Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making any money off of this. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Wow...huge appologies go out to everybody. School and work got in the way...and writer's block (I don't want it to end!).
So, here's the last chapter, hope everyone enjoys!
(There's also going to be an epilogue.)
---
Their shopping trip was cut short, when Severus received another owl, this time from Dumbledore. The Headmaster requested his presence as soon as possible, and apologized for any inconvenience. As soon as the two got back from their outing, they were met by Harry and Ron, who tried to quickly fill them in on their side of the story. Unfortunately, before Severus could really hear any of it, McGonagall found them and dragged him to Dumbledore's office.
Hermione patiently listened to everything that Harry and Ron had to say, because they looked like they were both on the verge of exploding. After they had finished their tale, Harry had offered to take Trenton on a walk throughout the grounds, while Hermione visited Janie in the Hospital Wing.
"And if you have any problems at all, you know where I am," Hermione said and handed over Trenton's bag to Ron. "His bottles are in there, along with new diapers and everything you'll need to change him. There are also a few toys, a shrunken blanket, and any potion that you might need in there."
Harry nodded, "We'll be fine, Hermione."
Ron nodded in agreement, "And we'll even walk with you to the Hospital Wing."
After they bid goodbye to Hermione, they waited until she disappeared into the Wing, before walking out to the lake. For the end of March, it was surprisingly warm out. Harry walked one side of the lake with Trenton, while Ron walked backwards, trying to make Trenton laugh with a variety of funny faces. It wasn't until Ron nearly tripped over a rock and fell in the lake, did they decide to set up a blanket under a tree and empty all of the toys out of the baby's bag.
"Can you believe that McGonagall actually threatened me with detention?" Ron asked, after they sat down. "She was going to make me clean her classroom."
"You did push that student. And before you go off on me, I understand what you did...you just have to look at it at their point of view. How in the world is she going to explain that to the boy's parents?"
"Well," Ron began. "She was going to make me write an apology...but she doesn't think that the boy will say anything. I don't think that he wants his parents knowing that he was picking on a younger girl."
"Then what did she do to you? You wouldn't say anything after she let you go."
"She wrote to my parents," Ron replied quietly.
"She...wrote to your parents?"
Ron nodded, making Harry burst out in laughter.
"I can't believe she wrote to them, Harry! It's like I'm in school again! My mum is going to kill me! I wouldn't be surprised if I got another howler again. Well, I suppose it's better than getting kicked off the grounds again. She was real close to doing that too."
---
"Janie, are you alright?" Hermione asked, practically running to Janie's bed.
"Yeah," Janie replied.
"What happened to your hand?"
Janie carefully unwrapped the robe and showed her mother her hand.
"Merlin, Janie! You're covered in blood! What did you do!?"
"My knuckle split open when I popped some guy in the chin," Janie replied softly.
"You did what?"
"I had to Mum! It was fight back or get beaten out there!" Janie defended.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at her, "How long have you been in here?"
"I dunno, awhile?"
"Then why are you still breathing like that?" Hermione asked.
"Because it hurts," Janie said softly.
"It hurts to breathe? Did you tell Madam Pomfrey?"
"No," Janie said stubbornly. "I can wait until it's my turn."
"Janie-"
"It's alright, Mum…really," Janie said.
Hermione sighed. "We got a letter from McGonagall."
"Dad sent me a howler," Janie mumbled.
"She said – He sent you a what?" Hermione asked, forgetting about the fight for the time being.
"He sent me a howler," Janie repeated, this time louder, while Matt nodded in agreement.
Hermione's jaw lowered. "When?"
"Not too long ago. I got it right before the Slytherin team came in."
"Everyone heard?"
Janie nodded, "It yelled at them too. Everybody on the team said that they felt sorry for me and thanked me for the warning; they've all decided to avoid dad at all costs for the next week."
"Oh boy," Hermione sighed. "What'd he say?"
"He yelled at me for my behavior, listed some things that the Slytherin team said I did to them, said I was in more trouble, and he used my full name," Janie said.
"I can't believe that he sent you a howler!" Hermione said.
Janie inwardly smirked; now her mum was mad at her dad.
Janie nodded sadly.
"I'll be right back, Janie," Hermione said, and walked off to the end of the wing.
Matt turned to Janie, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Janie smiled, "Well, I was going to tell her about the howler anyways, but the few guilty and sad looks are what really do it."
Matt laughed.
When Hermione came back, Madam Pomfrey was tailing her.
"Ms. Snape! Why didn't you tell me that it hurt to breathe?"
Janie's eyes widened, "Mum!"
"I'm glad that your mother told me! You are just as stubborn as your father with these things," Madam Pomfrey said, as she wrapped the curtain around Janie's bed. The last thing that Janie saw was her mother smiling at her – a sure sign that this was part of the payback.
---
It was right before dinnertime when Severus finally was able to yell at the Slytherin Quidditch team. Once he stormed in and started to yell at his team, Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office and put a silencing charm over the Slytherin side. When she did it, every Gryffindor player started to complain – they planned on it being their entertainment for the night.
