"Be good to her, Severus."
Severus had just told his mother the news. He deeply resented the fact that his mother felt the need to remind him to act decently to her. He had, after all, respected her privacy in the past, and had always provided for her out of his Hogwarts salary.
"A girl or a boy?" Constanza had been anticipating the child. The mother's family had notified Aegerus when she became pregnant. The arrival itself was the only new news.
"I don't know. Does it make a difference?" Severus shrugged into a cloak and looked into the mirror as he did the fastenings. He glared at the reflection of his nose. Seeing that piece of his father took him back to the night before, after he had slammed the casket shut. He had looked up at the portrait of his father and it had seemed to move. Actually, Severus didn't know if it had really moved or if his glare had only intensified, boring into his son. Severus made a note to himself to have that painting taken down and stored in the attic before it began to do anything else.
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Severus took a good look at the house before him through hooded eyes as he climbed the walk to the front doors. It was a manor like his own, but the Nostrum family had obviously invested a lot more money into covering up that sinister look that clung to all the traditional manors of the pureblood clans. The look that stated, there are more secrets than cobwebs in this house. The façade of the house seemed almost welcoming, with warm sandstone columns and tasteful flowers in the freshly turned beds. White lace curtains draped the windows, one of which Severus knew was Celeste's.
Severus recalled the first time he had been inside that room. Lush with rich carpets and drapery, it had seemed oppressive to him that first night. Immediately following the ceremony of the arranged marriage she and Severus had been whisked back to her room where they had been left to fulfill their marital duties. Or rather, their duties to their families. The object of the marriage was to produce an heir, cementing the bond between the two families. Well, Severus thought, they certainly had their heir now. Aegerus Snape had acquired a step up the ladder in pureblood society through the marriage, as well as initiation into the inner circle of Voldemort's followers, and Imperarus Nostrum had been benefited by the connection to the Snape family's purse.
Remembering that first night was something Severus tried to avoid recalling, but always played out in minute detail when it did come to mind, whether he liked it or not. The ceremony had passed by with Severus possessing the vague sensation that he was observing everything through the wrong way of a telescope, distancing his connection with it. The rage in his chest constricted his breathing and made his heart hammer wildly. He had been informed of the marriage only a week prior to the ceremony. The day it happened he had been pulled out of school—he had been only fifteen at the time. She was a fourteen year-old girl he had known by name but had never seen before. At the ceremony he was no more enlightened in her appearance because of the ridiculous wedding veils draped thickly over her form. Back at her dimly lit room, alone, they had awkwardly undressed. Awkwardly, Severus had taken her virginity. In reality it had been no more enjoyable for him than it had been for her, but he still felt as though he had wronged her somehow, even though none of it had been his choice. Afterwards, they did not speak. They lay awake for a long while each pretending to the other to be soundly asleep.
Severus grimaced at the memory as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. The silence between them had never left. Severus had had no desire to dispel it. He knew what her father was, and what she in turn was because of it. But still, each year on their anniversary Severus returned to her room. Neither Aegerus nor Imperarus had had any immediate use for an heir, so the yearly rite was more of a reminder of the link between the two families.
A timid-looking house elf opened the door before Severus had raised his hand to knock. "Tibby takes Master Snape to Master Nostrum now, sir."
Severus followed the house elf down a richly decorated hallway and to the double doors of the drawing room. He pushed on the handle and the door swung open.
Imperarus Nostrum was a short and portly, but by no means jolly, man. His pouchy face had grimness to it and his dress was meant to intimidate. However Severus was in no mood to be intimidated. Severus met his disapproving gaze with defiance.
In front of her husband, sitting down on a chaise, was Severus' mother-in-law. She was not the pale ghost his mother was. No, she had thrived in the politics of arranged marriage. She too was stout and well dressed. Against her breast she clutched a bundle of lacey white silk. Severus assumed the baby must be buried in there somewhere. There was really no other explanation for why she should be holding a bottle at the bundle and making revolting cooing noises.
"Severus, darling, how is my favorite son-in-law?" Madam Nostrum oozed in a falsetto pitch that she seemed to think everyone thought was her real voice.
