AN: I'm ba-ack. Amazingly enough, I've managed to get this chapter out in
about a month. Aren't you proud? I am. I had hoped to have it posted last
week before I went home for Fall Break, but they wouldn't let me stop.
Hopefully, I'll be able to have the next chapter up before Thanksgiving,
which for you non-Americans is the fourth Thursday in November and is
November 27 this year. So, sometime within the next month. There is a
slight bit of slash hinted at in this chapter. Nothing explicit, but if
even the mention of it offends you, you might want to skip the last
paragraph. Otherwise enjoy.
Elf Girl: Thanks. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Rose Blossom: Thank you. You can't see Snape crying? Don't worry. He won't be doing anymore any time soon.
magicrules: Thanks, and here's the update that you wanted. Hope this makes you happy.
Katharin the Dragon: Thanks for the review. And don't worry, I may be slow, be attached by plot bunnies, and held hostage by my characters, but I will continue. Do not fear. And I sound really retarded now. Oh well.
falafelgigglehiney: Thank you very much. I'm glad that someone finally caught on to the not subtle hints (my English teacher got on me for that last week, something about giving things away too early) I left about Elizabeth and divination. She won't be a seer exactly, but it is important. Draco isn't going anywhere, and Harry and co. will show back up eventually. I'm not currently planning to skip ahead to seventh year, but after this chapter I'm going to be moving in larger chunks. Feel free to borrow ideas. I do. If you're like me, you find an idea, and then can't remember where it came from. As it's not word for word my story, I'll share. And hopefully I'll be updating more frequently.
December 26, 1983
Elizabeth ran down the hallway at Septimus Hall giggling trying to escape from her cousin Draco. She could hear the angry voice of her Uncle Lucius yelling at her father. She stopped when she heard her father say her name.
"Elizabeth will not be going anywhere. She is my daughter, and as such she will remain with me." Her father's voice was cold and short. It was the voice he used when he was extremely angry and was trying not to lose his temper.
"Severus, she cannot remain here. She should be put out of her misery. It's not natural. If you won't do it yourself, I will be more than happy to do it for you."
"Lucius, if you lay one hand on my daughter, I will kill you."
Outside in the hallway, Elizabeth was shaking. She didn't understand what was going on. Why would Uncle Lucius want her to go away? If she didn't live with Daddy, who would she live with?
"You're it!" Draco had run up behind her and tapped her on her arm. She shuddered; she hadn't seen him run up. Draco didn't seem to notice that there was something wrong with her (AN: yes even preschool aged males (for those not familiar with the term, that's approximately ages 3 to 5) are afflicted with the symptoms of a Y-chromosome), and he ran down the hallway giggling. Clearly thinking that she would be chasing him.
The yelling from Lucius and the cold, clipped tones were still coming out of the cracked door of the library. Elizabeth was frozen on the spot. She made no effort to chase Draco like she normally would have done.
This was how her grandfather, Augustus Snape, found her five minutes later. He bent down and picked his only granddaughter up.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong." Elizabeth had buried her head in his chest.
Before she could say anything the raised voice of her uncle echoed through the ancient hallway.
"Dammit, Severus. Have you listened to a goddamn word that I've said? You should put her away, go find yourself a proper English wife, and have yourself as many normal children as you want. Hell, have as many children as the Weasleys. At least their children are all normal instead of being a muggle freak." The last part was spat out.
"My daughter may be a squib, but she is neither a muggle, nor a freak. And I have no intention finding myself another wife. Amanda is the only woman I have ever wanted. Just because you don't find yourself attracted to your wife, doesn't mean that I wasn't in love with Amanda. It's not my fault that you would rather have..."
"Severus, Lucy, that is enough." The clipped tones of Augustus's deep voice caused both Severus and Lucius to turn and look at him.
"Father," Severus acknowledged.
"Gussy, you must know that I'm right. Surely you agree with me?"
"Lucy, we will discuss this later." The normally easy going Snape patriarch was serious. The conversation between Severus and Lucius was over for the time being.
"You scared Elizabeth. The both of you should be ashamed of yourself." Severus and Lucius looked at their feet. Even though Severus was a grown man in his twenties and Lucius (AN: I know that according to OotP, Lucius was 41 in 1995, but for this story, I'm going with the idea that Lucius is old enough to be Narcissa's father. Hey, I'm a member of WIKTT. I have no problems with large age differences.) was the same age as Augustus, he was making them feel as if they were children.
"Did you even realize that she was out in the hall?" Elizabeth buried her head even further into her grandfather's shoulder. She was rubbing tears and snot all over the top of his robes.