"I am not listening to him yell again today," the mediwitch said. "You don't need to listen to them get into trouble-"
"But we hardly ever hear it!" Mark Rhymer exclaimed.
"Mr. Rhymer," Madam Pomfrey began, pointing right at him. "You're just lucky I don't stick you in there with them."
---
Severus was not having a good afternoon. After he and Hermione had returned back from Hogwarts, everything went downhill. For an hour, he was stuck in Dumbledore's office, watching McGonagall's memory and discussing with the two of them what they were going to do with the teams. McGonagall was extremely reluctant to take away Gryffindor's playing rights for the rest of the year, because they had made it to the Cup.
Now, he had to deal with the Slytherin team in the Hospital Wing. He was so upset at their behavior that he didn't care if the whole wing heard what he had to say. Luckily though, after he had started his rant on how shameful the team had acted, Madam Pomfrey had rushed out and silenced their portion of the room. It wasn't long until the a few members of the team started to yell out all of the things that Janie did to them.
"I don't want to hear what she did to you-"
"But sir! She gave me a fat lip!"
"How do you know it was her for sure? You were in a fight. I'm pretty sure she wasn't the only one to physically assault your face-"
"Sir! She kicked me-"
"How many times do I have to reiterate that you were in a fight? You knew what you were getting into when you jumped on the other team-"
"We-"
"I saw what happened in a pensieve," Snape replied. "Don't try to back out of it."
"Did you see how your daug-"
"For Merlin's sake!" He yelled. "She's thirteen! You're a bunch of boys whining about what a thirteen year old did to you! How old are you? The youngest one is Mr. Narls and he had enough brains not to get in on the fight! Knock off the whining, or I'll have you all reassigned to Hufflepuff! You're crying about what she did to you? Did any of you think of what would happen to a person four years younger than some of you? Don't whine to me about fat lips…someone cracked a few of her ribs and you don't see her whining about it now, do you?"
When he paused, it was so quiet in the Infirmary, you could have heard a pin drop.
"I've talked to Professor Dumbledore about your punishments. It seems that he didn't hand any out yet. Seventy-five points from each of you. Quidditch on the grounds is banned until the next season starts again. You will receive detention and it will be discussed here shortly. But to begin, you will all have Saturday afternoon detentions with Filch," he said, and took out his wand.
"Before I lift the silencing charm, I want you all to know something. I am a father first, then a professor. If anybody hunts down anybody that 'did you wrong' in the fight, you'll never have a free night this year," he finished as Professor McGonagall walked into the room and he lifted the silencing charm.
---
"He looks angry," Matt said, as everybody was watching Professor Snape yell at his team.
"He sure does," Janie replied.
"They're pointing at you…"
"Who?" Janie asked.
"Clard and the captain," Matt stated.
"Uh oh," Janie whispered, when her father pointed at her and then got closer to the boy and started to yell again. "Looks like I'm the hot topic for the day."
A few minutes later, McGonagall walked in and the silencing charm was soon lifted.
"Ready, Severus?" The older witch asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"Alright, my House, listen up!" McGonagall shouted. "You're a part of this conversation too. Professor Snape and I have come up with the punishment situation. Instead of having detention for a month, we have decided that you will scrub every classroom in the castle…together. All thirteen of you…at the same time."
"Since you seem so inclined to be physically active, we decided that this would be the perfect task for you. As soon as you finish cleaning the classrooms, your detentions will be over," Severus said.
"And they will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Saturday are the detentions with Filch; Gryffindors at seven in the morning and Slytherins at three. All of the detentions will be over once you learn to work with each other and clean the classrooms."
"There will be no substitutions for this or no skiving off," Severus stated. "If you're sick, you will make it up another day."
"Fighting is not tolerated in this school and each and every one of you are lucky not to be expelled or even suspended," McGonagall said. "Do I make myself clear?"
Thirteen heads nodded.
"Good. And my House, your playing situation is still up in the air. While everybody is in here, you should get to know each other better. After all, you're going to be spending a lot of time together after this," she finished.
---
"How did it go?" Hermione asked, once Severus sat down.
He sighed. "I won't be here after next week."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Why?"
"McGonagall and I have to supervise detentions. The teams are being combined and have to clean every classroom in the castle together, and I gave William Clard extra detentions."
Hermione looked confused.
"He was the one who flung his bat at Janie. He gets to clean out all of the locker rooms with a toothbrush. Minerva was revolted at the idea and tried to get him locked up in the library. Madam Pince wanted someone...more responsible to clean off all of the books in the library. The last time that I sent a Slytherin, he thought it would be funny to rearrange and jinx the books closed."
---
That night, Janie was one of the only students that lay awake in the Hospital Wing. A boy was reading a book a few beds down from her and the Slytherin captain was playing some sort of game on paper. Madam Pomfrey only allowed them to stay up as long as they promised to be quiet and only leave their lights on; other than that, the room was completely dark. She laid awake, listening to the boy flipping pages and the other scratching on the paper; counting the tiles on the ceiling was only entertaining for so long.
