Severus waited in Elizabeth's bedroom while she got ready for bed, pulling back the covers when she came back. "Alright, love, let's get in bed." He waited till she laid down, tucking the blankets tightly around her. "I was very surprised to see you so close to Remus tonight. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's been a little more than a week since you met him. I thought it was going to be much longer till you trusted him enough to be around him like that."
"He's not that intimidating when he's not charging at me. But you trust him, and he promised not to hurt me. He helped me out of the tree today and if he were going to hurt me, wouldn't he just let me fall?" Elizabeth examined the stitching in her blanket. "I dunno, I'm still a little nervous, but not like before. Like I'm still on edge, but… it's hard to explain."
"I can promise he will never hurt you. The two of you were very close when you were a baby. He loved you more than anyone else in our family, save your mother and I. The man would have and still would walk through fire for you, not that you need to reward that with your time, but I hope it would be a little more comforting to know that, rather than wondering if he would hurt you. He would never dream of it."
Elizabeth nodded, then went silent for a while. Severus thought she had fallen asleep when she spoke again, her voice soft.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked, snuggling down into the mattress, looking at him carefully.
"Rennie, I wasn't mad. I was scared. I was so scared that something had happened to you when I didn't see you in the yard, that you had been taken or had been lured out of the garden or worse… I was relieved when I found you and worried that any of those branches would break and you would fall, and you would get hurt. When you slipped coming down, I was terrified. Remus just happened to move to move faster than I did to get to you." He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her hairline.
"I'm sorry." She rolled onto her side, looking at him in the armchair by her bed. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"You did scare me a lot, Rennie. Please be more careful in future. I love you very much and I would hate for anything to happen to you." Severus put his hand on her forehead before he got up, kissing her one last time before he left, turning the light off. "Goodnight, child. Sleep well."
"Goodnight Severus," she answered before he went down the stairs, back into the living room where a stunned Remus was still seated on the sofa.
"Alright there, Remus?"
"She hugged me." He said, sounding astonished. He looked the same as he did the day Elizabeth was first born, when Severus first handed her over to the werewolf to hold for the first time. It was a peculiar expression, one of hope, happiness and like he was going to vomit at the same time. "Sev, she hugged me."
"Yes, I saw." Severus sat in his armchair. "She seems to be coming around well enough. Thank you for getting her out of that tree this afternoon. I have half a mind to chop it down tomorrow."
"It's not a problem. Isn't that what I signed up for when I agreed to be her godfather when she was born? Daring rescues and all that?"
"I suppose, but I had envisioned, perhaps, make believe rescues and maybe a few imaginary dragons or something, not physical climbs into the dying oak tree in my backyard." Severus laughed a little. "Maybe I'll call Pomona over tomorrow to take a look at it. When I was a boy, I always wanted a tree house. Lily had one at her place, so it was a bit of a moot point, but maybe Elizabeth would want one."
"You were more panicked than I have ever seen you a few hours ago about her in that tree and now you want to give her a free pass to get into it whenever she likes?" Remus laughed, heading to the liquor cabinet to pour two whiskeys. "Fatherhood seems to have scrambled your brains."
"I want her to feel like this is her home too. And who knows, perhaps her friend from Surrey would be able to spend a few nights in the summer here and they would be able to entertain themselves out there for a time."
"Elizabeth would enjoy that, I think." Remus handed one of the glasses to Severus. "Do you think she's going to handle Pomona being in the house well?"
"Absolutely not, if I'm being honest." Severus swirled the whiskey in his glass before he took a sip. "I can see her panicking." He shook his head a little, raising his eyebrows for a moment. "I'll have to warn both her and Pomona. Maybe just keep them apart. Who knows? I've been surprised before."
Remus stretched his long legs out before him. "You know she's nosy. She's going to want to know what's going on."
"You know, when I was her age, I kept my distance from everything new. She is terrified, but the other day, my next door neighbor came over to bring some produce and to gossip as she always does, and I thought Elizabeth was in her room, but she was hiding behind one of the bookshelves in the hall, eavesdropping, but she was shaking like a leaf." Severus wiped a hand over his face. "I love that girl, but good lord, she has no self-preservation instinct."
