-NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR

CHAPTER 1

Hermione Apparated just outside Hogwarts' grounds. She looked at the castle and felt butterflies in her stomach. The sight of it brought her many mixed feelings. Most memories were good, but some were extremely bad. The last memory actually, was the worst. She had lost her best friend on these very grounds and she had vowed to never go back, but now... now necessity had spoken and she had no choice but to face her ghosts.

She straightened her robes and levitated her trunk all the way up to the front entrance. One trunk was all she had needed to pack her possessions. Mostly books, a few personal objects and some clothes. When she left Viktor, she made sure to leave all his presents behind. She wanted to forget that part of her life completely, it was obviously not worth it remembering.

She pushed the door open and it took her a few seconds to adjust with the darkness within the castle. A thousand years would go by and Hogwarts would look exactly the same, nothing had changed and yet, it would no longer be like her student's days. Walking silently through the empty halls, she was thankful it was early and she didn't have to face anyone so soon.

The stairs to the dungeons came to view and she climbed down, anxious to meet the subject of her work, the little life for which she would be responsible. She was worried as to how the baby would react to her. If he was anything like Snape, she would be in big trouble. She suppressed a nervous giggle. It was still really hard to accept Snape had a son. 'Snape was human after all,' she thought with a smirk.

The heavy door to his office still looked as imposing and threatening as she remembered and taking a deep breath, she knocked. His voice was loud enough for her to hear, but not sharp and irritable as usual.

"Enter."

Hermione walked in and found him sitting behind his desk, with the same intense and invasive look he gave her at the interview.

"You're five minutes late," he said dryly.

She opened her mouth to retort but thought it better to stay quiet. It wouldn't do to argue with her boss on the first day. 'Boss,' she laughed internally. 'Snape is my boss, how can things get any worse?'

Seeing she wouldn't reply to his comment he continued, "Before I show around and introduce you to Seirian, I must ask you to not raise your voice, for he just fell asleep and he can be quite... upset when his nap is disturbed."

'What a shock,' she thought.

His quarters had a spacious living room, a dining room, a small kitchen, a library and his private lab. As she followed through a narrow corridor, she saw two doors. He pointed his wand to a bare wall between the two doors, revealing a third one. "I've added another chamber, which will be yours. Inside you'll find an enchanted passage that will give you access to the baby's nursery any time you need," he said pointing at the door on the left. "This is the door to my chambers, you may call me if anything happens."

She nodded and followed him to the other door. He opened it slowly and motioned for her to come in. She found herself in a room with a plain dark mahogany crib and a changing table made of the same dark wood. The walls were covered with austere portraits and tapestries sporting the Slytherin symbol and the windows had heavy dark green curtains completing the strong masculine style.

'Depressing,' she thought with distaste. 'This man has no clue what a nursery should look like.'

Peeking inside the crib, Hermione smiled warmly for the first time since she arrived. Seirian was fast asleep, looking absolutely adorable like all babies do when they're sleeping. A soft mane of dark hair spiking in every direction covered his head, and even though his eyes were closed, she could see they were almond shaped and lined with long eyelashes. This was Snape's son alright. No one could say otherwise, and even if it was too early to say he had his father's nose, she could see a great resemblance.

Hermione wondered if he had inherited anything from the mother, probably not, he looked so much like a softer and cuter version of Snape. If that was possible.

Turning to leave the room, being careful not to make any noise, she noticed Snape observing her from the doorway. Lost in her own thoughts, she had completely forgotten about him and was a little surprised to find him staring at her in such a way. He had an unfathomable expression, making her extremely uncomfortable.

She stepped outside and followed him to the living room where he offered her a seat.

"I have a class starting in ten minutes, so when he wakes up, he is to be fed. You will find his bottle in the kitchen. I trust you know what to do with a baby." His mocking tone brought her back from the awkwardness of the situation.

"Yes sir, I used to babysit while I was in college. It helped me pay for extra books and personal things," she tried to reply as politely as her own temper would allow her.

"I was under the impression your husband's wealth had been sufficient to keep you from working," he replied with a smirk.

"Ex-husband and we only got married after I left college." She didn't like where this conversation was going.

"At least college wasn't a total loss for you, Miss Granger. Certainly all the nappy changing paid off in the end."

She stood up abruptly, knowing that all that was keeping her from wiping that smirk off his face was the reminder that she needed to eat to survive. "I'll be unpacking in my bedroom until Seirian wakes up, sir." Her voice was faltering with clear irritation.

She disappeared inside the door with her floating trunk while Snape watched her go with amused eyes.

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A pitched cry startled Hermione as she was changing into more comfortable robes. "Looks like work has just started," she said going through the adjoined door to the nursery. She was thankful Snape had left already. The man was still a bastard! He had a knack for hitting a person right in the wound, but she would die before letting him see her cry.

Hurrying inside the nursery, she saw that the baby's cheeks were flushed red and he was crying furiously. She picked him up, rocking him gently. "You really have your father's temper, don't you?"

At the sound of her voice, the baby gradually calmed down, until he lay in her arms, studying her face curiously. Looking at his eyes for the first time, she noticed he didn't have his father's eye color, they were a mix of blue and green, with little dark freckles on it. They looked like a cat's eye.

"Oh well, so you did inherit something of your mother, haven't you?" the new Nanny said playing with his tiny hands. "She must have pretty eyes like yours."

