(Insert Disclaimer here—You guys know the drill)

**TRIGGER WARNING: quick reference to suicide in the first few paragraphs of this chapter**

UPDATED/REWRITTEN CHAPTER 4


1977


Severus watched out of the corner of his eyes as Regulus threw his bag down on his bed with more force than necessary. Severus duritfully ignored his growls and angry mutters as he made some annotations in his potions book. Regulus jerked his tie unloose as he harshly yanked his tie from around his neck and he kicked his trunk.

Sevrus sighed and rolled his eyes. He slowly shut his potions book and placed his quill back in its container. "Black, you seem...stressed."

Regulus huffed and side eyed Severus. "What gave you that idea."

Severus felt one eyebrow raise as he stared at his friend incredulously. At this point, his eyebrows had a mind of their own. "What gave me that idea? I don't know. Perhaps it was somewhere in between you stomping down the dungeon steps like a Gryffindor and from you giving a demonstration of someone trying to hang themselves."

Regulus looked up to the ceiling and counted to five in his head. "Normally your impeccable aptitude of delivering sarcastic quips at your opponents is humorous, but right now, it is simply annoying."

Severus said nothing as he observed the younger Slytherin boy. There weren't a lot of Slytherin boys in his or Regulus' year so they shared dorms with Avery and Mulciber. Thankfully, the two obnoxious morons were somewhere else making fools of themselves. They were not in the room to witness Regulus, the heir of House Black, lose comportment and glared at his papers and shrunken textbooks that he dumped from his bag onto his bed.

Usually Regulus was the epitome of composure-Walburga Black made sure of that. The only time he could ever recall seeing his friend lose control is in the presence of-

Sevrus rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of his bed casually. "You finally broke up with the Gryffindor, I see. It was about time, really." He examines his wand as he felt Regulus' eyes on him.

Regulus notably stiffened in place as he stared at his usually sullen friend. "I'm not sure what you're referring to." He ground through clenched teeth.

Severus returned his wand to its holster. "Lying has never been your strong suit."

"And the ability to mind your own business has never been yours." Regulus shot back.

Severus lightly shrugged. "Perhaps. But that does not detract from the matter at hand. You have finally relieved yourself of that... distraction of yours."

Regulus glared at his soon to be dead friend. "Snape…"

Severus raised his hands. "I'm only saying it is best that you have done that sooner rather than later." He then snorted. "Well, you waited weeks before she graduated, but better late than never, I suppose."

Regulus' eyes turned cold as his frown turned into a smirk worthy of a Black. "Yes. Well, maybe I should have taken your approach and called the girl I pined for a Mudblood and watched as she fell for the lowlife Gryffindor who chased her for six years."

Severus stood up and his dark eyes glittered in anger. "Watch your-"

Regulus stepped closer to Severus, smirk firmly in place. "Watch what? A Black does not watch anything for anyone else. I think you forget yourself, Snape."

Severus didn't say anything but he didn't back away.

Regulus nodded slowly. "I don't recall asking for relationship advice from someone whose never been in a relationship." He backed away, keeping eye contact, before turning his attention back to his school things, promptly dismissing his roommate.

Snape felt a flush rise up the back of his neck, but he refrained his outburst. "The Dark Lord will not tolerate certain...dalliances."

Regulus's mouth turned down. "The Dark Lord has very little tolerance for anything."

Snape looked at his friend closer, taking note of not just his jerky motions and his sour disposition, but also the tone in reference to their Lord. "Severus, if you are having…" he looked around carefully and lowered his voice, "...second thoughts-"

Regulus straightened up and turned back towards. "I will do my duty. Nothing more. Nothing less. Falling for a-" his mouth twisted and his eyes pinched before his face relaxed into nothingness, "-for her is not a part of my duty."

The room was quiet for a couple heavy minutes. Words and thoughts not dared to be spoken weighed down on the room. "Regulus...The Dark Lord...he-I requested…"

Regulus grew impatient. "Sev, spit it out please."