"With any luck, Pomona will have some." Remus laughed, taking a swig of his drink. "Or Elizabeth will finally learn to just keep her distance."
"I doubt it." Severus snorted into his own glass, drinking a hearty amount of the alcohol, putting the glass on the table next to his chair.
*S*S*
"Pomona, come in!" Severus stood back from the fireplace, holding a throw Elizabeth had left out that morning, folding it before he threw it over the back of the sofa.
Pomona Sprout stamped her feet on the mat next to the fireplace, shaking ash out of her robes before it fell onto the floor of the Snape home. "Severus, how are you?" She came forward, shaking her colleague's hand, basket of gardening tools in her hand, both wizarding and muggle.
"I'm well, Pomona, thank you." Severus gave her a small smile. "How are you today?"
"I'm doing great, Severus. Now, I saw in your letter that Elizabeth Evans is your daughter?" She smiled a little. "The Girl who lived is finally coming to Hogwarts." She patted his cheek. "We'll do our part as staff to make sure she takes to school well enough."
"Yes, she is and she's terribly delicate, right now. Her relatives were… well, they were downright terrible to her, and she's not great with strangers. Actually, if I'm honest, strangers make her so panicked, she's physically ill." Severus started to walk to the kitchen, gesturing for her to follow. "Remember Remus Lupin? The first time she saw him in a decade, she sicks up into the sink. I just need for her to be prepared for school."
"Oh my goodness." Pomona followed him out to the back garden. "Hopefully before she comes to Hogwarts, she's more comfortable."
"That's the hope." Severus held the backdoor open for the other professor. "She's getting help, but we just have to keep working at it."
As they walked out the door, Severus saw Elizabeth, seated at the garden table, reading one of her textbooks, parchment on the table next to her, pen dangling from her fingertips as she read what looked suspiciously like a herbology textbook. She looked up as the adults passed, her brow furrowed a little as Pomona passed, heading to the tree that Elizabeth had been banned from climbing the day before.
"Hullo, dear!" the herbology professor exclaimed as she walked, not addressing her further as she passed.
Elizabeth reached out and grabbed Severus' arm, pulling him close. "Who is that?" She whispered; her eyes wide.
"That's Professor Sprout, she's the herbology professor at Hogwarts. She's here to look at that tree to see if it needs to be taken down or if it can be saved."
"Oh." Elizabeth shifted in her seat. "Is she nice?" She reminded Elizabeth of her kindergarten teacher, who had loved Elizabeth like she was her own. When Elizabeth had been caught to not be bringing a lunch to school, just an empty lunchbox with containers that had clearly never been used, even though the Dursleys' claimed Elizabeth ate her lunch on the walk over to school, her teacher, Miss Davies, had made her a lunch for everyday that year, letting her stay inside to eat before going to the playground.
"She is very nice. I'm sure she would be more than willing to answer any questions you have about herbology." Severus kissed her head before he followed Pomona, who was bent over the roots that were sticking out of the ground.
Elizabeth turned back to her book for a moment, chewing on her pen before she tucked the parchment into the book, tossing the pen on the table. She wandered over to the pair, who were discussing the state of the tree. Professor Sprout was scooping soil into a vial, dripping a potion into the dirt, swirling it around as it began to glow a bright pink.
"The soil is good, so we don't need to worry about that, but the pH balance is off, which would explain the dying branches."
"They're not dead?" Severus seemed surprised, reaching up to touch the branch closest to him.
"No, just dying." Pomona laughed a little before she noticed Elizabeth behind them. "Hello Elizabeth, dear."
"Hi…" She said shyly, ducking behind Severus. She looked up at her father when he put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close.
"You're alright," He murmured in her ear, carding a hand through her hair. Her heart wasn't beating as fast as it normally did when strangers were around, so Severus considered it a win in his book.
"So, we can try a series of potions and fertilizer to see if it will keep the branches healthy. Or we can cut them down if you would rather…?"