I should have taken that potion, Janie thought, as she closed her eyes, trying to drift off to sleep.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore walked into the wing and surprisingly, he sat on the edge of Janie's bed.
"Janie?"
Janie's eyes snapped open. "Professor?" She asked, sitting up.
"Ah good, you are up," he whispered.
Janie nodded.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better," Janie said.
"You know, what you did earlier was a very honorable of you."
She looked at him.
"I'm sure if Mr. Potter had his way, he would have taken you elsewhere. Maybe disappear for a while and bring you back when everyone's anger had settled down," he said, his eyes emitting a soft twinkle. "And you stayed with your team. I'm sure even an older student, if given the chance, would have run. I'm pretty sure that half of the people in this room would have run…if given the choice, of course.
"I'm very proud of you…it takes a big person to do that. I know your parents are proud too-"
Janie gave Dumbledore a look. "All they really did was yell and lecture me. My dad even sent a howler."
Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. "Severus sent you a howler?"
Janie nodded.
"Even though your parents might seem angry on the outside, I am sure that they are proud of you. They just don't want you to do the same thing again."
Janie seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, my dad really didn't yell at me, like he hinted at in the howler."
"See?" Dumbledore said, smiling.
"He really didn't get to talk to me though," Janie sighed. "Professor McGonagall had him busy all day."
Dumbledore's eyes started to twinkle again. "I talked to Mr. Potter…and I know that he talked to your mother. And there's no doubt that she's going to talk to your father."
Janie was quiet for a while. "There's another thing," she said, and looked at her Professor sadly. "I-"
"Oh! I nearly forgot!" He exclaimed, and pulled something out of his pocket. "I believe you lost this," he said, and let the pendant drop, so that it would swing from his hand.
Janie gasped. "I thought that I'd never find it!"
Dumbledore handed it to her. "Things always have a way of getting back to us. I've been noticing that more and more as the years go by."
Janie smiled. "Thank you, sir."
Dumbledore smiled back. "Now get some sleep."
Janie nodded, and watched as Dumbledore left the wing.
---
The next morning in the Ravenclaw common room, the students woke up and realized that they were not alone. When the first group of students made their way out of their dormitories, they found their common room a shredded mess. The couches were torn and the armchairs were ripped. The bulletin board was a ruffled mess and books laid eaten everywhere.
"What did thi-"
Suddenly, someone let out a piercing scream.
"Oh my God! WHAT IS THAT?" A student asked, pointing at something sharp sticking out from under the couch.
"What is what?" Asked the Ravenclaw prefect.
"That," the student said, pointing again to the object.
"I…don't know," he said, as he lifted one of the ends of the sofa up.
"It's an animal!" Someone screamed.
Now that the creature was exposed, it shot out from under the sofa and started to run all around the room.
"It's a badger! Run!"
"Everyone stay calm!" The prefect said, but now most of the students were already down from their dormitories and were running around the room.
"It's going to attack us!"
"Help! Get Professor Flitwick!"
"GET OUT!"
The prefect was helpless in the room full of panicking people, and within seconds, the entire common room cleared out. As he looked around the room, he saw the badger staring at him and quickly 'headed for the hills' himself.
---
"What is going on?" Professor Flitwick squeaked, as the entirety of his house ran past him.
"A badger tore up the common room!" One student said as they ran by.
"Why are you all still running?" Professor Flitwick asked, but it was too late, as all of the students had already passed.
Meanwhile, in the library, other students found themselves in a similar situation…
"It ate my homework!" Jess Aarons yelled, as another badger sat in a corner, nibbling on her recently finished potions essay. "Give it back!" She shouted, and angrily approached the animal.
"Too bad you can't use that excuse," her friend said. "You used that one last week."
"I said," Jess began, getting dangerously close to the critter. "Give it," she reached out for her homework. "Back," she finished as she grasped on the parchment and pulled.
All of a sudden, the badger let out a strange noise and jumped on her, making Jess scream.
"GET IT OFF!" She cried, as her friend ran over and knocked it off of her with a book. "Run for your lives! It's going to kill us…I think it has rabies!" She yelled, running out of the library, several students following her.
A few of the more curious students went to see what was going on, when the badger emerged from the isle, bits of parchment hanging out of its mouth.
"Oh God, it does have rabies!" Someone yelled, stirring up panic in the library.
Soon, the corridors of Hogwarts were filled with running students. Not only were the badgers found in the Ravenclaw common room and the library, but one was also found cowering on the Grand Staircase.
"Did you catch them all?" McGonagall asked.
Professor Flitwick shook his head. "I was able to capture the one in the Ravenclaw common room and I believe that Remus was able to obtain the one in the library. The one in the stairwell was retrieved by the Head Girl. There's still one missing," the old wizard said. "You see, the badgers were numbered…like in a race. We've found one, two, and four…but the little guy labeled three is still missing."