Your only son-in-law, madam, Severus thought to himself. "Chipper." Severus nearly kicked himself when he heard himself using an expression his students often used. However, the glare the word earned from Nostrum nearly made Severus satisfied that he had used it. He was not afraid to offend his father-in-law now that his father was gone.
Madam Nostrum had also seemed a little surprised at his choice of words. The high society pureblood families often made a point of not talking like the other wizarding social sects. She frowned at his disrespect.
"We were devastated at the news of your father's death," Madam Nostrum said. She obviously thought that that blunt statement would hurt or perhaps pique Severus in some way.
"I found myself being slightly more optimistic." Severus was beginning to take a wicked pleasure in his visit. He hadn't thought it possible. The Nostrums were now both staring at him open-mouthed.
"Your father would be ill from the shame, boy. It is my own great chagrin that he died before teaching you to show respect."
"Much as I would love to have a no-bounds row with you, Nostrum, I'm afraid that I haven't the time. I've come to see my child because you requested it. Afterwards, I must help my mother with the wake. If you would like me to come back for the aforementioned row, you will have to book me at a later date."
While Nostrum bristled and turned color, Severus glided forward to stand before Madam Nostrum. She looked up at Severus, meeting him directly in the eye.
"Girl or a boy?" Severus was blunt. He didn't care so much himself, but he knew his mother's mood would be lifted if she had news of her grandchild to turn over.
Madam Nostrum held back the information for a moment, pursing her lips rather hideously at him. Finally, "It's a girl." She attempted to say it in such a tone that implied it had been some sort of failing of the parents that it had not been a boy, a proper male heir.
As Severus craned his neck to glimpse the baby girl from around the folds of white silk a piercing cry rent the air. Severus started back in annoyance. Madam Nostrum immediately bent, cooing once more, over the bundle with earnest.
"There there, Aegera, there there."
Severus could not believe what he was hearing. Aegera? Was this some sort of joke?
"Aegera?"
Nostrum looked imperiously at Severus. "Yes, her name has already been decided. Aegera Philesia Telomena Snape." His expression was challenging. Severus wondered cynically if they couldn't have added just one more syllable to her name.
He was literally stewing over her name, though. Aegera! It was then that he noticed the contents of the bottle Madam Nostrum was holding and froze. The milk inside the glass was faintly bluish, indicating that it was not, in fact, real breast milk but instead a potion, Lacteus Simulus. During Severus' brief internship at St. Mungo's, which had been brought to an end because of the war, Severus had focused on potion making for the health. From his experience he recognized this particular potion. It was meant for infants whose mothers had died in labor and could get their nourishment from no other source.
"What is that?" Severus asked in a level voice. Madam Nostrum had to follow his line of vision to understand what he was referring to.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why is she drinking a Lacteus Simulus potion instead of her mother's breast milk?" Wouldn't they have told him in the letter if Celeste had died?
The Nostrums exchanged glances.
"Celeste—"
"Where is she?" Severus' voice was impatient and sharp.
Nostrum was ingrate at having been cut short. "In her room."
Severus paused a moment before gingerly but assertively taking his daughter from her grandmother's arms. She was still screaming fit to burst a lung, or at least a bystander's eardrum. Severus strode from the room, robes swishing behind him. He made his way down the hallway to the staircase. He hadn't exactly planned out what he would do once he found Celeste, but he began climbing the stairs anyways.
Halfway up the staircase a strange thing happened. The baby inexplicably stopped her wailing. Severus halted in his tracks to look down at her, wondering if something was wrong. Looking up at him were two of the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Black eyelashes fringed them, starkly dark against her fair skin. Her tiny mouth was half open, a clear dribble on her chin. Severus hesitated a moment before wiping it gently away with a corner of the blanket. She continued to stare up at him, unblinking. Severus frowned and continued up the stairs.
"Severus?"
Severus' head whipped upwards. Before him stood a young woman in a nightgown. She wore no dressing gown and no slippers on her bare feet. Long reddish hair fell in a disordered array around her shoulders. It was Celeste.
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I will be awarding major prizes to whomever can guess the meanings behind the character names. Prizes include a fully-loaded sports car, a cruise trip in the South Pacific, and various cash prizes. Again, if you value updates, review!