Severus cursed at the sixth year boy. "He might let you keep her as a prize, if you do something for him."

Regulus frowned in thought, before ultimately shaking his head in disagreement. "No, Sev. Even if I did please his Lordship enough...Helen would never accept it." Regulus went to his armoire to exchange his lesson robes for his meal robes. "Besides, it was her idea to end this between us. She wanted me to choose." He looked down at imaginary wrinkles in his robe. "And I never had a choice."


1984


"A daughter, Severus?" The blonde man shook his head vigorously in denial. His long flaxen locks following his movement.

"I saw her Lucy." Severus stated plainly, with only the hint of annoyance lacing his tone.

The blonde man narrowed his eyes at the nickname his best friend deemed him with. "I would have known if Cissy's cousin had a child. He would have told one of us before..."

Severus looked down as well. Nearly four years and the memories of his late friend had not made it any easier to let go of him. "Perhaps. And had I not seen the child first hand, I would believe her to be a product of one of Black's many one-night dalliances. However," Severus paused until Lucius looked in the eye, "She looks just like that woman."

Lucius froze. "The Nikolaevna girl? I thought he said that she didn't want anything to do with him after he joined."

"What better way to say goodbye than to leave a lasting memory?" Severus snarked.

Lucius snorted. He paused. "If what you are saying is true, then Regulus did a lot more planning than we originally thought. You understand what this means don't you?"

"That if Regulus had enough time to plan safer means for his daughter, he may have been able to plan a safer escape route during his suicidal coup against the Dark Lord?"

Lucius scoffed.

"No! Cissy is going to kill me when she realizes that her favorite younger cousin made Sirius Godfather and not me." Lucius moaned.

"I highly doubt that Narcissa is going to care very much to whom Regulus gave Godparental rights to." Severus rolled his eyes. "Besides, I'm positive that Regulus gave more than Godparental rights to Black."

"What do you mean 'whom Regulus gave Godparental rights to'?" A voice from behind Severus called.

A tall waif woman with shoulder length blonde hair hanging loosely stood in the doorway. A child on her hip with perfectly coiffed pale blonde hair and even paler complexion stared curiously between his mother and the two men. His eyes were grey and tear stained, his chubby fists still rubbing one eye. The woman had a struck look on her face, heartbroken.

"Narcissa," Lucius stood quickly, making his way towards his wife in comfort.

Narcissa looked between Severus and her husband who'd adopted his usual placating demeanor. "Regulus is...he had a..." She could barely complete her sentence.

As if sensing the turmoil his mother was in, the child began to cry once more. Severus stood and took his godson out of the room, leaving the couple to each other. Lucius guided Narcissa into his lap. "Cissa, Severus believes that he saw Regulus' daughter in town yesterday with Black and the Potters."

"Why would he assume it's Regulus'? I-I mean, surely, Sirius could have spawned a numerous of illegitimate children a-and—"

"Narcissa," Lucius caught off her stammering. "Nothing is for certain. I have yet to see the child myself."

Narcissa stood up, suddenly angered. "You think that Severus would lie about something like this. Regulus and Severus were very close. He took Reggie's death the hardest. I trust Severus."

Lucius stood up with her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to soothe his irate wife. "Narcissa, I understand that. And I trust Severus with my son's life. But I also believe that because he took the loss the hardest, his story is that much harder to believe. All, I am saying is that I wish to see the child myself, before we do anything crazy."

"Lily, can you get the door? Harry and I had a bit of an incident!" James called from the kitchen. Lily giggled to herself and shook her head.

Her husband and Harry were always having little incidents. She suspected it had a lot more to do with her husband than it had to do with Harry. She could hear Harry's laughter chiming in from the Kitchen. Lily opened the door.

"Hello."

Lily's eyes widened at the sight of the ever classy Narcissa looking just the slightest bit frazzled. A couple strands of her pin straight blonde hair were untucked from her ear. Her son sat on her hip in a white shirt and khaki shorts, nearly gnawing on his fist trying to devour the red lollipop in his hand.