"No," Severus said. "I was planning on building a structure in the tree so I need all the branches I can." Severus pulled his daughter a little tighter to his side. "What do you say, Elizabeth? Do you think a tree house for you would be a better alternative to climbing the tree itself?"
He thought she would have been excited, but he wasn't expecting her shriek of excitement. "Really?"
"I don't make it a habit to lie, Elizabeth Renee." He smiled at her exuberance, though, pleased she was excited.
"If the goal is to build a structure, we certainly can save the branches." Pomona said as if no one had spoken. "I think, even though this isn't a magical plant, we can still use dragon dung and the standard Hogwarts fertilizer to get it in shape." She turned to the father daughter pair. "I would get in touch with Hagrid, Severus, if you want to build a tree house. He's quite good at that sort of thing."
"That was the plan." Severus nodded, releasing his daughter to examine the leaves of the tree for signs of disease. "Remus would certainly help and Minerva, without a doubt."
"Filius too, to make sure the charms are stable. You don't want the whole thing coming down while she's in it." Pomona looked up at the tree, shading her eyes as she tried to see the top. "I will certainly be around to make sure the branches aren't in the way."
"Thank you for even offering." Severus placed his hands on the trunk, looking up the same as the other professor was.
"Who are Minerva and Filius?" Elizabeth asked, standing off to the side, not knowing what they were looking for. She was the one to usually do the landscaping at her aunt and uncle's, but she mostly did the mowing and weeding.
Severus looked at his daughter, eyebrows raised. "To you, they are Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. They'll be your professors starting September 1st." Severus fixed her with a look. "I don't want to hear you call any adult by their first name unless they give you permission to do so."
"Like you and Remus?"
"Exactly." Severus turned back to Pomona, rolling his eyes.
"When can we start building?" Elizabeth asked, forgetting for a moment Pomona was watching.
"We need to get this tree healthy first, but you should have a new place to play by the end of the summer at the latest." Professor Sprout smiled kindly, waving her wand, bags of fertilizer and a series of potions appearing on the ground next to the tree. "Would you like to help me, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked at Severus, who nodded and nudged her over to the other professor, walking over to the other adult with her, helping Pomona uncork vials.
"Elizabeth, why don't you start opening the bags of fertilizer and start spreading it around the tree?" Severus asked, pointing to the bags. He waved his wand, conjuring a knife, handing it to her handle first. "Be extra careful opening bags with that, Rennie. I don't fancy a trip to St. Mungo's because your finger is sliced. Do you want gloves or-"
"Severus, you should know better than that, dragon dung needs to be warmed by your hands to be spread the best." Pomona turned to Elizabeth. "The good thing about dragon dung is it doesn't smell nearly as bad as muggle fertilizer and the smell completely washes off with regular soap and water."
"I'll be careful." She knelt before the bags, carefully cutting the thin burlap with the knife before she stabbed it into the ground like she used to when she landscaped the Dursley home. Severus watched her for a moment before turning back to Pomona, who was mixing potions with a practiced hand.
She got up, taking the bag of fertilizer with her, dragging it closer to the tree, nearly falling back on her backside as she pulled. She remained on her feet, however, and she walked around the tree, spreading a thick layer of dragon dung on the ground, noticing the smell was more similar to sweat than poop. As she finished, Severus and Professor Sprout got up to till the potions into the ground, Elizabeth got the knife out of the ground, handing it to Severus, who sent it back to the house with a wave of his hand.
With a grin, Elizabeth approached Severus with her manure covered hands, laughing as he backed up, his hands up to keep her from wiping her hands on his clothing.
"Elizabeth, no, stop right there." He made to grab her hands when she managed to wipe part of her filthy hands on the sleeve of his jumper, causing him to scowl and swipe at her, trying to catch her around the waist. "Elizabeth, that's enough!"
Pomona watched on as her normally uptight coworker allowed himself to be chased around the yard as his daughter followed, trying to wipe her grubby hands on his shirt. Severus was trying not to run, but Pomona knew how uptight he was about his appearance and wouldn't put it past him to fully run away from the child. However, he didn't, instead getting a hold of her, pinning her wrists to her body with one hand, the other fishing for his wand to wipe her hands clean.
