Disclaimer: Not mine, all JKR's, except the plot, Chastity and now Sev's family.
A/N: Thanks to my husband for beta reading, as Sunglow is on holiday, and I didn't want to keep everyone waiting who has reviewed and waited patiently for me to update.
Sev and the Family SnapeChapter 4 – Family Ties
Albus made his way down to the dungeons the next day, letter in hand. Contrary to popular belief, he was not omniscient, and had no idea how Severus would take the news that his parents had been in touch with him. The new term was due to start in a few days time and the students would be returning soon. It would be better to get this out of the way before then; give him time to calm down a little.
Hermione and Severus had announced their news to the faculty at dinner the previous evening and it had turned into an impromptu party. Sirius and Remus were almost as bad as Severus for hovering, staking their claim as uncles-in-waiting to the twins. There would be no shortage of babysitters, certainly. A quiet knock announced his presence to Severus.
"What brings you down here, Albus?"
"This." He handed the parchment to the younger man who immediately recognised the handwriting and crest on the seal.
"What is it Severus?" Hermione called from the sofa.
"A letter from my father." He held it out to her, his expression grim.
"Really? Read it then, please."
"I think Albus can tell us what it contains."
"Perhaps Hermione should read it. It does concern her as well." Albus settled himself in the armchair and watched as Severus sat next to his wife, his arm around her protectively. Hermione unrolled the parchment and looked at Severus, noting the closed expression on his face. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Albus, it has come to our attention that our son, Severus, has handfasted to an unknown young woman. Please inform him that we wish to visit to ascertain the suitability of such a match. Simeon Snape
"Well, I'm not sure I want to know if I'm 'suitable'." She sniffed. "Does he always write like that?"
"I daresay that he wrote that without my mother looking over his shoulder."
"Camille always did soften his written word." Albus mused.
"Who told them?" Hermione asked.
"Saxen always kept in touch with Devereux Duval, who I believe is Chastity's father." Severus told her.
"Small world." Hermione commented.
"Pureblood world." He corrected
"How do you wish me to answer?" Albus enquired.
"I think I'd like to answer this, if you two don't object?" Hermione looked at the two men.
"Go ahead. I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with my father yet."
"Oh I'm not going to write to your father."
"No?"
"Oh, no. It's your mother I'm going to write to."
~~~
Dear Mrs Snape
Please convey my thanks to your husband for bringing to my attention our rudeness in not informing you of my marriage to your son. At this moment in time it is not convenient to receive visitors at the school. We will endeavour to find a slot in Severus's busy teaching schedule perhaps in a month or two.
Yours, Hermione Granger-Snape.
"What did you write in that letter of yours, Simeon?" Camille asked casually. Simeon looked up warily.
"I just asked Albus to tell me more about Severus's wife."
"And?"
"That we wanted to visit."
"Don't you think we should have written to Severus first?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"I've just had a letter from his wife."
"What does she say?"
"Let's put it this way, I don't think you are her favourite person at the moment." She handed him the letter.
"Ah. Perhaps I could have been a little more tactful."
"Perhaps you could. Has Saxen heard anything from Devereux?"
"I believe he has. Shall we adjourn to the Library?"
They entered the Library and saw a multitude of papers spread over the huge table there. A few letters, but mostly newspapers; accounts of the final battle, gossip columns and in the middle of it all was a shallow bowl, filled with a silvery liquid; a pensieve.
"You've been very busy, Saxen." Camille said.
"There's a lot of information about Hermione Granger to be found."
"Oh?"
"Yes. The first articles appear during the TriWizard tournament. She's a contemporary of Harry Potter's. One of his best friends."
"That Hermione Granger? The mud.. muggleborn? Severus has married a muggleborn?" Simeon's face drained of colour.
"And an ex-student as well." Sage said, smiling slightly. When Severus broke the rules, he certainly went all out for it.
"But Harry Potter is only eighteen!" Camille hadn't realised Hermione was that young.
