The long workday at Severus's store came to an end. He started bottling up the potion he finished just a couple of minutes ago. As he put the potion into each vial, he labeled each one. After the cauldron was empty, he was able to fill up four vials. He grabbed the four vials and left the backroom. He turned to the shelf where many of his potions were resting. He put the four vials in their correct location being sure that everything was alphabetized the way he liked it. Old habits do not change. "Alright Hermione it's 5 o'clock. It's time to close up and head home!" Snape called to the backroom. Once he was sure it was perfect, he turned away from the shelf and walked over to Sabrina's playroom. Throughout the workday, Sabrina stayed in her playroom. She played with her dollies, she went down the slide, and after lunch she took a much-needed nap on the cot that was in the corner of the room. Severus opened the door to the playroom and watched as his daughter came running to him with Hoppy in her hand. He felt his heart swell at seeing her excitement. Once she reached his legs, Severus bent down and picked her up from the floor placing her on his hip.
Sabrina stared at her daddy with hope and wonder. She put her finger to her mouth in thought, worried that he would not say yes to her question. "Daddy?" she said hesitantly.
Severus looked into Sabrina's eyes and smiled at her. "What is it cherub?" The nickname that he called her rolled off his tongue with a soft purr. His love for her had no bounds. He would do anything for her.
"Can we see your house now?" Sabrina said eagerly. She meant it when she said she wanted to see where her daddy lived. She imagined what it would look like all day long while she played with her toys. She could not wait any longer. "Please daddy?" She pleaded with her big brown eyes.
Severus could not say no to her. "Alright Cherub. Once your mommy is finished cleaning up her workspace we can go."
Sabrina gripped Severus tightly and squealed in delight. "Thank you, Daddy!"
Hermione finished cleaning up her cauldron and bottling up her own potions. She left the backroom and put the potions up on the shelf. She turned to see Severus holding on to their daughter tightly. She smiled at them warmly. Sabrina smiled at her mommy and said excitedly, "Mommy, Daddy said we can visit his house. Can we go now, Mommy?"
Hermione nodded slowly digesting what her daughter just said. She was anxious at the thought of seeing Severus's home. What would it look like? Were the walls covered in black? Did he have numerous bookcases full of books? Did he have his own personal potion's lab? She too felt excited at the thought of seeing the dark wizard's home. She closed the space between them and grabbed Severus's hand. She took a deep breath and smiled softly at Severus. "Are you ready to apparate all three of us?" Severus was anxious to do side-along when he has not done it in many years. Hermione saw the look of trepidation on his face. "You're a powerful wizard, Severus. I know you can do it. You won't splinch us," she encouraged.
Severus nodded at her words. He gripped Sabrina even tighter to him with his left arm and held on to Hermione's hand with his right. With a deep breath he closed his eyes and apparated away from the store and appeared in a secluded alleyway. He reopened his eyes once he felt his feet hit the concrete ground. He saw that Sabrina and Hermione were just fine next to him. He sighed in content feeling the stress that he felt evaporate.
Sabrina rested her head on her daddy's shoulder and muttered, "I feel dizzy." She closed her eyes feeling nauseous by the sudden movement.
Severus kissed her temple and said, "We are almost there. We just have to walk down the sidewalk." He quickly got his bearings and led them down the sidewalk towards his beloved home. They still were in the middle of London but just a few miles away from the potion's store they just left. They walked a couple minutes in silence until they reached Parker Street where his beloved home was. There in front of them stood a tall building. The tall building had three floors and had muggle apartments.
Hermione stared at the building in confusion. "I thought you said you had a house?" Hermione inquired. She pictures so much but an apartment, that was not what she had pictured.
Severus grinned at her and took out his wand. "It is my house." Severus pointed at the building and began the incantations to expose his home. After a few seconds went by, the building started to stretch. Sabrina stared at it her eyes filled with shock. After the building started to stretch there in the middle was his house. It stretched just a little bit more until finally his home was sat proudly on the ground in front of them. Severus put his wand away and said, "Shall we?"
Hermione stared flabbergasted. "How did you do that?" she questioned.
"Daddy that was amazing!" Sabrina shouted. "You're a magician!"
Severus chuckled and said, "Wizard, Sabrina. You'll be a witch too soon enough." The three walked to the front door of his house and they entered his home. With a quick wave of his wand the building returned to normal as if nothing ever happened. "Welcome to my home Hermione and Sabrina."
Hermione looked around the home and saw that they were currently in the living room. The living room had a black leather couch and two armchairs. In front of the couch and chairs was a table that had a book sat upon it. Hermione's eyes briefly left the table and saw on the walls were numerous bookcases that had to be magically enlarged to fit all the books he owned. Hermione's hands itched to get her hands on them. She walked cautiously towards the bookshelves and remembered that this was not her home. She did not have permission to touch the books as much as she wanted to read them.
Sabrina whispered, "Wow! That is a lot of books, daddy. Have you read all of them?"