"Have you searched all of the emptied classrooms?" McGonagall asked.
Remus shook his head, "Not yet."
McGonagall nodded. "Are all of the professors searching?"
"Well," Remus started. "Sybil refuses to come down from her tower, Pomona is searching the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchens, and Aurora is searching her tower. Hermione has searched Gryffindor tower and the Slytherin common room."
"She what?" McGonagall asked.
Remus nodded.
"Where is Severus?"
Remus shrugged. "Hermione doesn't know either. Where's Albus?"
"He's gathering all of the students in the Great Hall," she replied. "I believe that he should almost be done now…we should start heading there as well."
---
That morning, Janie was talking to Matt and Ardeal about Quidditch, when something in the doorway caught her eye: her dad was walking through the door with Trenton. Before he made it to the bed though, Madam Pomfrey caught him.
"Is that who I think it is?" The mediwitch asked, rushing over to the two.
"It depends on who you're thinking of-"
Madam Pomfrey slapped his free shoulder. "Give him here, Severus."
He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have students to attend to?"
She held out her arms, while Severus rolled his eyes and gave him to her.
"I've already checked on the students. Besides, you're here in case anything happens," the older woman replied.
Severus rolled his eyes again and continued to Janie's bed; Ardeal instantly moved his chair next to Matt's bed.
"Good morning," Severus greeted, as he stood next to Janie's bed.
Janie looked up through her eyelashes. "Morning."
He sat down on the side of her bed.
"How's your hand?"
Janie raised her bandaged hand. "It feels the same, but Madam Pomfrey only got a chance to look at it for a minute. Someone had a nightmare last night, fell out of bed, and re-broke their arm. He's real embarrassed about it, so we're not allowed to say who it was."
Severus held out his hand. "Can I see it?"
Janie gave him her hand. "Won't she be mad at you?"
"I'm not afraid of Madam Pomfrey," he replied, as he unwrapped her bandage.
Janie bit her bottom lip, "About yesterday, I'm-"
"It's alright," Severus interrupted her and waved his wand over her hand. "Your hand should be completely healed by tonight...You did land a good punch, though."
Janie blinked. "You're not mad?" She asked slowly.
He chose his words carefully. "I was, but...I heard what happened. Just promise me something - really promise me that you will walk away. Fighting doesn't solve anything."
Janie nodded. "Alright."
He smirked. "Good job, though. Clard's deserved that for a long time."
Janie grinned. "At least I didn't break his nose."
"I wouldn't have minded if you broke his nose. Don't ever tell your mother that I said that."
Janie's smiled broadened. "Don't worry, I won't."
---
"Unbelievable!" McGonagall announced to the Hall. "After the events that happened yesterday, someone has the nerve to do this!" She said, scanning all of the students. "I am cutting right to the point…Who did this?" She asked, and surprisingly, people started to rise out of their seats, making Professor Sprout squeak.
"We did it, Professor," the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team announced.
"All of you?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You released the badgers in the school?"
The boy nodded.
McGonagall was silent for a moment, "Why?"
"Professor, when we found out that the Gryffindor team had been punished, we thought that they would have their playing rights taken from them this year. That would mean that we would win the Quidditch Cup. We've decided that we need to earn that Cup; not get it handed to us. A trait of being a Hufflepuff is playing fair. What is the fairness in winning something if it's just handed to you?" He explained.
The entire student body and staff that were in the Hall stared at the captain, except Professor Sprout, who had her head in her hands, crying. No one was exactly sure if she was crying because she was so upset, or proud that her students acted upon behalf of Hufflepuff's traits.
"If that means that no one wins or Ravenclaw wins, then that's fine with us."
McGonagall raised her eyebrows, "Is that why a badger completely shredded the Ravenclaw common room?"
The Hall remained silent.
"Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for all of you in his office. Professor Sprout and I will follow you shortly," she said, and the Hufflepuff Quidditch team silently filed out.
---
Of course, word about what the Hufflepuff team did spread around school like wildfire. In no time at all, the Hospital Wing was buzzing with what happened.
"Can you believe that?" Mark Rhymer said. "Neckler would do such a thing for us?"
"For you? I'd like to think that they did it for themselves," the Slytherin captain commented.
"They would have done the same thing for you if we lost-"
"Like I said, it's for themselves-"
"Just because you only do things for yourself, does not mean that everyone else acts that way," Mark said.
"Who are you to tell me how I act? It's none of your business-"
"I'm just saying the obvious-"
"Boys!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, running out of her office. "Knock it off already? What did I tell you about fighting?"
"That it's childish and doesn't get you anywhere," someone replied.
"Thank you, but I wanted them to answer. Don't make me separate you two again," Madam Pomfrey said, wagging her finger and then returned to her office.
---
"Hermione, have you seen Severus anywhere?" McGonagall asked, right as she was about to make the descent into the dungeons.
