Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 13.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Severus said looking at the ground and shaking his head back and forth. He had never been the world's greatest fan of shopping, certainly not for clothes, but apparently shopping for children was even more unpleasant than that.
Their second foray into the hectic Saturday morning crowds had been much more successful; he had carried the child from the word go and although she had certainly not been overly comfortable to begin with, she had eventually relaxed enough to start peeking curiously at the passers by. Their first (and thus far only) stop had been Madame Malkin's and an hour later the Potions master was at a loss as to what they had actually achieved.
"But they're so sweet and she loves them Sev!" Remus was trying to do the Puppy dog eyes again.
"No." He said again. They had started from the inside out apparently, so now he was sitting on a bench outside the changing rooms next to a pile of a dozen pair of pants and vests, assorted socks and tights of various colours, several fairly practical dresses a couple of skirts and pairs of trousers, copious t-shirts and other tops, a woollen sweeter and four cardigans, a set of robes and an outdoor cloak. Now however they were talking about shoes. They had settled on a pair of black leather t-bars that would do for pretty much everything but it seemed that the werewolf had other ideas.
"Oh come on Severus."
"I said no." He re-iterated as he wondered what the hell anyone observing this scene would think. Minerva was sitting on a little stool swinging her legs back and forth and wiggling her toes inside her tights. Remus was sitting on the floor next to her holding the offending items of footwear and Madame Malkin (who had insisted on helping them herself despite how hectic the main shop down stairs was) was kneeling in front of the young girl with a quietly amused look on her face that was beginning to irritate him immensely.
"Why not?" Remus asked petulantly.
"They're not practical."
"Why not?"
"You know – anyone would think you were the child Moony."
"Oh come on… what harm would it do?"
"I am not going to be seen to out-fit my charge in anything quite so… so… so…."
"Gryffindor?" The Gryffindor suggested.
"Precisely." He agreed, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.
"Oh please. That is so pathetic Severus – I can't believe you are making all this fuss over a pair of red shoes." Actually Severus himself was beginning to wonder why he was bothering.
It wasn't as if they were totally ridiculous after all. The burnished red leather wasn't obtusely 'in-your-face', as his students would have put it, and Minerva had proved that she could deal with buckles perfectly well (that she could fasten them herself had been the first rule he had laid down about footwear). He had also spotted the way her eyes had lit up when she had first laid eyes on them. The Potion Master was just thinking about giving up when he was offered a way out with surrender.
"Well if you wont buy them for her I will." Remus said with conviction standing up and putting his hands on his hips.
"Fine." He said repressing a smile and standing up to. "Now please tell me we're done here?"
Another hour later the three of them were sequestered in a shadowy corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Remus had made them stop off to buy shampoo and a hairbrush on the way, which had resulted in another minor skirmish. He was a potion expert why in Merlin's name the Werewolf felt the need to insist that he buy shampoo for her he had no idea. In any case, they had eventually arrived and now as Severus looked at the menu he was faced with another dilemma.
"Any idea as to what she'll eat?" He asked somewhat reluctantly as Remus perused his copy. The girl sitting between them now, quite happily drinking her water and observing the other patrons as they moved about in front of their booth.
"Hmmmm. You don't have any idea?"
"Well, I know she likes her porridge salted." He offered rather feebly. "And I think Poppy gave her soup for lunch yesterday…"
"Well that's a start." Remus said, flashing him a smile that managed to warm him despite the chill of despair that was beginning to settle as he realised that he really had no clue about children at all. He was brought out of his thoughts when his partner continued. "Well I'm going to have soup and maybe some sandwiches. Tom would likely bring Minerva here a small bowl. What about you?"
"Hmmm, oh, probably the same." He answered absentmindedly.
They ordered at the bar and Remus was proved right when Tom was more than willing to dole out a 'children's portion'. Severus suspected that he was simply being helpful out of a desire to get some information about who it was that they were looking after. He supposed however, that a couple like himself and Remus, who had always stuck out from the crowd somewhat, appearing with a small child might raise some questions. Well at least the news of just who this child was, or at least, who she had been, was still under wraps for the time being.
When he arrived back at the table Lupin was playing some ridiculous game that involved him trying to flick coins into the ashtray. Minerva was sitting with her head cocked slightly to the watching him with a slightly bemused expression, as if she weren't sure what the point of the exercise was. In true pub fashion their food arrived in dribs and drabs, the sandwiches before the soup. They left them to one side and continued to discuss just how many Weasley's that he was likely to have to teach before he got to an appropriate age to retire.
The Gryffindor got distracted after a few minutes though and Severus followed his gaze down to their charge who was at present studying the menu carefully. Or at least, that's what she appeared to be doing. They both watched in silence as she peered over the top of the laminated sheet and studied Remus's bacon roll before running a finger down the list and stopping at the correct item. She did exactly the same for the cheese sandwich sitting next to him before either of them spoke.