Severus chuckled and said, "Almost all of them. I still got a couple more to read. I started collecting them when I was a child. During the summer I would spend my summer reading. It was the only thing my mother would let me do." His words left him in a whisper. His parents never let him do magic at home. His mom let him keep his books and read as long as he did not show his father what the book was about.
"Daddy you have a mommy too? Can I see her?" Sabrina questioned.
"No, Sabrina. She isn't alive anymore. Her and my father died a long time ago," he said bitterly. He didn't miss them at all. His parents treated him horribly. Many years of abuse kept him closed off from others.
Sabrina hugged him and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry, Daddy. Mommy doesn't have a family either."
Severus looked over at Hermione who was currently still staring at the many books. "How about we go into the kitchen and make some tea? How does that sound Hermione?"
Hermione begrudgingly turned away from the books on the wall and followed Severus into the kitchen. As amazing as the living room/library was the kitchen was very ordinary. It had a range, a sink, a fridge, a cupboard, and a small table that only had two chairs. "Your kitchen is very ordinary, Severus," Hermione commented.
Severus shrugged in response. "It suits my needs very well. I don't spend much time here in the kitchen. Here go sit at the table while I make us some tea."
Hermione sat comfortably in the wooden chair, and she held Sabrina close to her. She wished that she could potentially live here one day. His house was amazing. The numerous books that lined the wall and the amount of space it had intrigued her. Her mind wandered to what her feelings were for the dark wizard that was currently making them tea. She honestly wasn't sure how she felt. She spent many months getting over him. She would lay in bed and cry hoping that someone would answer her prayers, but they never were answered. She eventually focused all her energy on Sabrina. She spent three years alone in her home with a baby. She was forced to grow up rapidly while her ex-friends got to go off and have all the fun they wanted. She didn't have a job or any friends and found herself to be very lonely. She didn't realize she had been crying silently until Severus handed her a tissue. She blushed hard. She was mortified that she was caught crying in his home. She accepted the tissue and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Severus," She whispered. Again, she was mortified by how broken her voice sounded.
"The war hasn't treated us kindly, Hermione," Severus said softly. He set down the tray of tea and biscuits in the middle of the table. He sat down on the other side of the table and grabbed his teacup. He took a sip of his tea and leaned back in his chair. "So, what do you think of my home, Hermione?"
Hermione smiled at him meekly. "It's great, Severus. I love your living room. It has so many books. I" She hesitated. She felt oddly nervous. She pictured him yelling at her and calling her a know-it-all back when she was in school. She bit her lip and summoned her Gryffindor courage. "May I read some of your books sometime?" She asked hopefully.
She waited with bated breath until finally Severus responded, "Yes you may. Before touching any of them please ask me first. Some of them can be quite dangerous."
The breath that Hermione didn't realize she was holding in came out and she felt elated. He was going to let her read them after all. Before Hermione could respond in thanks Sabrina interrupted them. "What do you mean dangerous? Books can't be dangerous." She was obviously very confused by all of this.
Severus shook his head with amusement. "Sabrina the books that I have are not regular books that you will find in a simple library. They are magical books."
Sabrina's eyes widened. "Magic? Even books can have magic?" She couldn't believe it. Her mother never had any of those.
"Yes, the books indeed are magical. You may not touch any of the books, Sabrina unless your mommy or I agree to it." His voice was firm which left no room for argument.
Instead of arguing with him, Sabrina came up with another question. She looked up at her mommy and said innocently, "How did you meet Daddy? Was it at the store?"
Hermione sat there uncomfortably not sure what to disclose to her daughter. She took a deep breath and said, "Well Sabrina your father and I met at school. He was in fact my professor." She, if even possible, felt even more embarrassed by her admittance.
"A professor?" Sabrina's eyes widened with childlike wonder. "What does that mean Mommy?"
"He was my teacher," Hermione whispered. The memories of the way he treated her honestly hurt to think about.
"Did he teach you magic?" Sabrina asked innocently.
Hermione smirked at the memory of Severus's first year speech. There will be no silly wand waving in this class. Hermione let out a laugh as the words filled her thoughts. "Not exactly, Sabrina. He taught me how to brew potions."
"Were you good at it, Mommy? What were you like at school?" Sabrina questioned.
Before Hermione can answer her, Severus commented from across the table with amusement, "She was a know-it-all who had a constant need for learning, but she was the best student I ever had in the past 14 years of teaching." Hermione stared at him in shock. In the six years she went to Hogwarts she had never heard him compliment her. He continued talking to Sabrina ignoring Hermione's stare. "She had the best scores on her O.W.L's than any other student and her essays were written eloquently. I wished all my students were as eager as she was at learning."
Hermione swallowed hard. She started feeling butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't felt this way in years. She realized that in fact her feelings for her professor were still there and had started growing. There, in that moment, she wanted him to be hers. She wanted to live in this beautiful home raising their beautiful daughter together. But are his feelings still the same after three years?