"Lady Malfoy, is there something I can help you with?" She asked hesitantly.

Narcissa cleared her throat, "As a matter of fact, there is. Is my cousin here?" She leaned forward a bit trying to peek into the modest home.

Lily stiffened and blocked her view. "Who wants to know?"

Narcissa scoffed. "Please. If I wanted to harm him do you think I would bring my son with me?"

Lily relaxed slightly. "I don't see how it is any of your business where Sirius is."

Narcissa softened her stance. "I just...Severus came by yesterday. He told my husband that Regulus had a daughter and she now resides in the custody of my cousin. I just want to know if this is true."

"Why? What right do you have to know that kind of information."

"She's my niece. I have more right to see her than you, you little—"

"Finish that sentence Narcissa and you will never see my daughter."

Narcissa spun around carefully at the familiar voice. The only reason Sirius did not have his wand pointed at her back was because of the little boy on her hip looking on the scene interested.

Narcissa took in the sight in front of her with mixed emotions. Her cousin stood in front of her tense, hand witching towards the wand in his holster. Behind him stood his werewolf friend with a beautiful little girl on his shoulders. The little girl looked between her and her cousin with curiosity. Her hair was just past her shoulders in dark, inky spirals. Her complexion was a caramel and olive blend and her eyes a silvery smoky, silver gray. She bit down on her bottom lip, the lip being the same color as the roses blooming in her garden.

Narcissa felt her heart stutter as she stared at the little girl who looked so much like her cousin, which one she wasn't sure. But one thing was for certain, she definitely looked like the woman Regulus used to whine over in school.

"It's true. She's—"

"My daughter. Yes, Narcissa." Sirius cut in giving his cousin a look.

"Why don't we continue this inside?" Remus suggested, bouncing the little girl on his shoulders, causing her to giggle and clutch at his neck.

Lily opened the door, ushering everyone inside. Narcissa stood stiffly in the living room near the sofa, unsure of whether to sit or not. Draco began to wriggle in her arms and whine. Narcissa put him down but held his clean hand.

"You can sit down on the sofa, Narcissa." Lily motioned towards the furniture unsurely.

"She probably doesn't want to get any muggle germs on her thousand galleon dress," Sirius snarked.

"It is improper for a guest to welcome herself upon another's furniture without the proper invitation," Narcissa recited

"There's those pureblood etiquette rules that we adore so much!" Sirius exclaimed wildly gesturing towards Narcissa. Lily ignored him.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Lily asked.

"No thank you." Narcissa didn't take her eyes off Hermione.

"Papa, who the pretty lady? And look Papa! She has a baby!" Hermione shouted, staring at Draco with large eyes. It escaped Hermione's notice that the 'baby' was the same age as her. Draco took notice of the loud girl and continued to suck on his lolly.

Sirius' demeanor softened. "How was your puppy-baby day, shrimp?"

Hermione's eyes lit up, completely forgetting her questions from earlier, and she immediately began to tell Sirius all about what she and Remus did. "We went to zoo. And I saw all the pretty animals. I saw big animals and small animals. I saw baby animals. They were always sleeping. But they were so cute! Puppy said if I be a good girl he would get me a baby monkey."

Sirius looked at Remus with an eyebrow raised. Remus blushed a bit. He gripped the little girl and brought her down to the ground.

"I may have said that, but in all fairness she did do 'the look'. So, it wasn't my fault."

"It's never any of you guys' faults when she does 'the look'," Lily used air quotes and smirked at Sirius and Remus.

Sirius shrugged. "My kid's cute. Sue her."

"Yeah, sue me." The small girl in question mimicked.

"Lily-pot, who was at the door and who is getting sued?" James asked walking into the room with Harry thrown over his shoulder.

"Me!" Hermione raised her hand and stood on her tippy toes so that James could see her.

"What is puppy-baby day?" Narcissa asked, finally breaking out of her shock.

Everyone in the room looked at her, some forgetting that she was still there and one who didn't notice her to begin with. Before anyone could answer Hermione walked up to her and climbed in her lap.