The baby cooed at her in return, waving his little arms and legs. She was relieved that at least the younger Snape liked her, it would be a lot easier to take care of him. She carefully placed him on the changing table and tried to find a clean nappy. Taking a better look around the room, there were no wipes or a nappy disposer anywhere in sight, nor ointments or baby powder. She sighed irritably and performed a cleaning spell on the baby's bottom, even though those weren't very efficient to properly clean a baby's skin. She held him carefully and went to the kitchen to find his milk. A small bottle sat on the counter surrounded by a warming spell. She tried the milk on the back of her hand and pleased with the temperature, went back to the living room to feed Seirian in a more comfortable position.

She would have to ask Madam Pomfrey if she had any baby products available at the infirmary. It was a wonder how she could take care of this baby for the last two weeks without all the things a baby requires.

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Severus walked over to his first class of the day, feeling slightly relieved that he had found someone to take care of his... 'offspring,' he groaned at the thought. A baby! He shook his head.

These last two weeks had been hell and if he hadn't been so desperate, he would never have hired one of Potter's insufferable side-kicks. One way or another, Potter's memory always came back to haunt him; in this case, in the form of an annoying know-it-all.

But the truth be told, if she hadn't taken the job, no one else would have. It was a wonder Poppy had agreed to help for a while, with all her duties in the hospital wing. He supposed it was probably out of pity on the child, he doubted anyone would do him a favor out of the goodness of their hearts. Even Dumbledore had his reasons to forgive him all those years ago.

He wasn't a man cut out to be a father; he never entertained the idea of a family and that was one of the reasons he had never gotten involved with anyone long enough to get married. He had succeeded in that for many years and it came as a surprise when that woman came to him, claiming the boy was his son. He couldn't even argue, the child did look like him and even the temper was already noticeable.

One fling, a one night-stand had brought him this predicament. He knew that if he hadn't been a little drunk, he would have had the sense to perform a simple contraceptive charm. But it was another one of many mistakes in his life, only he never thought he would be so careless as to commit this one.

She was a married woman for Merlin's sake! When he went to the Leaky Cauldron that night, she approached him after he had had a few drinks; her husband was away on a year long business trip. She was lonely and wanted to 'get even' as she so charmingly put it. Next thing he knew, he was shagging her wildly in one of the Inn's rooms. They left without even knowing each other's names.

Eleven months later she showed up saying she had been desperately looking for him since she had the baby. Her husband was coming back and she couldn't let him know of her adventures. The reason why she didn't use an abortive potion was never clear, but in a way, he was glad she didn't. He couldn't bear the idea of taking the life of his own child, wanted or not. So he didn't bother to ask, he just accepted his fate with the condition the child would have his name and she would not be acknowledged as the mother.

He was glad she disappeared as fast as she appeared, and hopefully, he would never see her again.

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When Severus returned to his chambers at lunch time, he found Hermione reading and eating quietly at the small dining room table. He walked around, surprised at the wonderful silence in the room.

"What have you done to Seirian?" the Professor asked suspiciously.

"I fed him, went for a walk on the grounds while the sun was still light, fed him again and at this moment he's sleeping." She didn't look up at him, but continued to read her book, while biting on her sandwich.

"But he never sleeps around lunch time, he's always crying... " As if doubting her word, he went to the nursery to see it for himself.

After a few seconds he returned and sat down in front of her. A plate of food magically appeared in front of him. They ate in silence until Hermione finally looked up at him and pushed a parchment in his direction.

He eyed the parchment with a raised eyebrow. "What's the meaning of this?"

"It's a shopping list, Professor," she said calmly.

"Explain," he replied.

"I flooed Madam Pomfrey and she told me she had no baby products in the hospital wing, God knows how she managed, so I made a list of what will be needed," she said a little to exasperated to his taste. "Also there are a few changes I need to make to the nursery; a baby can't sleep well in such a room."

He could detect anger in her voice and knew she was still upset with their previous conversation, but it also annoyed him that she had the cheek to speak to him in that tone.

"I can see no reason why a baby wouldn't be comfortable in that room, Miss Granger," he replied coldly.

"Not if the baby belongs to the Addam's family," Hermione blurted out.

Severus looked blankly at her and she just rolled her eyes.

"Well, Madam Pomfrey kindly agreed to stay with Seirian this afternoon, so we can buy what's needed," she said.

"We?" he asked with his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Well, it's your money and I know what's needed, Professor; it's not my fault you're anti-social!"

He stood up and placed his hands on the table, bending over her menacingly. "I'm not anti-social, I just don't like you. However, for obvious reasons, I have to put up with your insufferable company." His voice was dangerously soft.

He could sense her heart racing and even though he knew she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, he knew she wasn't his student anymore and it wouldn't be that easy to intimidate her.

Standing up and facing him on eye level, Hermione said, "Well, sir, the feeling is mutual!"

Both of them bolted out of the room in the direction of their respective bedrooms. Before closing his door Snape said, "Be ready in ten minutes if you want to go!"

"Fine! I will," she replied tersely.

The two doors slammed shut and they both groaned as Seirian's startled cry sounded from the nursery.

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A/N: Thanks to Shauna for beta reading and thanks to hp-lover-fifi, Crossedoff, lucidity(Woohoo I'm always glad to convert more and more into liking HG/SS), Parody-of-an-Angel (maybe she couldn't travel around with her husband and work at the same time, some husbands can be pretty controlling and that would a good reason she got a divorce), Intelligent Witch, Minerva7, Pathatlon, Nore, sweetytweety013, the-sexy-flower(thanks for the tip, I'll try not to squeeze too much in the sentences) and momsangel for the lovely reviews!