"Hermione is nineteen, but due to a little known fact involving a time-turner, biologically she's twenty." Saxen pointed out.
"That's still twenty years his junior. What was he thinking of?" Simeon was appalled.
"From the look of her, not with his brain." Saxen said in an undertone to his twin.
"She's just a child." Camille said.
"And he's old enough to know better." Simeon frowned.
"What are we going to do?" Camille wondered.
"Nothing, if you want to be part of his life again." Sage said.
"Perhaps I should write to Hermione." Camille touched the pensieve. "What's this?"
"It's Draco Malfoy's pensieve of their wedding." Saxen said.
"I think I'd like to read a little about her first though." She picked up the first item that Sage had arranged in chronological order, starting with Rita Skeeter's articles. Her eyes widened at the not-quite-libellous reports about the then fourteen year old girl and Harry Potter. More factual articles followed, ending with the account of the final defeat of Voldemort.
She looked at the picture on the front of the Daily Prophet, smiling at the sight of her son lurking in the background. He had always been like that, unwilling to have his picture taken. The one exception to that was the recent picture that Devereux had sent. She touched it again. Twenty years since she'd seen him, and if she had her way it would not be long before she saw him again. She looked again at his wife, Hermione Granger. Young; yes, beautiful; certainly, determined; definitely, she'd have to be if she was married to a Snape. The fact that she was muggleborn would be a major stumbling block in their relationship. The Snapes came from a long line of purebloods. Not inbreeds, like some families. They had formed alliances with purebloods worldwide and had no need to mix with muggleborns, no matter how powerful. Oh well, if she was his choice then they would have to live with it. Camille retreated to her sitting room and gathered parchment and quill. It was time to get to know her new daughter-in-law.
My Dear Hermione,
May I call you that? I do apologise for my husband's rudeness in not writing to you direct. We were unsure of the welcome we would receive after so many years of silence, and thought it might be more appropriate to contact the Headmaster first.
I understand that my son's teaching schedule disallows visits in the very near future, but I would like to continue our correspondence in order to get to know each other a little better.
Camille Snape.
There, not too formal, but not too pushy either. She would see what sort of response she got from that. She sealed the parchment with wax and used her ring to imprint the Snape family crest, putting it to one side ready to send later.
~~~
"Do you have any photographs of your family, Severus?" Hermione asked when she was curled comfortably against his side in front of the fire in their sitting room.
"One or two. I haven't looked at them in years." Severus rubbed his cheek against her hair, knowing what was coming next. Hermione was a curious as a cat, and this business with his family had aroused that curiosity. The fact that they had such a good relationship with her parents made it worse.
"Accio Album." He snapped his fingers and a green leather bound book flew into his hand. Dusting it off, he put it on his lap, smoothing over the entwined double S's embossed on the front.
The cover creaked with disuse as he opened it, the pages of thick parchment yellow with age, the tissue paper crackling between them.
"Is that you as a baby?"
"Not very attractive, was I?" a very red-faced infant was being held by an aristocratic dark haired lady.
"Most babies are ugly at that age. Thank goodness you haven't seen mine!" she smiled up at him.
"I was not a happy child." He turned the next page over. Most of the photographs were of family groups. Severus at two; scowling out from behind two very striking, rather attractive six year olds. Severus at seven; standing apart from the twins as they showed off their Hogwarts robes. Severus at eleven in his Hogwarts robes, being overshadowed by the twins flashing their prefect badges. Severus at fourteen; tall and lanky. Hermione stayed his hand when he went to turn a page quickly, and she looked closer. It was a group photo of a Quidditch team in green and silver robes and he was actually smiling in that one.
"How old were you here?"
"Fifteen. First year as Chaser."
"You looked sexy even then."
"Must be your hormones." He snorted.
"My hormones have nothing to do with it. You still look sensational."
"Even compared to Saxen and Sage?" he flicked a page to show the twins at his graduation; he was scowling again next to the tall, dark and handsome, even-featured twins.
