Severus settled in the private laboratory. He would need to modify the ingredients slightly for the Strength Potions for Astoria because of the pregnancy. The snake fang would have to be finely powdered as opposed to merely crushed.

When he finished with the snake fangs, he glanced at the clock. He had enough time to start the first batch of the potion and let it simmer overnight before they'd head out for dinner. Sitting the potion to simmer, he closed the lab door. It was nearly six and there was no sign of Hermione yet. He felt himself growing irritated. It was unusual for Hermione Granger to be late to anything, at least in his experience with her both as a student and now, and now they would certainly be late if they were supposed to leave for dinner at six.

At 6:15, his irritation turned to worry. Severus didn't remember the last time he'd worried about anyone, even himself, and the realization of that made his jaw hurt as he ground his teeth. He pulled his wand from his belt, he cast a patronus for the first time since before the war had ended. He was almost surprised when his doe stood before him just as clearly defined as she had so many years ago in the Forest of Dean. He studied her for a moment. In some ways, he'd almost expected her to have changed, or to not be able to cast a patronus in corporeal form. Shaking his head, Severus recorded a message and instructed the doe not to reveal herself to anyone in the presence of any muggles other than Hermione's parents. He paced restlessly in the sitting room for a few minutes when the fireplace ignited in bright green.

Hermione and Ginny stepped out of the hearth. Severus took a step back and stiffened when he saw Hermione's face. She was crying heavily. Her cheeks and nose were red. Snape, taken by uncomfortable surprise at Ginny's presence, looked between the two Gryffindors anxiously. Ginny was avoiding Snape's eyes and walked Hermione to the guest bedroom. The door closed behind the two and remained closed for a minute. Severus stood there, awkwardly, completely and utterly at a loss as to what exactly was happening. He heard the water running in the guest bathroom. Ginny emerged from the bedroom, and shut the bedroom door behind her.

"I've run her a bath," Ginny said quietly as she approached Snape, who was standing stiffly next to the fireplace. His glittering dark eyes were narrowed. Ginny ran a hand through her red hair. "She went to talk to her parents about the marriage law."

"I am aware," Severus said lowly.

"It... Didn't go well," Ginny said.

"I had gathered that much," He said coldly.

"Honestly, I didn't much understand some of the references..." Ginny explained. "Something about exchanging goats. Maybe property... I'm not sure. Ultimately, they told her this whole thing made our world no better than dog breeders pairing bitches and sires." Severus flinched, and Ginny hesitated to speak again for a moment, but he eyed her the way he had so often as a teacher and her resolve crumbled. "They want her to renounce our world and move with them back to France. That's where they'd been living while she'd been at university. The only moved back to England when she got the job here..."

Severus looked away from her, folded one arm across his stomach, and then pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand. He stood very still, thinking about what Ginny had just said. He was angry at her parents, angry at Ginny for still being there and making him feel even more uncomfortable, angry at the Ministry for creating this marriage law.

"I'll go check on her once more and then I'll leave you two alone to talk. I think she's got the worst of it out already, but I suggest you order some chocolate ice cream if you've not got any," Ginny said. He looked up sharply at the suggestion. His brow pinched together as she disappeared back into the bedroom.

Snape scowled, and then summoned a House Elf. "Chocolate ice cream," He said to the elf.

"Toppings, sir?" The House Elf asked.

Severus hesitated, not knowing the correct answer. "A bloody assortment," He growled. "Thank you," He added curtly before the elf disappeared with a crack. The elf reappeared almost instantly with a tub of ice cream and a levitating tray of toppings. Severus moved the tray to the counter and put the ice cream in the fridge.

Ginny reappeared in the sitting room. The bedroom door was closed mostly. She lifted the lid. Her voice was quiet when she said, "She likes caramel sauce." She dragged her hands down her face. "I'm going to head home. If you... If she needs anything, just... Call through the Floo, yeah?"

Severus glanced at her with an irritated look. He was frustrated and at a loss, and he also very much would have liked to crawl into a hole and die. He grimaced and looked away from Ginny as the younger witch stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in green flames. Tangling a fist in his own hair, Severus looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. Crookshanks meowed at him from floor and Snape glared at him. "What?" Snape hissed.

Then, the cat jumped up on the counter and began to paw at the side of the freezer door. "I guess you do have your uses..." Severus grumbled as he opened the freezer and scooped some so chocolate ice cream into a bowl. Using a spoon, he drizzled some caramel sauce over the ice cream. Swallowing hard, he carried the bowl toward the guest room. He knocked on the door.

"Severus?" She called and he pushed the door open. He stepped toward her and stiffly extended the hand holding the bowl of ice cream. Hermione eyed it and took it from him. "Chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce. How'd you know?" She asked with a teary smile.

"A... Bird told me," He said slowly.

"Ginny?"

"It may have been a red headed bird," He drawled.

She patted the space on the bed next to her and he sat on the edge of the bed. He was quiet, awkwardly quiet and tense. She calmed tremendously in his presence despite his silent tension. She ate a couple spoonfuls of ice cream. "Well, my conversation with my parents did not go well."

"So it would seem," Severus said dryly.

"I thought they hated our world before," She mused. "I was wrong. They definitely hate it now. They want me to renounce my magic and move with them to Paris." He said nothing. He wasn't even looking at her. His dark eyes were focused on the floor. "My father was furious. My mother just cried. He reminded me in very strong words many times how archaic the entire situation is."

She quieted for a moment and took a few more bites of her ice cream. He was still studying the floor. Then, she spoke again. "I had to tell them about you being my match, and then things really went downhill."

He looked at her again for the first time in several minutes. His dark eyes were questioning. She bit her lip. "They remembered your name as being the name of one of my professors. They don't know too much about you, but I'd... told them some things about you over the years." He narrowed his eyes. "Some things from the war, and some things from classes."

He nodded, looked away, and ground his teeth together. She was well within her rights to have told her parents about him, and he knew his own resume well enough to know no parent would be pleased to have their daughter paired with him. He swallowed hard. "What are you intending to do?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"If you leave this world and go to France with your parents, you will not be forced to marry."

"You can't be serious. If I leave this world, they'll snap my wand, Severus," She said. He flinched a bit at the harshness of her tone. "I'm rather fond of this world and the people in it," She added and tapped her foot against his thigh. "You're barmy if you think marrying you, especially after these last couple weeks together, would be worse than snapping my wand... My parents will cool off in time..." Then she swallowed. "I think."

He was quiet. His jaw was twitching. She moved closer to him on the bed. Scooping some ice cream onto her spoon, she moved the spoon in front of his mouth. He glared at her. "The dangerous and broody Professor Snape is allowed to like ice cream," She teased.

He sighed, and then ran a hand through his black hair. Turning toward her more, he said, "Hermione..." And then a spoon with chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce was shoved into his mouth. He gagged in surprise as she laughed hysterically. Swallowing the ice cream, his dark eyes glittered dangerously.

"Whatever you were about to say was probably going to be filled with unnecessary self-loathing, and I'd rather just... go back to enjoying each other's company, if that's all right with you," She said.

"Actually," He said coolly. "I was going to tell you that I am sorry the conversation with your parents did not go well."

Her face turned serious. "Thank you."

He nodded and then looked at the bowl. "I prefer strawberry ice cream." He stood and moved toward the door.

"Ew," She said in disgust. "Where are you going?"

"We had a date," He said.

"I don't really feel up to going out," She said.

"Surely you know this castle has quite an elaborate room service menu?" He cocked an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes as he disappeared out into the sitting room.