Before he could clean her up, she managed to get her hands free, wiping her dung covered hands on the front of his jumper, a large grin on her face. Severus gasped, looking down at his chest, before he looked at her, anger in his eyes.
"Elizabeth Renee-" His rant was cut off by Elizbeth doubling over to laugh heartily at his reaction, her face turning red with her laughter. "I don't see what's so funny, young lady. This is disgusting."
"Oh, Severus, lighten up, she's joking around." Pomona laughed at him as well, looking up from the potions. "It's just dirt."
"It's not dirt, it's shite!" He used his fingertips to wipe the clumps she wiped on him off, looking disgusted.
Elizabeth's eyes bugged out of her head at the use of language from Severus. She had never heard him curse before and she was surprised that he would not only swear near her but also in front of the other professor.
"Severus!" Pomona gasped, looking at him in the same amount of shock that Elizabeth was in. "You can't curse like that in front of a child!" She gestured to Elizabeth, who was trying not to laugh at the man who was looking like she had sicked up on him.
He looked at Elizabeth, who snorted, heading over to Pomona, cleaning up the empty manure bag. She was chuckling at the reaction from her father. "How are you going to get the potions in the soil?" He heard her ask Pomona, though he did notice she was keeping her distance.
"So, we're going to spread these potions over the material you spread, then I'm going to turn the soil, making sure the potions are getting down into the roots of the tree and then, you can help me water the area so the potions get into the tree. Then, we can start designing that treehouse of yours."
Elizabeth grinned widely, sprinkling the potions with Pomona, with renewed gusto, as Severus carefully shook off his shirt, cleaning off as much as he could before he siphoned off the rest with his wand.
*S*S*
"I want a balcony! Is it possible to do that?" Elizabeth knelt on the kitchen chair, leaning over the drawing Severus had on the table, drafting a blueprint for the treehouse they were planning.
"We could do a small one, but remember, that tree isn't huge. We can support a lot of the weight with magic, but we can't go crazy." Severus drew a small porch on the drawing he had started, after he changed and showered. Pomona had gone home, promising to be back in a few days to see how the tree was doing.
"And can I have a slide?"
"A slide?" Severus pondered the idea, before sketching her idea, considering the point. "I think if we have an enclosed slide, perhaps, so you don't go flying off, but I can't promise anything."
"So when can we get started?" Elizabeth looked at his face, trying to find an answer before he spoke.
"The tree still needs to heal, but we can start looking at decorations and furniture if you want, but we can't start building until Professor Sprout says it's alright to move ahead with the plan." Severus slid the drawing over to her to see.
Elizabeth settled back on her heels, looking at the sketch, a small smile on her face. Severus had drawn a basic square house, with a front porch with a permanent ladder, and a slide built directly into the railing of the porch, curling around the trunk of the tree, the exit next to the ladder. "Severus, I love this!"
"I'm glad." Severus stood and put the kettle on for tea, stretching as he got up, mulling over the tea box, before taking two tea bags and two mugs, bringing those to the table, while the kettle boiled away on the stove. "So, I was thinking that it would be a good time, what with things being a little more settled to get in touch with your friend's family from Surrey and let them know where you've gone." He said, changing the subject off the tree house.
He winced, cursing himself for not preparing for the shriek she produced, nor the girl that flew out of her chair, knocking the wind out of him as she threw her arms around his shoulders. "Thank you! Can I see her? When do we go?"
"Slow down, Rennie." Severus pulled her to sit on his lap, cuddling her to his chest. "I said we should get in touch with them, not that we are going to fly off to Surrey today. There is still the legal things that we need to take care of before we go anywhere near your aunt and uncle's home."
"Why? I mean, I live here now." Her brow furrowed.
"Just because I'm your father doesn't mean the Dursleys' can't try to sue me for custody if they wanted. While I never legally gave up custody rights, they still can try. I think you would prefer to not be dragged into the middle of everything. I am in the process of getting the paperwork pushed through, but until I get confirmation that your change of address and custody has gone through in the ministry, I don't want to risk anything."
