-NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, things have been busy out here but I'm hoping to be able to update all my fics. I'm waiting for my beta to send me back 'lost in owl posts', so for those of you who are reading that one, bear with me ;-).
CHAPTER 4
Seirian had just fallen asleep after devouring his mid-afternoon bottle.
Hermione smiled at the peaceful looking infant, whose wailings could be heard all over the castle only moments ago. The boy's appetite matched Ron's and with a temper like that, he was on the way to becoming his father's son.
The smile faded slowly from her face, as the events of the morning came racing back.
The situation was definitely turning more complicated. Snape didn't need to tell her. She was smart enough to figure that one out. His reaction and the other woman's expression had all the information she needed to put two and two together.
She could bet her life that Dumbledore had seen through the whole thing too.
Pacing back and forth in the sitting room, Hermione tried to decided how they could take advantage of that situation without bringing harm to all parties involved... well, at least no physical harm.
Knowing Sirius that would be the first thing to happen. Whereas Snape was calm, cold and used words as his most painful weapon, Sirius could lose control at the most harmless discussion. There was no telling what the consequences would be as the whole thing came to the surface.
Her smile returned in the form of a sly grin.
That is, if it ever did happen. This woman, Seirian's mother, was the key to the success of their plan. A little psychological terrorism and she would convince the old dog out of here faster than they could say 'adultery'!
A knock on the door startled her out of her plotting, and she rushed to get it before another knock could wake the now quiet baby.
"Hello there, Harmony!" The blonde woman greeted, sporting a toothy smile that put Lockhart to shame.
Hermione had an urge to wipe that smile of the other woman's face and it took all her will power to smile back. "Er... it's Hermione."
The two women were sizing each other, before Phyllis replied. "Right, could I come in?"
"I'm not sure it would be wise, the baby has just fallen asleep." Hermione's tone was sweet but it had enough authority to keep the woman back.
"Actually, that was the reason I came... I adore babies and I was wondering if I could see him," Phyllis said, tentatively.
"Like I said, he's taking his afternoon nap. Why don't you come back later, when his father is in?" Hermione tried.
"Oh, that won't be necessary, I just want to take a peek, I won't make any noise." The blonde moved to come in, but Hermione stepped in front of her, controlled enough to remain smiling.
"I'm sure you will have plenty of time to look at the baby later."
Phyllis' eyes showed a little spark of anger, and when she spoke, her voice was a little more demanding than before. "Oh come now, Harmony, I'm sure his father won't mind, and..."
A deep, cold voice spoke from behind the woman, making her jump slightly. "Her name is Hermione, and yes, his father will mind!"
Phyllis turned to see a very menacing Snape standing behind her with his arms crossed and a sneer on his face. She seemed to be out of words, so Snape continued. "I thought I made it very clear that I don't want you and your sorry excuse for a husband around MY son." He spoke so softly that Hermione felt goose bumps on her arms. "Now if you'll excuse me, I want to get into my chambers."
He pushed his way through and started closing the door without ceremony.
"You can't do that! If you forbid me to see him, I'll..."
"You'll do what? Complain to your husband?" A disdainful expression shone clearly on the Professor's face. "I am certain Black would love to hear what you've been doing in his absence."
The Potions master didn't wait for her reply, if there was one, and closed the door on her face. He warded it twice before he strode to the sitting room and poured himself some firewhiskey.
"I didn't know you drank during the day and on a work day, no less!" Hermione's voice held a slightly amused tone.
"I don't have anymore classes today and this is probably the last concern I have on my mind." He gazed at her, tilting his head to the side. "One would think you would start bombarding me with questions about what just happened, not my drinking schedule."
"What's there to ask? Phyllis is Seirian's mother and you, with reason, don't want her around your son." The nanny sat on the second chair in front of the fire. "Of course, I would like to know how on earth all that came about, but yesterday you made it clear that it's none of my business."
"Well, I expected that, only an oaf like Sirius wouldn't connect the dots." Snape sat in his usual chair facing Hermione.
"However," Hermione continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Considering the fact that we can fully take advantage of this situation, I would advise you to tell me the entire story. The more information I have, the best I can develop our plan to get rid of both of them in one go."
He studied her in silence. She knew he would have to give in and let her in on everything; stubborn or not, his Slytherin mind would accept anything that he could use for his benefit. As she waited for him to make up his mind, she replayed the scene with Seirian's mother. The smug nanny couldn't help feeling admiration for the way he handled the woman and corrected her when she called her 'Harmony.'
"Very well, Miss Granger. But your discretion in this is imperative! One word to anyone and we can put it all to waste. Not to mention, what this could do to my image and that of the school."
"I'm not stupid, sir. I have my own interests in this, remember?" the young woman said, returning his intense gaze.