"No, Father."
"No, Gussy."
"Well that much was obvious." (AN I believe that this is an indirect quote from CoS. I may be wrong, but I think that that is what either Snape or McGonagall said after Harry and Ron hit the Whomping Willow.)
"Father, give her to me." Augustus handed his granddaughter over to his son. Elizabeth hid her face in her father's robes. It was as if she was deliberately trying no to look at her Uncle.
"Now it's almost time for dinner. Severus, Elizabeth is going to need to be cleaned up. Your mother will be most unhappy if she is untidy. And Lucius, I'm sure that you would rather change before dinner as well. Severus, I would like to speak with you after dinner. Until then." Augustus turned and left the room. Severus, still carrying the teary-eyed toddler, and Lucius silently followed him out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Early the Next Morning
"Lucy," murmured Augustus into the cold, still darkness, "don't worry about Severus and Elizabeth."
"He was acting like a child, Gussy. Even you could see that."
"As were you. Yelling so that anyone could have heard you. You terrified the poor child. I found her outside the door to the library shaking. I also noticed that at dinner she refused to look at you. She didn't smile once the entire meal either. And she is generally a happy, easy-going child."
"Something has to be done. Do you even realize that Elizabeth is currently Severus's heir? She can't inherit. And what kind of life will she be able to live? Squibs are lower even than mudbloods. You know that as well as I do. It would be better for her if Severus were to do away with her now. Spare them both a load of embarrassment and humiliation."
"Lucy, I am not an idiot. I know what the social status of squibs is in our society, and I know that she and Severus will no doubt be forced to suffer from embarrassment and humiliation. But that is Severus's decision to make. And she can inherit. Wizarding law says that female squibs may inherit if they marry a wizard and give birth to magical child. And besides, more than likely Severus will remarry, and he will have other children. But as of right now, he has no desire to marry anyone. It's only been three and a half years since Amanda's death. He's still grieving. Elizabeth is his only connection to Amanda. Let the boy be."
Lucius snorted. "Bullshit. I don't give a damn if he's still grieving. He needs to get over that American twit, forget about her American relatives, get rid of the brat, and start over. Surely Lucretia could find him a suitable wife. Surely there's some witch out there from a suitable family who would take him, and bear him some normal brats."
"You know that Severus will not do that. I spoke with him earlier. He's planning to send her to live with Amanda's parents when the time that she ought to start Hogwarts comes along. He's not planning to take out an ad in the Prophet announcing that she's a squib. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see. Goodnight. I'm going to sleep." He kissed his lover firmly on the lips, rolled over, and promptly went to sleep.
Elf Girl: Thanks. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Rose Blossom: Thank you. You can't see Snape crying? Don't worry. He won't be doing anymore any time soon.
magicrules: Thanks, and here's the update that you wanted. Hope this makes you happy.
Katharin the Dragon: Thanks for the review. And don't worry, I may be slow, be attached by plot bunnies, and held hostage by my characters, but I will continue. Do not fear. And I sound really retarded now. Oh well.
falafelgigglehiney: Thank you very much. I'm glad that someone finally caught on to the not subtle hints (my English teacher got on me for that last week, something about giving things away too early) I left about Elizabeth and divination. She won't be a seer exactly, but it is important. Draco isn't going anywhere, and Harry and co. will show back up eventually. I'm not currently planning to skip ahead to seventh year, but after this chapter I'm going to be moving in larger chunks. Feel free to borrow ideas. I do. If you're like me, you find an idea, and then can't remember where it came from. As it's not word for word my story, I'll share. And hopefully I'll be updating more frequently.
December 26, 1983
Elizabeth ran down the hallway at Septimus Hall giggling trying to escape from her cousin Draco. She could hear the angry voice of her Uncle Lucius yelling at her father. She stopped when she heard her father say her name.
"Elizabeth will not be going anywhere. She is my daughter, and as such she will remain with me." Her father's voice was cold and short. It was the voice he used when he was extremely angry and was trying not to lose his temper.
"Severus, she cannot remain here. She should be put out of her misery. It's not natural. If you won't do it yourself, I will be more than happy to do it for you."
"Lucius, if you lay one hand on my daughter, I will kill you."
Outside in the hallway, Elizabeth was shaking. She didn't understand what was going on. Why would Uncle Lucius want her to go away? If she didn't live with Daddy, who would she live with?
"You're it!" Draco had run up behind her and tapped her on her arm. She shuddered; she hadn't seen him run up. Draco didn't seem to notice that there was something wrong with her (AN: yes even preschool aged males (for those not familiar with the term, that's approximately ages 3 to 5) are afflicted with the symptoms of a Y-chromosome), and he ran down the hallway giggling. Clearly thinking that she would be chasing him.