Severus had just told his mother the news. He deeply resented the fact that his mother felt the need to remind him to act decently to her. He had, after all, respected her privacy in the past, and had always provided for her out of his Hogwarts salary.
"A girl or a boy?" Constanza had been anticipating the child. The mother's family had notified Aegerus when she became pregnant. The arrival itself was the only new news.
"I don't know. Does it make a difference?" Severus shrugged into a cloak and looked into the mirror as he did the fastenings. He glared at the reflection of his nose. Seeing that piece of his father took him back to the night before, after he had slammed the casket shut. He had looked up at the portrait of his father and it had seemed to move. Actually, Severus didn't know if it had really moved or if his glare had only intensified, boring into his son. Severus made a note to himself to have that painting taken down and stored in the attic before it began to do anything else.
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Severus took a good look at the house before him through hooded eyes as he climbed the walk to the front doors. It was a manor like his own, but the Nostrum family had obviously invested a lot more money into covering up that sinister look that clung to all the traditional manors of the pureblood clans. The look that stated, there are more secrets than cobwebs in this house. The façade of the house seemed almost welcoming, with warm sandstone columns and tasteful flowers in the freshly turned beds. White lace curtains draped the windows, one of which Severus knew was Celeste's.
Severus recalled the first time he had been inside that room. Lush with rich carpets and drapery, it had seemed oppressive to him that first night. Immediately following the ceremony of the arranged marriage she and Severus had been whisked back to her room where they had been left to fulfill their marital duties. Or rather, their duties to their families. The object of the marriage was to produce an heir, cementing the bond between the two families. Well, Severus thought, they certainly had their heir now. Aegerus Snape had acquired a step up the ladder in pureblood society through the marriage, as well as initiation into the inner circle of Voldemort's followers, and Imperarus Nostrum had been benefited by the connection to the Snape family's purse.
Remembering that first night was something Severus tried to avoid recalling, but always played out in minute detail when it did come to mind, whether he liked it or not. The ceremony had passed by with Severus possessing the vague sensation that he was observing everything through the wrong way of a telescope, distancing his connection with it. The rage in his chest constricted his breathing and made his heart hammer wildly. He had been informed of the marriage only a week prior to the ceremony. The day it happened he had been pulled out of school—he had been only fifteen at the time. She was a fourteen year-old girl he had known by name but had never seen before. At the ceremony he was no more enlightened in her appearance because of the ridiculous wedding veils draped thickly over her form. Back at her dimly lit room, alone, they had awkwardly undressed. Awkwardly, Severus had taken her virginity. In reality it had been no more enjoyable for him than it had been for her, but he still felt as though he had wronged her somehow, even though none of it had been his choice. Afterwards, they did not speak. They lay awake for a long while each pretending to the other to be soundly asleep.
Severus grimaced at the memory as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. The silence between them had never left. Severus had had no desire to dispel it. He knew what her father was, and what she in turn was because of it. But still, each year on their anniversary Severus returned to her room. Neither Aegerus nor Imperarus had had any immediate use for an heir, so the yearly rite was more of a reminder of the link between the two families.
A timid-looking house elf opened the door before Severus had raised his hand to knock. "Tibby takes Master Snape to Master Nostrum now, sir."
Severus followed the house elf down a richly decorated hallway and to the double doors of the drawing room. He pushed on the handle and the door swung open.
Imperarus Nostrum was a short and portly, but by no means jolly, man. His pouchy face had grimness to it and his dress was meant to intimidate. However Severus was in no mood to be intimidated. Severus met his disapproving gaze with defiance.
In front of her husband, sitting down on a chaise, was Severus' mother-in-law. She was not the pale ghost his mother was. No, she had thrived in the politics of arranged marriage. She too was stout and well dressed. Against her breast she clutched a bundle of lacey white silk. Severus assumed the baby must be buried in there somewhere. There was really no other explanation for why she should be holding a bottle at the bundle and making revolting cooing noises.
"Severus, darling, how is my favorite son-in-law?" Madam Nostrum oozed in a falsetto pitch that she seemed to think everyone thought was her real voice.