"Uncle Remus is my puppy. He's mine like my Papa is Harry's."

Godfather, Lily mouthed behind the little girl when Narcissa looked up confused. Clarification washed over the woman's face.

"Me and Puppy go to the zoo and get ice cream and buy me books. I like books. I can read. Do you like to read? Can your baby read? He's pretty. His hair is shiny too, like yours. What's your name?"

Narcissa looked overwhelmed at the talkative girl, slightly taken aback at her vocabulary.

"I'm Narcissa. Yes I like to read and no, Draco can't read just yet. But he will. What is your name?"

"I'm Hermione. Your name is really long. My daddy says my name is long too and that is why he always call me shrimp, or cutie, or love, or monster when I do something bad. But Puppy said I'm not bad, I'm just spir-i-ted." She shrugged her small shoulders and pouted cutely. "I don't know what that means. But I will. I'm really smart. Are you smart? Papa said smart people do better in life. Aunt Lily said Papa wouldn't know because he didn't pay attention in school. Then I made Papa sit in time out because you supposed to listen to you teachers."

Sirius, James, and Remus chuckled at Hermione's long windedness. Lily only shook her head at them.

"Come on Hermione, why don't you go show Harry your new toys?" Lily took Harry from James' shoulder and placed his giggling body on the floor.

"Can Draco come too? Please?" She turned to Narcissa poking out her bottom lip just enough to make it quibble. She looked at Narcissa through her thick eyelashes.

"Um, sure."

Draco looked at his mother in confusion and almost betrayal. He took the lollipop out his mouth and began to pout and whine clutching at his mother's hem of her dress.

"It's Okay, Draco. I promise me and Harry are nice. Right Harry?"

The little boy shook his head up and down furiously in agreement.

"I have a lot of toys . You can play with them if u promise not to cry." Hermione gently goaded the little tyke. "'Sides, my Papa told me that crying is for little babies."

Draco sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "Not a little baby."

"Okay," Hermione announced cheerfully and grabbed Draco's other hand, dragging him behind her.

The room was tense for a minute before Remus sighed.

"Someone has to say something or we'll just be sitting here all day."

"Fine," Sirius stood up. "Why are you here? Why do you care about Hermione?"

"She's my cousin. Unlike you, Regulus has always been family to me." Narcissa stood as well, glaring Sirius down.

"Regulus has always been family to me! I may not have liked him for a while, but I always loved him. He is—was my younger brother."

"When Reggie—" Narcissa swallowed back the pit in her throat, "When I was told about Regulus it was hard for me to come to terms with my youngest cousin. We had grown a lot closer over the last couple of years, he was practically my little brother. I just wanted to see if she was really his daughter. I thought that maybe if she was, I could still have a bit of him with me. Is that so wrong?"

"Yes!" Sirius laughed incredulously. "That is wrong. You have no right whatsoever to my daughter, and damn sure not some pseudo-aunt claim!"

"Sirius," Remus muttered.

"No, he's right Moony. She just came barging out of nowhere—" James was interrupted by a knocking at the door. James stormed over to it.

"How did I know it would be you two?"

"Perhaps because my wife is being held hostage by you three imbeciles." Lucius drawled as he welcomed himself inside, sweeping past James.

"And your excuse, Sniv—"

"James Potter!" A shout from the other room called.

"Snape?"

Severus smirked at his correction. "I'm here because I know how the three of you operate. You don't exactly play very fair."

"Oh please, we wouldn't have touched her." James sneered.

"No promises here, mate," Sirius continued to glare at his distant cousin, who returned a more menacing one. But Sirius refused to back down.

"Okay, everyone needs to settle down or we really will be here all day. I suspect Hermione, Harry, and little Draco will get up to some mischief soon enough so I suggest we handle this sooner rather than later," Lily rationalized.

"What makes you think that my son would get up to any mischief? He is always on his best behavior." Lucius scoffed.

"If he's near my daughter and godson, he's up to no good," Sirius dryly added.