The yelling from Lucius and the cold, clipped tones were still coming out of the cracked door of the library. Elizabeth was frozen on the spot. She made no effort to chase Draco like she normally would have done.
This was how her grandfather, Augustus Snape, found her five minutes later. He bent down and picked his only granddaughter up.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong." Elizabeth had buried her head in his chest.
Before she could say anything the raised voice of her uncle echoed through the ancient hallway.
"Dammit, Severus. Have you listened to a goddamn word that I've said? You should put her away, go find yourself a proper English wife, and have yourself as many normal children as you want. Hell, have as many children as the Weasleys. At least their children are all normal instead of being a muggle freak." The last part was spat out.
"My daughter may be a squib, but she is neither a muggle, nor a freak. And I have no intention finding myself another wife. Amanda is the only woman I have ever wanted. Just because you don't find yourself attracted to your wife, doesn't mean that I wasn't in love with Amanda. It's not my fault that you would rather have..."
"Severus, Lucy, that is enough." The clipped tones of Augustus's deep voice caused both Severus and Lucius to turn and look at him.
"Father," Severus acknowledged.
"Gussy, you must know that I'm right. Surely you agree with me?"
"Lucy, we will discuss this later." The normally easy going Snape patriarch was serious. The conversation between Severus and Lucius was over for the time being.
"You scared Elizabeth. The both of you should be ashamed of yourself." Severus and Lucius looked at their feet. Even though Severus was a grown man in his twenties and Lucius (AN: I know that according to OotP, Lucius was 41 in 1995, but for this story, I'm going with the idea that Lucius is old enough to be Narcissa's father. Hey, I'm a member of WIKTT. I have no problems with large age differences.) was the same age as Augustus, he was making them feel as if they were children.
"Did you even realize that she was out in the hall?" Elizabeth buried her head even further into her grandfather's shoulder. She was rubbing tears and snot all over the top of his robes.
"No, Father."
"No, Gussy."
"Well that much was obvious." (AN I believe that this is an indirect quote from CoS. I may be wrong, but I think that that is what either Snape or McGonagall said after Harry and Ron hit the Whomping Willow.)
"Father, give her to me." Augustus handed his granddaughter over to his son. Elizabeth hid her face in her father's robes. It was as if she was deliberately trying no to look at her Uncle.
"Now it's almost time for dinner. Severus, Elizabeth is going to need to be cleaned up. Your mother will be most unhappy if she is untidy. And Lucius, I'm sure that you would rather change before dinner as well. Severus, I would like to speak with you after dinner. Until then." Augustus turned and left the room. Severus, still carrying the teary-eyed toddler, and Lucius silently followed him out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Early the Next Morning
"Lucy," murmured Augustus into the cold, still darkness, "don't worry about Severus and Elizabeth."
"He was acting like a child, Gussy. Even you could see that."
"As were you. Yelling so that anyone could have heard you. You terrified the poor child. I found her outside the door to the library shaking. I also noticed that at dinner she refused to look at you. She didn't smile once the entire meal either. And she is generally a happy, easy-going child."
"Something has to be done. Do you even realize that Elizabeth is currently Severus's heir? She can't inherit. And what kind of life will she be able to live? Squibs are lower even than mudbloods. You know that as well as I do. It would be better for her if Severus were to do away with her now. Spare them both a load of embarrassment and humiliation."
"Lucy, I am not an idiot. I know what the social status of squibs is in our society, and I know that she and Severus will no doubt be forced to suffer from embarrassment and humiliation. But that is Severus's decision to make. And she can inherit. Wizarding law says that female squibs may inherit if they marry a wizard and give birth to magical child. And besides, more than likely Severus will remarry, and he will have other children. But as of right now, he has no desire to marry anyone. It's only been three and a half years since Amanda's death. He's still grieving. Elizabeth is his only connection to Amanda. Let the boy be."
Lucius snorted. "Bullshit. I don't give a damn if he's still grieving. He needs to get over that American twit, forget about her American relatives, get rid of the brat, and start over. Surely Lucretia could find him a suitable wife. Surely there's some witch out there from a suitable family who would take him, and bear him some normal brats."
"You know that Severus will not do that. I spoke with him earlier. He's planning to send her to live with Amanda's parents when the time that she ought to start Hogwarts comes along. He's not planning to take out an ad in the Prophet announcing that she's a squib. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see. Goodnight. I'm going to sleep." He kissed his lover firmly on the lips, rolled over, and promptly went to sleep.