"The last time I saw him was when he went to visit Janie this morning…I believe he was there before she even woke up. Then he had Trenton afterwards," Hermione replied. "I haven't seen him since."
The older witch sighed. "When you see him, can you tell him that we need his help looking for the badgers?"
"No problem," Hermione said, and quickly continued her way down the stairs. There was no way she wanted McGonagall to follow her.
---
"Severus?" Hermione called, as soon as she entered their quarters. "Severus?" She repeated, when no one answered her.
Confused, Hermione began to search their quarters for him. When she entered Trenton's room, she found the baby happily gurgling at her from his bed.
"What are you doing here?" She asked the baby. "You're supposed to be with your father," she said, picking him up. "He didn't just leav-" Hermione stopped when she turned around and saw Severus sound asleep in a chair on the other end of the room. "Oh! He's sleeping! And you didn't want to wake him up…how sweet of you!" Hermione said.
"Severus," Hermione said softly. "Severuuss," she repeated, but he still didn't move. "There was a time when he jumped when you did that," she told their son. "Why don't you wake daddy up?" She asked, and held Trenton over Severus' face.
As soon as Hermione put Trenton in arm's reach of his father, his little arms instantly reached out and lightly smacked him in the face.
Severus' eyes snapped open, "Trenton? What are you – Hermione?"
Hermione giggled. "Good morning! Welcome to Hogwarts, the new local zoo."
Severus groaned, while running a hand down his face, "Now what happened?"
Hermione let out a small laugh. "The Hufflepuff Quidditch team released badgers around the school, because of the events that happened yesterday. Everyone's been looking for you for over an hour now."
Severus rolled his eyes as he got up, "I suppose they still are?"
Hermione nodded. "I'll take care of Trenton."
"It never ends," Severus sighed. "McGonagall's down in the dungeons, isn't she?"
"Probably. I've already searched the Slytherin Common Room."
Severus stopped. "You did?"
Hermione nodded. "Since we were married, they've warmed up to me a bit. No more dirty looks to get out of their room."
"They better not give you anymore dirty looks," Severus said, as he left their quarters. It wasn't very long until he ran into McGonagall.
---
"Severus!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Where have you been? We've been looking for you all morning!"
Severus crossed his arms across his chest. "I've been with my son, Minerva."
"Are you aware of the problem?"
"The badgers?" He asked, his infamous eyebrow raised.
The older woman nodded.
"Have they all been found yet?"
"We're still looking for one more. We're afraid that it has gotten into a secret passage-"
"Then check them all," Severus replied dryly.
"We don't know where they all are!"
"How do you even know that you're missing one? Did they tell you?"
"They didn't need to," McGonagall replied, nonchalantly. "They were labeled."
"Labeled?"
"Yes. The badgers had the numbers one, two, and four on them. We're missing the third one!"
Severus stared at her, his eyes blinking.
"There is no third one!"
"Yes there is!" McGonagall replied. "They're numbered! We are-"
"Minerva, they did that on purpose! I bet they're getting a riot watching everyone search for a 'number three.'"
McGonagall stared at him dumbfounded. "You can't be so sure…"
Severus rolled his eyes. "We did the same thing when I was in school. We released two snakes and labeled them 'one' and 'three' and set them loose in our Head's quarters. Really now. I can't believe you fell for that. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my quarters and I don't want to be bothered with something stupid like this again."
McGonagall stared blankly at him for a minute. "They are in so much trouble when I get to them!"
Severus waved her off as he continued back down the corridor, making her jaw pop open.
---
The morning when all of the students were released from the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall gathered all of the Quidditch teams in the Great Hall.
"Good morning," McGonagall said. "May I have everyone's attention? Due to the recent events, and as much as it pains me to say this...the Quidditch Cup match is cancelled."
The Gryffindor team gasped in unison.
"All of the professors and I have decided that this behavior will notbe tolerated. Quidditch has been suspended this term and will be resumed in the Fall. Slytherin has been eliminated for attacking another team and Gryffindor has been eliminated for fighting. Before anybody starts yelling, Gryffindor was eliminated for fighting, because you could have walked away and let the professors handle it. Hufflepuff is also eliminated for releasing three badgers in the school and sending everybody on a wild goose chase. Ravenclaw would have won the Cup, but Professor Flitwick was against it. It was his belief that your team stayed out of everything to ensure that the Cup was yours. Apparently, he overheard a conversation about revenge on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, until somebody else had spoken up about it.
"Now remember, detention starts tomorrow night for the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams after dinner in the Potions Classroom and the Hufflepuff team will report to Professor Hagrid at the same time. I hope everyone will remember this and let it be a lesson to all of you.
---
"Welcome to your first detention," McGonagall started. "We have decided that you are going to work your way up from the bottom. Tonight you are only going to clean the potions classroom, because you are scrubbing the cauldrons as well."