"So how do I get in touch with her?" Elizabeth looked up as the kettle boiled, getting up so Severus could get it and pour tea, knowing he wouldn't let her do it herself.
"You can write a letter. The muggle postman still comes here, you know. You know her address, I assume?"
"I do," She pulled the mug of tea he handed to her close to her chest as she took her seat again, dunking the tea bag in and out of the water. "Can she write me back? Or can she call? I know the phone is on the wall, but does it work?"
"Yes, the phone works," He sat at the chair he abandoned, stirring a single lump of sugar in his tea. "If her parents allow, you are more than welcome to call her. And she is more than welcome to call the house. And in time, perhaps after I meet her parents, she can come here either for the day or to sleep over or if you behave yourself and stop preforming stunts like climbing my trees, we can organize a day trip somewhere away from Surrey."
"Thank you! I promise I'll be good!" Elizabeth smiled, taking her teabag out of the cup, stirring in milk and sugar before she took a small sip, curling into the chair, pulling her legs up under her. "I won't break anymore rules!"
"You should always try to follow the rules, Rennie, not just because you're promised a reward." Severus frowned a little, before taking a sip of his tea. "In my office, I have muggle stamps, so after dinner you can write a letter and we can put it in the box for the postman tomorrow morning, alright?"
Elizabeth nodded furiously, so hard in fact that Severus was afraid that she was going to give herself whiplash. "Is Remus coming to dinner?"
"I hadn't invited him specifically, no, why?" Severus smirked a little, happy that his daughter was warming up to her godfather, making this transition much easier than he thought. He didn't dare speak it aloud, knowing it would most likely jinx something, but internally, he wasn't displeased.
"I dunno…" Elizabeth ducked her head, taking another small sip of tea. "No reason."
"Do you want me to invite him over?"
Elizabeth shrugged, causing Severus to make a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "I don't speak in shrugs, Elizabeth. Use your words."
"Kinda… He's not that scary anymore." Elizabeth blushed, not making eye contact.
"I'm sure he would love to come and spend time with you." Severus patted her hand. "I'm sure he would love it more if you invited him over, rather than me. Do you want to do that?"
"I don't know how." She finally put her teacup down and looked at him, biting her lip nervously.
"You could write him a note if you wanted to or you could fire call him. I'm not sure if he's home however, so that might not work, but you can try." Severus picked up his mug and walked into the living room, gesturing for her to follow. When they got to the fireplace, he put his mug on the mantle, taking the box of floo powder in hand and knelt on the floor, lighting the fireplace with his wand. "Come here."
Elizabeth knelt as well, putting her mug of tea on the coffee table, not sure what he was doing.
"So, you can do one of two things. If you want, you can stick just your head in, which would be the easiest, or you can shout from here, but they can't always hear you." Severus held out the box to her encouragingly. "Just use a handful of powder, and say, Lupin residence, Yorkshire and then stick your head it. Make sure to close your eyes until the spinning stops, and then you can speak to him normally." He waved his wand a second time, taking the child lock off the floo.
Following his instructions, Elizabeth tossed the powder in the fireplace, calling "Lupin Residence, Yorkshire", all while looking at Severus, who was listening in case she made a mistake.
"Go on, just your head." Severus put a hand on her back to reassure her as she moved, putting her head in the fireplace.
Closing her eyes, she waited until the spinning stopped, feeling the warmth of the fire licking at her cheeks as she called out to him repeatedly. "Remus? Remus?"
As she waited to see if she would get a response, she took in the little bit of the room she could see. It appeared to be a kitchen of sorts, but the chairs were mismatched and the furniture was worse for wear. It appeared he was living in poverty and alone, which made Elizabeth feel a little bad for him and she felt bad that she had rejected him the way she did their first meeting, even though Severus had told her for a while that it wasn't her fault and she needn't feel badly for it. Saundra had said the same thing, but she still didn't want him to think she didn't want him in her life.
She called one more time, but when the house was silent once more, so she pulled her head out of the fireplace, sitting next to Severus on the floor. "He's not home."
"Alright, so why not write him a note and we can send it to his house?" Severus got up, taking his tea from the mantle before he offered her a hand, helping her get up. He led her into the study, pulling out parchment and writing utensils, offering her a seat at his desk.