"Then she truly is his daughter, Sirius?" Narcissa whispered. Sirius was about to snap at her for referring to Hermione as anyone's but his, but knew he couldn't when Narcissa looked as weak as she did. Her big, pale blue eyes glittered with tears.

Sirius sighed. "Yes."

"Why would he bring her here? You hated him at the time, why would he trust you with her." She said this with honest confusion in her tone.

"You'll never understand the bond between brothers. Regulus may not have trusted me with his life, but he did with Hermione's. He knew that I would take her in as my own and protect her with my life." Sirius sat down, feeling all too weathered all of a sudden by the conversation. He was transported back to that fateful day his brother dropped a small baby off in his care. "He looked haggard and in a hurry. He was obviously desperate and he wanted someone who he knew could protect her."

"We would have protected her," Lucius protested.

"How?" This came from Narcissa. She turned to look at her husband who had the slight look of betrayal on his face, so similar to their son's. "Before or after you agreed to be a spy for Dumbledore?"

"I'm pretty sure that Reggie's purpose of sending her here was to keep her as far out of his reach as possible." Severus put a hand on Lucius' shoulder.

"Dumbledore or Malfoy's?" James snorted. Sirius shared a look with his friend. Neither really had a whole lot of trust in Dumbledore as of late. He never really explained why they lied about that night Voldemort showed up at the Potter's cottage. Neither was he really forthcoming about Voldemort's past. He was also suspiciously quiet whenever Remus needed support for any of his proposals.

"Both. And he hinted at the fact that he was going to be...unavailable to care for Hermione after that night. He was planning something, I knew it, and I knew with every bone in my body that it was going to be the last time I ever saw him." Sirius laughed bitterly. A few tears had escaped his eyes and he roughly brushed them away. "I knew I would never see him again after that night and I never apologized for the things I said to him when we were younger. I never told him that I forgave him for joining that bastard. I didn't hug him or—or—nothing! I just let him walk out of here. I LET HIM SACRIFICE HIS LIFE TO TAKE DOWN THAT FUCKING BASTARD!"

Remus and James both put a hand on their friend's shoulder. Narcissa and Lily wiped their eyes. Severus looked away, uncomfortable by Black's sudden vulnerability on show for everyone to see. He never thought that the moment he finally saw Black breakdown that he would look away and not relish in it. Perhaps because his rejoicing in Black's sadness would also be him rejoicing in the death of Regulus. Lucius rubbed his wife's back soothingly.

"I'm sure Regulus forgave you when he came to you that night. His giving of Hermione to you was his own way of apologizing for not being the brother that you deserved. Regulus would never have told you, but he mourned the relationship the two of you lost. He hated himself a long while, regretting the years you two lost to be close. He looked up to you Sirius." Narcissa confessed.

The room was quiet, but there was no longer a heavy coating of tension in the room. It was as if a blanket had been lifted and everyone could finally breathe a little easier. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint glimmers of laughter and giggling of children of children upstairs.

"Severus, Lucius, would you like anything to drink?" Lily offered after a moment.

Lucius waved a hand, but Severus nodded, hesitantly. Lily made to leave but she hesitated in the doorway, "You are all welcome to stay for dinner. It is already in the oven and there is always plenty to eat."

"Um—" Severus began.

"We actually have—" Lucius started.

"We would love to." Narcissa replied for them all. Lucius and Severus looked at her but she steadfastly ignored their stares. Lily hid a smirk as she turned to get a glass of water for Severus.

Remus cleared his throat. "I'm going to go say goodbye to my goddaughter before I head out." Remus left the other occupants of the room in their awkward silence.

Sirius elbowed James. James coughed and awkwardly gestured towards Severus. Severus tensed in preparation for anything smart James may have to say to him.

"I never—uh. Congratulations, I guess. Um, your wife, in the bookstore, she was—uh." James made a protruding belly shape with his hands.

"Pregnant?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the stuttering buffoon of a man. James nodded.

"Smooth," Sirius coughed into his hand. James pinched his arm.