"You're lucky that it's not with toothbrushes," Severus remarked, from his desk. "Put all of wands on my desk before you start. All of the cleaning supplies are against the back wall," he said, pointing the neat stack. "Do you wish to add anything, Professor McGonagall?"
She nodded. "Now remember, these combined detentions are designed to get you to work together. Not just the Gryffindors helping the Gryffindors and vice-versa. I want half of one team on one side, and the other half on the opposite side. You're allowed to talk quietly, but I don't want any fighting. Is that understood?"
Several replies were murmured.
"Good. Now get started!"
---
"What's this?" McGonagall asked, a little while later.
"Newt eyeballs," Severus replied.
She pursed her lips. "I really don't like your classroom, Severus," the older lady said, when there was a soft knock at the door leading to his office.
McGonagall jumped at the chance to move away from his jars. "I'll get it!"
"Oh, Hermione!" She greeted, when she opened the door. "And you've brought Trenton!"
Hermione smiled. "Hello, Minerva."
"What brings you here?"
"Severus said he'd play with Trenton while I finished grading the rest of my exams. The students are getting quite antsy."
"I'll take him!" She said happily, as she reached for the baby. "Hello, Trenton!"
"Here's his bag," Hermione said, and handed her the object. "I should be back before he goes to sleep. It shouldn't take too long to finish."
"Go, go," McGonagall ushered. "He'll be just fine."
Hermione smiled and pointed at Severus, who was making his way over to them. "Watch his face."
"Goodbye, Severus," Hermione said out loud, making several students turn their heads and Severus freeze. "I'll be back before he goes to sleep."
He quickly closed the distance between them, but before he had a chance to say anything, Hermione reached up and placed a peck on his cheek; several students stopped working.
"Bye," she said grinning, and disappeared through his office's door.
"Why Severus, I do believe that you're actually blushing," McGonagall remarked.
His eyes snapped to the rest of the room, where everyone was watching him.
"What's so interesting?" He asked. "Get back to work, or you can change his diaper,"Severus said, pointing at Trenton.
Immediately, thirteen heads turned the other way.
"Look Trenton, your father's turning red," McGonagall said, as he snapped around and walked away.
---
About an hour later, while the students were cleaning out the cauldrons, one of the younger Slytherin players turned to Janie.
"What's it like having Professor Snape as a dad?"
"What?"
"Don't get mad," he said quickly. "It's a serious question."
Janie glanced at her father. He must have said something to make McGonagall angry, because she was glaring at him. ("Now just listen to Aunt Minnie-" "Aunt Minnie? More like grandma," Severus remarked.)
"Does he act like a professor all of the time?" He asked hesitantly.
"Only when I'm in trouble," Janie replied. "What's he like as Head of Slytherin?"
"It usually depends on his mood and what we did. It must suck for him during Quidditch season, because we're his team, but you're his daughter. Not only that, but you're on the Gryffindor team. In the beginning, he told the team to worry about scoring goals. I always thought that he wanted you to catch the snitch, but for us to still win. You know who Garrett Billows is?"
"The Slytherin Captain."
He nodded. "He doesn't like you or Professor Snape very much. Before, Professor Snape was always involved with our Quidditch team...Garrett said that he used to hold team meetings and everything. Lately, he's hardly done anything - it's like he's trying to distance himself. Ever since you were in that Quidditch accident last year, he's made himself more sparce. He told us last year that no one was allowed to touch you. Professor Snape actually tried to expel the two beaters and permanently kick the seeker off of the team. He told them that there were many other students who'd want to take their spots. In the end, Dumbledore gave them detentions with Filch and Professor Snape made them clean his classroom with toothbrushes."
"Does everybody hate me?" Janie asked.
"No," he said. "Garrett was the only one, really. All of us have a lot of respect for Professor Snape, and well, you're his daughter. If you weren't in Gryffindor...But after word spread around that you punched out that seventh year last year - a Gryffindor seventh year, some of us figured that you might not be so bad. I mean, Scott's your best friend. He spends more time with you than with any of us. You'd be surprised on what some people think if you'd talk to them."
---
In the end, it took the teams three weeks to scrub every classroom in the castle. Once the weather started to get nice, the teams agreed that their time would be better spent outside than in the classroom. To McGonagall, it was a miracle that the teams worked so diligently together. On the other hand, Severus knew that as soon as the detentions ended, the teams would go back to hating each other. What he was surprised to see was that most of the two teams stopped glowering at each other in the corridors.
After the team detentions ended, the other detentions with Filch ended shortly after. Of course, not without a two-foot long essay on the importance of teamwork and unity due, assigned by McGonagall (Severus wanted a three-foot long essay on the repercussions of fighting with research to back it up.). The last few months passed quickly enough, with Ravenclaw winning the House Cup for the second year in a row; none of the other Houses were remotely close.