"Do you think…?" Moony ventured. "That she might be able to read English even if she can't speak or understand it spoken?"
"I suppose…" He began, "that it might actually make sense. After all, I suspect the majority of the books that her father would read wouldn't be printed in Gaelic."
"Still – being able to read that well at that age would be unusual wouldn't it?"
"Somehow I suspect that Minerva was never a normal child." The girl looked up at the use of her name and he raised an eyebrow as he looked back. A small smile crept onto her face before the moment was interrupted by the somewhat tardy arrival of the rest of their food.
They sat quite happily in silence as they all ate, the noise from the rest of the Inn's patrons providing a muffled backdrop for them. Severus looked up from where he was busily cutting one half of his sandwiches into more manageable sized pieces for Minerva, when Remus spoke.
"You know how I said Albus had sent me a letter this morning?" He asked placing his spoon down and pushing his bowl away.
"Yes." He replied not sure where this was headed.
"Well I suppose the main reason he did was that," he paused but Severus said nothing. "Well, that he'd like me to cover Minerva's classes for the time being." He finished in something of a rush.
"Oh." Was all he said out loud as his mind tried to rush off in a million different directions at once. "And are you going to accept?"
"I already have. It was going to be a surprise – well until I saw you earlier." This was said with the ridiculously boyish smile that seemed to attract every young female within a two-mile radius and had an unnerving habit of sending a shudder down his back.
"Indeed?"
"Indeed. Hope you don't mind."
"Why should I? And as Madam here seems to approve you can take babysitting duty." A quirk of an eyebrow and he had the werewolf rolling his eyes.
Once they had eaten their fill they headed back out, but before they had stepped through the arch both men took a firm hold of one of the girls hands each. It was a relatively short trip across the road to Flourish and Blots and the crowds seemed to have dissipated a little from earlier. When they reached there destination Severus noted that, though he suspected that it would be hours before he got the felling back in the two fingers the girl had been squeezing, and she was still somewhat anxious, her face lit up when they stepped inside the readers paradise.
"I need to go pick up the books Albus ordered." Severus told Moony who was still holding on to the child's hand as she gazed wondrously about.
"Sure – we'll meet you at the cash desk then?" Though it was phrased as a question, the two of them had disappeared between the shelves before he had a chance to answer. It was his turn to roll his eyes now as he wondered when he would be able to drag them out of here.
He cornered an assistant and told him the order number he was here to collect before beginning to peruse the shelves himself. Twenty minutes later the stack of books the Headmaster had ordered (containing everything from teach yourself Gaelic to parenting guides – all of which had resulted in some odd looks from the staff) were wrapped and ready for delivery to his quarters. As with Madame Malkin's Albus had been in touch already it seemed and made arrangements for anything that was needed to be put on a separate tab that he suspected the Headmaster would pick up himself at the end of the day, but even still Severus couldn't help but wonder if they weren't all going a bit over the top, baring in mind that the child wouldn't necessarily be with them very long. He was just paying for his own purchases when Remus appeared with a ball, of what he assumed was child, in his arms.
"We were reading a story and she fell asleep on me." He said quietly. This seemed true enough, for now the girl was laying up against the other man's chest, her head resting on his shoulder, pinkie firmly in mouth and her eyes closed.
"Well in that case, maybe it's time we headed back to the castle…"
"Actually," Remus interjected. "There are one or two things…" He stepped aside to reveal an assistant carrying a rather large pile of assorted books.
"Moony." He growled.
"Oh calm down would you. There's a couple that I've been looking for, for a while, one on Quidditch that I know Harry will love, one for you and a couple for the little lady." Shaking his head but knowing that it really wasn't worth while arguing with him, he simply stood back and watched with something akin to amusement while he tried to deal with the process of paying and arranging delivery without any spare hands. Once they were done they headed out the back door that ended up relatively near to the Floo station.
"Coming back with us?" Severus asked nonchalantly.
"Well since the limpet is heading your way, I don't seem to have a huge amount of choice." Came the jovial reply. "In any case, I've been struggling with one of the articles in Transfiguration Monthly - I could pick Minerva's brain abo…" Remus trailed off as they both realised what he had said.
They stood in silence for a moment and Severus wished he knew what to say to break the uneasy tension that had settled over them. Placing a re-assuring hand on the small of the other man's back he guided them towards an empty grate and as they travelled first to Hogsmeade then began walking up towards the castle, the unease vanished to be replaced with something closer to a slight melancholy. They walked in silence until the child in Remus arms shifted and without waking began to hum one of the tunes that they had heard back at the flat earlier. She really was quite comical and it seemed the werewolf couldn't help but chuckle as she snuggled closer to him, which in turn brought a smile to Severus' face. Whatever the next few weeks were going to hold for them, he suspected it would certainly be an interesting journey for all those involved.