"Two pretty." She dismissed. "You're far sexier."
"You're definitely.."
"In love?"
"..good for my ego."
"What can I say? I just love the brooding look." She smiled at him again. "Especially that one."
"What one?"
"The one you have on your face this minute."
"They don't approve, you know."
"Your family?"
"Yes."
"Because I'm not pureblood."
"Yes."
"And I'll taint the line." She smoothed a hand over her still-flat stomach and he stilled her hand, bringing it up to his mouth.
"I don't care about what they think, only you. They will not be a wedge between us, Hermione, I will not allow it." He said fiercely.
"Will you tell them we're having a baby?"
"Babies."
"All right, babies. Will you?"
"Eventually. As far as I am aware, Saxen and Sage have never married. I am the last of the Snape line, and I will not have our twins used as a bargaining tool for contact. If, and I mean if, we decide to meet, it will be on our terms, not theirs."
"I love it when you're masterful."
"Does that mean you want me to wear leather tonight?"
Hermione scrambled to her feet and tugged on his hand. "You certainly know the right words to get me going, don't you?"
"What, leather? Can I help it if you have a fetish?"
"I'd swear you were teasing me if I didn't know you shared it with me." She pressed against him. He waved his hand and the lights guttered suddenly. Scooping her up in his arms, he moved swiftly to the bedroom and dropped her on the bed, following her down.
"Who needs props when my voice has the same effect?" he rumbled against her throat and felt her moan at the same time it reached his ears.
"I knew I should never have told you that little snippet of information." She said breathlessly.
Severus smiled to himself as he remembered a passage from one of Hermione's many pregnancy books. Some women experienced an increase in their sex drive, and from the way his wife was acting, she was one of them. It wouldn't only be her needing the extra vitamins…
~~~
The owl arrived at breakfast the next day and came to rest in front of Hermione. She showed the scroll to Severus, who escorted her back to their rooms. They opened it together.
"Much more diplomatic." Hermione said.
"Yes, Mother always knew how to make a demand into a request."
"They still want to visit."
"I know."
"When?"
"When what?"
"When do you think you'll be ready to face them?"
"Give me a little time, my love. Keep writing, try to find out what they expect of us."
"Ever the spy."
"I'm a Slytherin, what do you expect?"
"I can always just ask them."
"Ever forthright."
"I'm a Gryffindor, what do you expect?" she repeated his words back to him.
~~~
Dear Mrs Snape
Thank you for your understanding. I will be blunt, as befits a Gryffindor. Severus is not ready yet to let bygones be bygones, but is willing to extend a cautious hand, providing it is not bitten off. I am sure by now that you have discovered as much as possible about me, and I hope that Rita Skeeter's articles do not allow you to prejudge me. I can provide character witnesses from Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and, of course, Harry Potter, should you wish to take an eighteen year old's view of me. No, I am not pureblood, but of muggle descent. This is not a problem between Severus and I; else I would not be his wife. I hope that fact will extend to his family, as I would hate for there to be any awkwardness on our first meeting. May I enquire as to why, after all this time, you wish to make contact?
Yours, Hermione.
She didn't show him the letter, as she had only been half-joking with him. But the more she thought about it, the idea of being out in the open appealed to her. Lay it all out and everyone knows where they stand.
~~~
"We have another letter." Camille announced as she entered the breakfast room the next day. Simeon looked up with interest.
"Well?"
"She's definitely Gryffindor."
"Oh?"
"Read." She passed him the letter and after reading it, passed it to Saxen and then Sage in turn.
"Protective, isn't she?" Sage commented.
"Quite the little lioness." Simeon mused.
"I think I'm going to like getting to know her." Camille said suddenly.
"A muggleborn?"
"Simeon, unless it has escaped your notice, both Saxen and Sage do not have wives. Severus does, and a young one at that. Do you wish for the Snape name to die out?"
"Hadn't thought of that." Sage said in an undertone to his twin. "Perhaps we should have become teachers too, if she's an example of what Hogwarts is turning out now."