Summer was gladly welcomed by all, except for Severus, who could do without the Fridays. Every Friday, Harry and Ginny would visit, and when Ron wasn't busy, he would occasionally pop in as well. To Severus' displeasure, they started the Friday term ended. If that wasn't bad enough, Janie always was around her three friends; two of which are boys. He wished Janie had more girl friends. It wasn't even a week into break, when Hermione finally threatened to lock Severus in the basement if he didn't stop watching out of the windows to make sure nothing "funny" was going on.
On the first Friday, Severus was able to get a reprieve when Ginny showed up alone. There was no way that he was going to sit around and listen to the two talk about "woman subjects."
---
"Have you thought of any names yet?" Hermione asked, once they were sitting down.
Ginny nodded. "James for the boy, of course. I really thought that the girl's name was going to be Lily, but Harry said that he didn't want to have his parents as his children. Instead, we came up with Evalyn, since his mum's maiden name was Evans."
Hermione smiled. "Lyn for short?"
"Yep," she replied. "We're going to have James Arthur Potter and Evalyn Fay Potter. My mum cried all night when I told her that Evalyn's middle name is after her brother, Fabian."
"It's almost going to be like we're there again..."
"Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.
Hermione nodded. "Trenton, James, and Evalyn will all be in the same year. Neville's daughter, Chrissie, Patrick, Aiden-"
"Who's Aiden?"
"I never told you?" Hermione asked.
"No," she replied.
"Aiden is my cousin's son. He came over on Wednesday saying that Aiden accidentally did magic. He was worried for him, so we went to Diagon Alley to get a shirt that absorbed magical 'explosions.' All of them will be going to be at school at the same time," she finished.
It was quiet for several moments, until Ginny suddenly slammed her hand down on the table. "Ron's got a girlfriend!"
Hermione tried to look surprised. "Really?"
"He told us last night! We're going out to dinner tomorrow to meet her...Kim. Well, not all of us...he doesn't want Fred or George to know yet. And he doesn't want to introduce her to my mum and dad yet. I mean, can you believe that he's been going out with her for nearly five months and never told us anything?"
Hermione took a sip of her tea.
"Hermione Snape...you don't look to surprised at all of this."
Hermione gave a small smile. "Ron ran into Severus and I while we were Christmas shopping. She was there with him. I promised him that I wouldn't tell anybody."
"He brought her Christmas shopping?" Ginny exclaimed.
Hermione shrugged. "We were Christmas shopping, I don't know what they were doing."
"Did you know that she's a muggle?"
"That, I didn't know," Hermione replied.
"He's not telling her anything yet. He said that he's been hiding all of his magical stuff. You know, I haven't seen him like this around a girl, except for you."
"Maybe he's finally going to get married-"
"Did he tell you something?"
"No," Hermione answered. "We only spoke for five minutes. Honestly," she added, when she saw Ginny's face.
"So anyways...You never told me what happened at the end of school, Hermione!"
---
Next Friday was almost the same, except Ginny, Harry, and Ron all came. Ron was talking about Kim for the tenth different time last night, and Ginny was about ready to hex him.
"She's great!" Ron exclaimed. "And guess what?"
"What?" Ginny asked, twirling her wand in her fingers.
"She loves magic!"
Ginny dropped her wand. "You told her?"
"No," Ron replied, like she wasn't listening to what he was saying. "She always goes on about how she loves magic...anything magical. Like fairytales or romance comedies...or that place called Gisney."
"Disney?" Hermione asked.
Ron blinked. "That's a 'D?'"
Hermione nodded.
"Really? I always thought it was a 'G!'"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Even I knew it was a 'D,' Ron."
---
The next Friday, Ginny came over in a huff, dragging Harry behind her. Hermione could only get a "hello" in, when she exploded in their living room.
"Can you believe that Ron went to Disney? Of all places!"
"You're just jealous, because you've never gone," Harry said, sitting down.
"Why would he want to go to Disney?" Ginny asked.
"Let's go then," Harry supplied. "Growing up, I've always wanted to go..."
Ginny glared at him, "Harry James Potter, I'm due in a month - there's no way that I am running off to Disney."
"Oh!"
"Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"See, I bet now they're going-"
"Kim likes magic, right?"
It went straight over Ginny's head. "Yeah. Fred and George tease him all of the time," she replied.
Hermione smiled. "I bet he's proposing-"
"Shut up!" Ginny exclaimed. "Merlin's bloody arse, I bet you're right!"
Hermione's eyes widened.
"She's been cursing a lot lately," Harry explained. "The twins are always gabbing her-"
"He took her to her dream place to propose - and he didn't tell anyone!"
Suddenly, Harry jumped up.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked.
"I'm going to go congratulate him-"
"Harry, sit your arse back down on that sofa," Ginny commanded.
Severus went to walk in the room at the same time, but once he saw what was going on, he quickly backed out.
"I wonder if he's going to do it at the castle-"
"Castle? What castle?" Ginny questioned.
"Cinderella's castle-"
"You want to go, but you didn't know about the castle?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked about ready to murder him. "Shut up, Harry."
"When did he go?" Hermione asked.
