leaning over give him a hug.

It was good to be home indeed.

Up next: Christmastime causes Sarah to take a risk to reach out to the ones she loves. Will it backfire on her?