"What should I say?" Elizabeth picked up a pen, ignoring the quills he had laid out. Severus smirked at her, but chose not to say anything, knowing that he was going to have to teach her how to use a quill sooner rather than later.
"Whatever you want to say to him." Severus answered, pulling his lesson plans over to himself, in order to finalize them.
"What if I say the wrong thing?"
"I don't think you could just say the wrong thing." Severus added to his sixth year plans, adding another series of readings and essays. "Just write what you want to say, and I can read it over for you if you want me to. And remember, it doesn't have to be long, it can be just a few sentences."
"Can we have dinner outside again? And another fire?"
"Yes, I think we can." Severus didn't look up from his writing, scratching furiously over the paper, pausing only to dip his quill in the inkwell on the corner of his desk.
Elizabeth nodded before she put the pen to the paper, writing a note to her godfather, hoping that he wasn't upset with anything she would write, hoping that he wouldn't take anything the wrong way.
Remus,
Would you be available to come over for dinner tonight around 630? I would really like it if you could make it! We are having dinner outside and will be using the firepit when it gets dark. Please let me know if you can make it!
Love,
Elizabeth
She folded the paper, looking at Severus, who paused in his writing, reaching a hand out for the note. Elizabeth handed the paper to him, biting her lip in nervousness while he read the letter, nodding once before he handed it back with an envelope.
"That's good, love. Come, let's send it off."
Elizabeth put the letter in the envelope as she walked into the living room with Severus, who threw another handful of floo powder into the fireplace, before he called the address of her godfather before tossing the letter into the flames, sending it off.
"When will we know if he got it?" Elizabeth shifted from foot to foot, as if the floo would flash green and Remus would come out any second.
"He'll write back, Rennie." Severus put his hand on her head, smiling down at her. "Don't worry. As soon as he gets your message, he'll let you know." He left her where she was, heading back into his office to finish his lesson plans.
Elizabeth stood in the living room for a moment before she followed him into the room, sitting in her seat once more, taking another sheet of paper, using the other side of the desk to write.
"What are you doing now?" Severus asked kindly, looking at her, twisting a quill in his hand.
"I'm writing my letter to Jenny." Elizabeth had her tongue slightly out in concentration, as her hand flew furiously over the paper, excited to talk to her friend for the first time in weeks.
Severus nodded, going back to his work, the pair working in silence for a while. Elizabeth thought hard of what to say, not wanting to reveal too much about her being a witch, but there was so much to discuss, she found she didn't even need to mention the magical world, not when the last near three weeks had been a whirlwind of activity and change.
Jenny,
You won't believe the last few weeks that I've had! Remember when we were in the 3rd grade, talking about our families? Remember when we talked about my father, who had died in the car crash with my mother? Well, three weeks ago, I found out that James, who we thought was my father, isn't actually my father, just a very good family friend. My actual father, who's name is Severus Snape, not James Potter, just to make it clear, came to Privet Drive about three weeks ago to come get me, after getting some legal things taken care of, he finally came to get me and I never have to see my aunt and uncle ever again!
We live in Cokesworth, but it's still within driving distance to Surrey, and he said that once the rest of the legal stuff has been taken care of, we can try to make plans to see each other! He even said that we would be able to have a sleep over, once he meets your parents and everything. I am so excited for this and hope it all goes through. I hope that we can see each other soon, but Severus, which is what I call him, cause calling him Dad is a little hard right now, said I can call you, or you can call us. I'll make sure to put our phone number in this letter, to make sure that we can get in touch other than letters.
He also made sure to get me a therapist to help with all the things the Dursleys' did, which is super hard to talk about what happened, but it's nice to not have to keep everything to myself for once.
I also have a godfather, which is so odd. I went from having no family, other than yours, to my own. It's little but it's good, and I'm happy here. It's strange, being cared for and not treated like a pest, to be loved by the people you live with, but I really like it here. I can't wait to see you again and we can talk about everything that's been going on more thoroughly.
Love you lots,
Elizabeth
"Severus, what's our phone number?"