"Not that it is any of your business, but she is not my wife. We are friends." Lucius coughed. Severus turned his glare on him. "We are. We are only friends and the child is not mine."

"Oh please, Severus. Nani is as taken with you as you are her. And you are that child's father, whether you birthed it or not. You know as well as I do genetics has little to do with fatherhood, it is all about intention." Narcissa smiled at him.

Severus cleared his throat. "I rather not talk about this right now," surreptitiously looking at James and Sirius.

"They're practically family now, Sev. You might as well get used to it."

"We will never be family."

"Reg would have made you godfather, Sev. You know this." Narcissa prodded.

"But he didn't. He gave his child to his brother. Not to me or you or Lucius. I think that speaks volumes." He said abruptly. "Where is your restroom?" He asked James.

"Down the hall, two doors down and on your left." James answered.

"DON'T LEAVE PUPPY!"

"And there's my loudmouth child," Sirius smiled.

Remus trudged down the stairs with Hermione on his back and Harry and Draco on either leg. Hermione was clutching Remus for dear life and both boys giggled as they were periodically lifted up and down by the wolf's legs. Remus seemed out of breath and more ruffled than when he went upstairs a few minutes ago, something not unusual whenever he was with his goddaughter.

"Hermione, you know I have to get back to Mary. She's going to miss me too much if I don't go home."

"But we didn't finish our Puppy-baby day! You didn't read me a story or play tea-party wif me or watch the dinosaur movies with me." Hermione whined.

"Hermione, what did I tell you about whining?"

"Only crackers like wine." Hermione pouted.

Harry giggled. "Hermione is a cheese cracker."

"No, she a peanut butter cwacker." Draco giggled.

Both of the little boys giggled some more, drowning out Hermione's protests. Remus tried pulling Hermione off his back but she avoided his searching hands but climbing up his back and clutching his jacket.

"Papa, tell Puppy he gots to stay wif me. Please."

Sirius got off the couch and pulled Hermione off of Remus. "You know he has to go. You'll see him tomorrow morning when he takes you and Harry to Magic Tots."

Remus bent down and picked both little boys off his legs and deposited their giggling bodies onto the couch.

"Magic Tots?" Narcissa asked.

"It's a magical daycare center." Lily explained.

Narcissa still looked confused. "Daycare center?" In pureblood households, children only go to school once they are 11 years old, and thus old enough to go to Wizarding school. Prior to that, most pureblood children are taught rudimentary skills, such as reading, writing, math, and etiquette by tutors.

"It's an establishment that young children go to so that they can learn rudimentary skills before they are old enough for schooling." Lily answered, bringing in a glass of water.

"Muggle?" Lucius croaked.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, muggle. I went to one, as well as my sister. And now, so does Harry and Hermione. It is an excellent day care, and besides, Sirius is too clingy to leave Hermione's side for too long. So he...stays around for a while."

Sirius shrugged unashamed.

Narcissa hmmed.

Lucius glanced at his wife with a frown on his face, setting deeper as the seconds passed.

Narcissa opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Lucius cut her off. "No."

"But—"

"Absolutely not."

"It could possibly—"

"It won't." Lucius was adamant.

"We will discuss this later." Narcissa looked Lucius in the eye, not the least bit off-put by Lucius' adamance.

James snorted. "I know what that means."

Lily smirked at her husband. "That's because you have learned that I always get what I want."

"You promise?" A small voice asked. The adults looked over to see Lupin bent down in front of Hermione, holding her two hands in his. He smiled softly at her and held out his pinky.

"Of course I do. Puppy never breaks his promise remember?" Remus whispered. Hermione nodded and linked her pinky with his. "Now give me a hug and I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

Hermione did so and this time let go of him without complaint. She reached for Sirius' hand and she watched Remus leave. Once he left, Hermione turned and stretched her arms upward signaling for Sirius to pick her up and she burrowed her head into the crook of his neck.

"Why is she so clingy with him?" Narcissa wondered aloud.

