Disclaimer:

All things not Allosia or Gabriel belong to JKR.

Apparently, Hooch's first name is Rolanda (Thanks to Quizzical Sphinx for that bit of intel), but since this is effectively an AU anyway, and I like the sound of Hana in the mouths of my characters, she stays Hana. Don't you all agree?

Thanks for everyone who has been sticking by for this rather challenging creation.

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Snape kept the letters in a small, secret magical compartment behind a low drawer in a cabinet in the storeroom off his classroom and office. While sense told him to destroy them, he had taken the time to write them, and it seemed wasteful to him to choke out confessions and then assure himself of never being absolved. He sealed each of the letters with a low-grade acid that was instructed to burn anyone that was not himself or his wife.

While he may not have intended to ever give Allosia the letters, he didn't think it would be right for her to be burned by them, should they happen to come into her possession.

While he hardly would have thought it possible, his classroom became a sort of refuge for him beyond the typical solace of his experiments. The quiet was welcome, as was the freedom the classroom and lab offered, with or without students. As much as he had once chided Allosia for not having self-control, for not being able to hold her tongue, he was learning that she had a control over her emotions that he did not. She could read his face too easily, and so, it was only in his classrooms that he could be angry, or afraid, without her concern, intervention, or worst of all, quiet tolerance. Sometimes, he felt like he was hiding.

Sometimes, Gabriel would spend time with him in the classroom, although always at a safe distance from what he was working on and never when students were around. It gave Allosia a break and it made him feel responsible. Although explaining how to make complex potions to a child who could hardly talk was probably near the top of the absurdities to have graced Snape's life.

When the boy began to crawl, and then walk, watching the child and keeping him entertained became much harder. It didn't take Snape long to realize that Gabriel was inherently more social than he had been, and was not, and would probably never be, content to sit and play quietly by himself. Snape found though that as long as he couched anything as a story, the boy would be attentive, at least for a little while, and so potions and wands, herbs and ingredients all became characters with specific personality traits in a never ending magical narrative.

I never thought Severus would learn to tell stories, but thinking on it now, I don't know why I should have been surprised. After all, so much of his life involved making things up. He lied to his friends when he joined the Death Eaters, and to the Death Eaters when he left them. And of course, to everyone, always, to survive. I learned to accept this. I learned to believe that he would do or say anything to keep us safe, no matter which side it hurt. I learned to be all right with this. We were selfish or we were dead.

It was very funny, to watch him with Gabriel. The boy sitting quietly, distractedly knocking a toy broom against the floor, as Severus explained very seriously how the scarab shells felt about the dragon's blood and what would happen when they met each other. Gabriel, of course drifted into that horrible stage where his response to everything was "Why?" and I always knew Severus had lost his patience when he responded to the boy sharply in something other than English. But the look on his face, the first time Gabriel had clearly understood some small snippet of Latin, it made watching out for both of them as constantly as I had to worth it.

Gabriel was a social child, well-liked by the faculty, and as he became a toddler, doted over by many of the students as well. Hermione took to him, stopping to chat with him more than me as we walked the grounds. Even the famous, or in our household, infamous, Harry Potter, always smiled at the boy, although he generally seemed quite embarrassed about it. His friend Ron Weasley though wanted no part of it though, and I stifled many a laugh as he explained to younger students what evils my child must be capable of. Severus once gave Mr. Weasley two detentions for such nonsense, and then threatened him with the possibility of having to baby sit the boy, which included assurances that Gabriel did, in fact, bite. Which he didn't, really, in case you were actually wondering.

That infamous class of seventh years graduated when Gabriel was a year-and-a-half. Despite what I'm sure many of the students thought, Severus was not trying to fail them in their last semester, but nor was he overjoyed to see them go. Even if they had all been A students by his nearly impossible standards, I don't think he believed they could ever possibly be prepared enough, and of course, he was right. With their departure though, he was simply relieved, that The Boy Who Lived, had not died on his watch. With Potter's graduation, I worried Voldemort would no longer want or need us to remain at Hogwarts, but as long as Dumbledore was there, Severus assured me we would be as well.

That summer, as Severus took on more seminars, I with a bit of goading, began to bring Gabriel into Hogsmeade several days a week. Even if we didn't travel far, he needed to see some life outside of the school, and at least comprehend the existence of other children his own age. I grumbled fiercely about signing us up for a playgroup, only because I didn't want to lose my name, to become merely, Gabriel's mother, although it was at least said in a more pleasant tone of voice than "Snape's wife" generally was. That immersion in baby culture, did not overwhelm me with joy, as much as I loved that Gabriel was able to match his attentiveness for the world of adults with his enthusiasm for the world of children.

Marrying Severus, and having Gabriel may have expanded my life, but it narrowed my world greatly. Before start of term that year, I decided a vacation was in order. And if it were deemed best for me to travel alone, I would, and I did.