"01143 217768." Severus said, gathering his papers and sticking them in a folder before putting the whole thing in his desk. "Are you giving your friend our number?"
"Yes, if that's alright." Elizabeth looked up from the letter, the pen stilling over the page.
"Of course it is." Severus gave her a little smile before he got up. "Now we need think about dinner. If Remus is coming, what should we have? What do you want? We had chicken planned, but we did a heavier meal last night. I was thinking we should have cottage pie?"
Elizabeth smiled, as she wrote down the phone number. "I make a pretty good cottage pie, if I do say so myself." She folded up the pages and stuffed them in an envelope, writing Jenny's name and address on the back, sealing the whole thing.
"Would you like to help me?" Severus asked, taking the letter from her, putting it on the hallway table, so they could mail it the next morning before heading into the kitchen, taking out ingredients for dinner.
Elizabeth nodded, joining him at the counter, rising on her toes, watching as he waved his wand, setting dishes and pans to fly out of the cabinets and onto the table and the stove.
"Here," Severus waved her over to the table, getting her out of the way of the hot stove. "Why don't you start shelling these peas and when you're finished with that and if you are very, very careful, you can peel these potatoes." He laid a set of bowls before her, along with potatoes and a peeler.
"Severus, when did you learn to cook?"
Severus paused in his own meal preparation, a sharp knife in his hand, hovering over the cutting board and the carrots he had been chopping. "When I was about your age," He started, very carefully, obviously not wanting to say the wrong thing. "My father was not the best to my mother and I. He often wasn't home," Severus paused, clearly choosing his words carefully. "When he was gone, my mother would be able to cook many different meals, meals that my father was not a fan of. She and I would cook together, this one simple thing, meant the world to me and still does. It was something that brought us a lot closer. The recipes I know and make are her's."
"Was your father not nice?" Elizabeth plopped peas into another bowl, not looking at his face, knowing it was clearly a tough topic for him.
"No he wasn't. He was very much like your uncle." The knife resumed chopping, the sound comforting to Elizabeth, who had spent most of her time in the Dursley home cooking.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright, it's not your fault." Severus smiled a little. "Much of my life was spent bettering myself from him, making sure I was nothing like him, especially as a father."
"Is he still alive?" Elizabeth asked, not pausing in her motions. "I know you've said your mum was alive, but what about your dad?"
"Honestly?" Severus scraped the diced carrots into a bowl before starting on onions. "I have no idea. My mother and I speak regularly, but I haven't seen my father since I was 17." He finished chopping and began to cook ground beef, stirring it around with a wooden spoon. "Technically, my parents are still married, but my father walked out when I was 17. My mother sold me this house when your mother and I got married, and she moved to Leicester."
"Do you miss her?"
Severus turned around; eyebrow raised. "I talk to her on the phone nearly every day. Surely you've heard me speaking to her?"
Elizabeth thought back to the few times Severus had used the phone that she had been around for. She had made herself scarce when the phone rang, when she heard Severus laugh on the phone in the kitchen, when she heard him shift with the floorboards creaking, she went to her room, shutting the door softly, as to not disturb him. Her aunt would get very cross with her when she was around when she was on the phone, so she had made herself invisible when Aunt Petunia answered the phone.
"I didn't realize it was her." She chose to say, focusing on her peas. Before she could say anything else, the floo activated, a pale yellow envelope flying out, flopping onto the hearth rug. She got up, peeking into the living room before she got the letter from the floor, flipping it over to see her name on the back. She went back to the kitchen, opening the letter as she sat back down, unfolding the letter.
Dear Elizabeth,
I would be more than happy to join you and your father for supper tonight. 6:30 works perfectly, and I will be there! Thank you for inviting me over, I loved the note. Perhaps we can convince your father to come with us to get ice cream afterward?
Love,
Remus
"Remus is coming for supper, Severus." Elizabeth tucked the letter into her pocket, resuming her shelling before she started on the potatoes.
"Very good." Severus came over and took the peas, putting them into a pan on the stove. "Once your done there, come help me over here."
Elizabeth smiled, picking up the pace of her peeling.