"Harry said Ron took the rest of the day off yesterday to surprise her," Ginny replied, as Janie came running into the room.
"You have a letter, Mum," she said and handed her the object. "Hi everybody...Bye everybody," she said, as she ran out of the room again, as Severus appeared in the doorway.
"She has friends over," Hermione said, when she saw the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. "It's from your mum, Ginny."
Dear Hermione and Severus,
Hello dears! I hope your summer is going well! We're having a summer get-together next Saturday, and I'd love it if you would be able to come. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Trenton in a while, either! If you can't make it, please let me know, or you could just tell Ginny. Hope all is well!
-Mrs. Weasley
After Hermione read the letter, she handed it to Ginny.
"Did you know about that?" Harry asked.
Ginny shook her head. "She was talking about it, but I didn't know when. You can come, right?" She asked, looking at Hermione.
"Of course," she replied.
"Go where?" Severus asked.
Ginny handed him the letter.
"Doesn't Janie have friends coming over that day?"
"Janie has friends over all of the time. Nice try, Severus. Of course we'll be there, Ginny," Hermione replied.
---
"It's great to see you again!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, when Hermione walked through the door. "Janie!" She continued and hugged her. "Patrick and Michael are upstairs. Trenton!" She exclaimed, and picked him right out of Severus' arms.
"I think you need more grandchildren," Severus remarked.
"Janie and Trenton are just like my grandchildren," Mrs. Weasley replied.
"Aunt Hermione!"
Hermione looked down to see Patrick running into the room.
"I can say your name!"
Hermione laughed. "Good job, Patrick!"
"George has been working with him to get everybody's names right," Mrs. Weasley explained.
Patrick turned to Severus. "Your name is harder though, Uncle Seh...Uncle Severus."
Before Severus got a chance to say anything, Hermione hugged the little boy.
"That's so good, Patrick! You must have worked very hard!"
Mrs. Weasley smiled. "He runs around calling Ginny Ginevra. She absolutely hates it."
"Aunt Hermione, I've run into a problem," Patrick said, tugging on her shirt; Hermione crouched down. "Mummy says that I'm going to have a sister soon, but I want Janie to be my sister."
"You can have more than one sister, Patrick. Janie has two brothers - you and Trenton."
He gasped. "I never thought of that before!"
"Mum-"
Hermione glanced up to see Ron entering through the back door.
"Ron-" Mrs. Weasley stopped dead when she saw that there was a girl behind him. Immediately, her eyes went to the dishes washing themselves in the sink. "Ronald-"
"It's alright, Mum," he said, as Mrs. Weasley quickly turned to Severus.
"Here Severus, take your son," she said and quickly handed him off again.
Ron grabbed Kim's hand and smiled broadly.
"Mum, we're getting married!" He said proudly. "Kim loves magic! She thinks it's brilliant!"
A piercing scream filled the house, followed by a loud, "Oh Ron!"
"I knew it!" Came Ginny's bellow. "Harry, go get him for me!"
Suddenly, the entire house (minus Ginny) were in the kitchen.
Feeling oddly crowded amongst the sea of red, Hermione and Severus said their congratulations and slipped from the room and found Ginny.
"Did Harry give it to him?" Ginny asked, from her seat on the sofa.
"I think your mum's too busy choking him," Hermione replied.
"After all of the happiness wears off, she'll give it to him," Ginny said. "She's never even seen her before this and he shows up engaged."
"I did that to my parents," Hermione said.
Ginny looked at her. "Did you get in trouble?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Ron will get it...Your mum's nice, Hermione. One thing is for sure though, I really don't want to miss that."
---
A little while later, Remus found Severus and sat next to him. "You got dragged to another party again?"
Severus' eyes looked around the room, pausing on Trenton. He sighed, "Never, in a million years, did I think that I would go to every one of Weasley's and Potter's events."
"If I told you that thirteen years ago, would you do anything different?"
He was quiet for a few moments. "I would go after her."
Remus was hesitant. "Why didn't you?"
"I...always thought that she would be the one to say something. Even though the war was going on, there were ways to keep her safe - Dumbledore could have helped us."
"You would have lost your job if you went to him," Remus pointed out quietly.
"The job wouldn't have mattered," Severus replied softly. "After than, I was being called to meetings for Voldemort and the Order...she didn't take the meetings with the Death Eaters too well. She always thought that I'd come back a bloody mess. I didn't want to put her through that...especially in her condition."
"After the war?"
"After everything was said and done, she disappeared. If she was happy, I'd rather her have happiness than me achieving only my own," he replied.
Remus finally looked to where Severus was looking and saw Hermione handing Trenton a new toy.
"You are a very lucky man, Severus," Remus commented.
"And I wouldn't give it up for the world."
---
A/N: As always, thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed...it is really appreciated! I have been writing a prequel to the story and I put a few excerpts up on the website (Follow the "Homepage" link on my profile.). I'm also currently rewriting the epilogue (Takes place at a wedding...Any guesses whose?) to give more detail about what happens.