Your only son-in-law, madam, Severus thought to himself. "Chipper." Severus nearly kicked himself when he heard himself using an expression his students often used. However, the glare the word earned from Nostrum nearly made Severus satisfied that he had used it. He was not afraid to offend his father-in-law now that his father was gone.
Madam Nostrum had also seemed a little surprised at his choice of words. The high society pureblood families often made a point of not talking like the other wizarding social sects. She frowned at his disrespect.
"We were devastated at the news of your father's death," Madam Nostrum said. She obviously thought that that blunt statement would hurt or perhaps pique Severus in some way.
"I found myself being slightly more optimistic." Severus was beginning to take a wicked pleasure in his visit. He hadn't thought it possible. The Nostrums were now both staring at him open-mouthed.
"Your father would be ill from the shame, boy. It is my own great chagrin that he died before teaching you to show respect."
"Much as I would love to have a no-bounds row with you, Nostrum, I'm afraid that I haven't the time. I've come to see my child because you requested it. Afterwards, I must help my mother with the wake. If you would like me to come back for the aforementioned row, you will have to book me at a later date."
While Nostrum bristled and turned color, Severus glided forward to stand before Madam Nostrum. She looked up at Severus, meeting him directly in the eye.
"Girl or a boy?" Severus was blunt. He didn't care so much himself, but he knew his mother's mood would be lifted if she had news of her grandchild to turn over.
Madam Nostrum held back the information for a moment, pursing her lips rather hideously at him. Finally, "It's a girl." She attempted to say it in such a tone that implied it had been some sort of failing of the parents that it had not been a boy, a proper male heir.
As Severus craned his neck to glimpse the baby girl from around the folds of white silk a piercing cry rent the air. Severus started back in annoyance. Madam Nostrum immediately bent, cooing once more, over the bundle with earnest.
"There there, Aegera, there there."
Severus could not believe what he was hearing. Aegera? Was this some sort of joke?
"Aegera?"
Nostrum looked imperiously at Severus. "Yes, her name has already been decided. Aegera Philesia Telomena Snape." His expression was challenging. Severus wondered cynically if they couldn't have added just one more syllable to her name.
He was literally stewing over her name, though. Aegera! It was then that he noticed the contents of the bottle Madam Nostrum was holding and froze. The milk inside the glass was faintly bluish, indicating that it was not, in fact, real breast milk but instead a potion, Lacteus Simulus. During Severus' brief internship at St. Mungo's, which had been brought to an end because of the war, Severus had focused on potion making for the health. From his experience he recognized this particular potion. It was meant for infants whose mothers had died in labor and could get their nourishment from no other source.
"What is that?" Severus asked in a level voice. Madam Nostrum had to follow his line of vision to understand what he was referring to.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why is she drinking a Lacteus Simulus potion instead of her mother's breast milk?" Wouldn't they have told him in the letter if Celeste had died?
The Nostrums exchanged glances.
"Celeste—"
"Where is she?" Severus' voice was impatient and sharp.
Nostrum was ingrate at having been cut short. "In her room."
Severus paused a moment before gingerly but assertively taking his daughter from her grandmother's arms. She was still screaming fit to burst a lung, or at least a bystander's eardrum. Severus strode from the room, robes swishing behind him. He made his way down the hallway to the staircase. He hadn't exactly planned out what he would do once he found Celeste, but he began climbing the stairs anyways.
Halfway up the staircase a strange thing happened. The baby inexplicably stopped her wailing. Severus halted in his tracks to look down at her, wondering if something was wrong. Looking up at him were two of the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Black eyelashes fringed them, starkly dark against her fair skin. Her tiny mouth was half open, a clear dribble on her chin. Severus hesitated a moment before wiping it gently away with a corner of the blanket. She continued to stare up at him, unblinking. Severus frowned and continued up the stairs.
"Severus?"
Severus' head whipped upwards. Before him stood a young woman in a nightgown. She wore no dressing gown and no slippers on her bare feet. Long reddish hair fell in a disordered array around her shoulders. It was Celeste.
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I will be awarding major prizes to whomever can guess the meanings behind the character names. Prizes include a fully-loaded sports car, a cruise trip in the South Pacific, and various cash prizes. Again, if you value updates, review!