If the truth was known, Sage had become quite captivated with Hermione after reading about her. He had also been the only one so far to enter Draco's pensieve, and had experienced a feeling not unlike jealousy as he'd witnessed their happiness at their handfasting. He snorted to himself ironically. This was the first time he'd even remotely coveted anything belonging to Severus. He corrected himself. He didn't covet Hermione herself, just the fact that Severus had someone in his life. He sighed, realising that perhaps he shouldn't have buried himself in books and research, but gone out into the world and lived, perhaps meeting someone like Severus had. Reading about and seeing their wedding through others eyes had made him feel vaguely dissatisfied, and he wondered if Saxen felt the same.
He looked up to find his twin staring at him and he shrugged, arching an eyebrow enquiringly. Saxen shook his head. It was uncanny sometimes how they could communicate with just a look. He glanced down at the pensieve again. Perhaps he should write a letter to Severus.
~~~
Dear Severus
Congratulations on your marriage to the delightful Hermione. You will realise by now how much information Father has gathered concerning her, and you can imagine his reaction. Both Saxen and I have regrets concerning the past, and as your brothers we hope that in turn you will not refuse the hand of friendship. There has been too much time lost due to the stupidity of youth, and hope that we can all move past that.
Sage
PS. Mother is hoping for grandchildren to carry on the family name.
~~~
Dear Sage
I can well imagine Father's reaction. Did the paintings survive? I write this with my wife hovering over my shoulder, and I can assure you that she is delighted that we are corresponding. Family means so much to her, being an only child, and she would welcome the thought of having older siblings, even by marriage. The foolishness of youth passes with time, and enough time has passed.
Severus
~~~
Dear Hermione
Thank you for your letter. I hope that I can be blunt too, if I may? We can pass blame backwards and forwards for months, possibly years. Yes, I am at fault, as I should have seen my son becoming isolated and I did nothing to prevent that. Oh, the wisdom of hindsight. The Snape pride is a terrible affliction, as I am sure you have discovered with Severus, who had it in abundance. If not for well-meaning friends, we would not be writing these words, and I am forever grateful for that. As for your question regarding motive, Severus is the last of our line. I am hoping for grandchildren in the not-so-distant future, as both Saxen and Sage have denied me daughters-in-law. No deeper motive than that I wish to be able to reacquaint myself with my youngest son before it is too late. I would very much like that chance to meet with you both soon.
Camille
~~~
Hermione waited anxiously as Severus read the letter and smiled tentatively as he looked up, an eyebrow raised.
"I thought you were joking." He said, and she shrugged.
"You did ask me to find out."
"I thought you had enough Slytherin in you to be subtle."
"Must be the hormones." She stepped closer and rubbed against him.
"Oh I see. Now you blame your hormones." He gathered her closer.
"I'm pregnant, so it's allowed."
"So when do we visit them?"
"I thought we could meet on neutral ground."
"Where?"
"The Headmaster's office?"
"So he can referee?"
"Perhaps. At least he can stop any bloodshed."
"Better make it the hospital then."
"Was that a joke?"
"Not really."
"Do we tell them I'm pregnant?"
"If that is what you want. I'd rather we tell your parents first, though."
"How about we get Sirius to cover for you next weekend? We can floo over to Mum and Dad's for the day and be back on Sunday morning."
"I'll ask Albus if that is acceptable." He bent to kiss her. "You didn't answer my question."
"Which one?"
"When do we invite my family over?"
"In a month? School will have settled down by then. I still have to tell Ginny about the babies. We can then decide how I'm going to tell Harry and Ron."
"Just send them an owl. I'm not up to a repeat of Halloween."
"Oh? I rather enjoyed it." She looked up at him from under her lashes.
"I meant the first half of the evening, not the rest."
"Does that mean you're up.." she pressed against him again. "for a repeat?"
He kissed her. "Lock the door then and I'll meet you at my desk.."
TBC