"When Hermione was a baby, sometimes she would only sleep if Remus held her. We don't really know why, I mean we have theories, but nothing substantial. But we've asked her about it, and she says he smells like chocolate." Sirius shrugged.

Severus walked back into the room, accepting the glass of water from Lily. "Regulus always did like those Chocolate frogs."

Narcissa sat at the vanity inside her large bathroom, preparing for bed and brushing her golden stands periodically. She looked to the left and smiled as Draco gave Tootsie a hard time during his bath.

"Draco," she called gently, and Draco halted in his splashing. "You're getting the floor all wet. You know mommy doesn't like that."

"I do what Mimi do." And he splashed some more.

"Mimi? Who is Mimi, sweetie?"

"Mimi, mommy. Cousin Mimi." She assumed he was referring to Hermione and she laughed.

"And how do you know that she likes to splash in the bath tub?"

"No bath mommy. Mimi make big splash." Draco smacked his hands in the water causing Tootsie to stutter out a scolding.

"Bath time is over for young Master. Young master makes mess all time. Tootsie always wet when done." Narcissa ignored the house elf's mutterings. She knew that Draco drove the elf mad sometimes, but she adored Draco.

Narcissa couldn't quite recall seeing a pool in the backyard. Perhaps they were getting up to mischief in the bathroom sink. Draco loved water. Lupin most likely dried them off with a charm before dragging them downstairs.

Of course that is what happened. It makes the most sense.


Nani looked up at the sound of the fireplace roaring to life. She smiled at the tall, lean figure draped in black dusting his robes off. "How did it go? Did you see her?"

Severus looked at her body stretched across his common room sofa. It was her favorite spot to relax since she entered the last couple months of her pregnancy. The window was just behind the sofa and when the sun set, she was able to feel the full heat of the sub across her back. Severus also enjoyed the way the sunlight set her skin aglow. "Yes."

Nani rolled her eyes at his shortness. "Well? Tell me all about it." She patted the space near her legs.

He sighed but did as she asked. "It was...interesting I suppose."

"I'm sure. You saw met the daughter of your best friend."

"Ex-best friend."

Nani laid a hand on his knee. "Severus, his death makes him no less your best friend. In my tribe we believed that death was just another stage of life. He's still here."

Severus refrained from the sarcastic comment that was begging to be said. "Regulus and I...we had a difficult relationship towards-well near his death. We did not see each other often. He was withdrawn and secretive." He rolled his eyes. "I guess I know why now." Severus stood up and began to pace. "I just don't understand why he didn't say anything. To me."

"Maybe he didn't want to put you in that position, to have to keep his secret from You-Know-Who."

"Or he just didn't trust me."

"Severus..."

"He was still seeing that Helen women. I suspected as much a few times when he would rush off sometimes. But I didn't dare say anything because, well because it was none of my business. Regulus and that woman knew the dangers of their dalliances, but it was not my place to say."

"Severus..."

"What I understand, perhaps, the least is him going to that idiotic brother of his. All of the times I've had to listen to Regulus rant about his obnoxious brother's bigoted views. He never once let Regulus explain his choices or his reasoning. If he did-"

"SEVERUS!"

Severus froze at the shout and spun to look at Nani who was bent over on the couch taking shallow breaths. She clutched her stomach and glared spitefully at him. "When you're done bitching about how your deceased best friend didn't tell you about the birth of his child he feared may be used against him by a homicidal maniac, would you mind taking me to a hospital to give birth?"

Severus stared at her, still frozen. Nani rolled her eyes and huffed. She hefted herself off the sofa and grumbled to herself while gathering her jacket and shoes. "Men...useless creatures...no real value...whiny...don't know true pain..."


Finally. The next chapter is finished. I know you guys have waited a bit long for the chapter to be posted, and I apologize a bit.

UPDATED/REWRITTEN CHAPTER 4 (minor grammatical corrections, added scenes)

Chapter 5 will take a little bit longer because they one will have the most revisions. I am going to rewrite about 1/3 of it completely because I just don't like how I originally wrote it. Chapter 7 is already in the works however, so look forward to that in July!