"I'm starting to think that ruddy old hat doesn't deserve the credit we give him," Snape said wearily, obviously trying to postpone the revelations of his private life to his former student.
"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.
"If I'd known you had such cunning, Miss Granger, I would have convinced the hat to put you in my House."
The nanny smirked and sat back, prepared to listen to a very interesting story. 'Coming from him, that sounds almost like a compliment,' she thought.
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-Three weeks earlier:
Severus was busy preparing his lesson plan for the following week when his fireplace lit up. The disembodied head of Tom from The Leaky Cauldron floated wrapped in the emerald flames.
For a moment he blinked trying to imagine why in Hades the Inn's owner was flooing his office to interrupt his work. "Is there anything I can do for you, Tom?"
"Hello Professor. Sorry for the intrusion, but I have a situation here that I think I should let you know, before giving out any information." The bald man seemed a little intimidated by Severus demeanor.
"Yes?"
"I think you'd better step over here, Professor."
Severus' curiosity peaked and he quickly agreed to floo down to The Leaky Cauldron. Stumbling slightly and brushing the dust off his robes, he found himself in the back room, where the Inn's owner had his office.
"What is it?"
"You see, sir, there's a woman here, who's been looking for you. She says she's been looking for months now, but no one knew who you were." The man approached Severus speaking in hushed tones. "She gave me a very poor description of you, but didn't know your name. I didn't say I knew who she was talking about because I wasn't sure you would want her looking for you at Hogwarts."
"Good thing you didn't. But why on earth do you think it's me, then? And why would she want to see me?" Severus was having a feeling he was wasting his time.
The man looked at his feet for some time and then spoke, "The thing is, I recognized her, and I remember exactly when she was here. I have a great memory, and I never forget a face, especially being such a beautiful witch and all."
"Get to the point, Tom!"
"Yes, right you are. You see, when she started describing you, she mentioned something about dark intense eyes, but what made me sure was the fact that she was the one who shared a room with you, about a year ago. I remember it clear as day, you both had a lot to drink, and..."
The Professor lifted a hand to shut the rambling barkeeper and tried to put his thoughts in order. He remembered the woman vaguely, it had been almost a year and it was so fast, he only knew she had blond hair and smiled too much for his liking. What could she possibly want with him, to disrupt his valuable time? He certainly didn't want anything with her!
"I vaguely remember the woman you're referring to. Did she say what was so important that she needed to see me?"
"I think you should see for yourself, sir," the man said pointing to a door.
"She is here?" Severus didn't have a good feeling about this.
Tom didn't answer but opened the door and called her out.
Just one look at her and Severus remembered everything, more than he wished to. But what brought the chill to his stomach was the squirming little infant she was holding.
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Tom left the office to give them privacy and Severus eyed the woman suspiciously.
"Thank Merlin I finally found you," she said coming closer, making Severus step back out of instinct. She looked at him coldly and stretched her arms, shoving the little bundle, wrapped in a blue shawl, to him. "This is your son."
"I hardly believe that," Severus shot, not making any movement to hold the baby.
"Just because you were too careless to cast a contraceptive spell on us, doesn't make it less true."
He snorted. "I think it doesn't rely solely on me, does it? If you didn't go about getting drunk and offering yourself to men, this," he pointed to the baby. "Wouldn't happen. And I don't know what your motives are, but I doubt I have anything to do with it."
He turned on his heels ready to floo back to his quarters.
"Well, then I guess the orphanage it is," the woman said.
Severus stopped, his back still turned to her, but then resumed walking to the fireplace and disappeared in the green flames.
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That night, Severus didn't get a minute's sleep. Some part of him kept pulling him back to that baby. He was never one to care. He wasn't the kind of man to be emotional about anything or anyone and he certainly couldn't stand children in any way, shape or form.
But maybe, just maybe, with the years, he had somehow developed a conscience. And the question harassing his mind was: what if it was really his son?
The child had black hair, it's true, but it could be anyone's.
When it was finally morning, he went to the only man he could confide in and ask for advice. Dumbledore. He told him everything he could remember and the old man convinced him to take a paternity test. The insufferable meddler even insisted on accompanying him.
After talking to Tom, he found out the woman left her address in case he changed his mind. Her house was located in London and it took them less than ten minutes to find it. It was a tall Victorian style house, surrounded by trees and very isolated.
They knocked several times with no answer.
"Maybe she won't be long. Why don't we wait here?" Albus asked.
"Absolutely not! I never thought this was a good idea anyway." he was climbing the steps down, when they heard a baby crying.
"She might be home after all," Dumbledore cast a quick unlocking spell, finding the house had no wards.
Both men entered the house cautiously, calling out to let the owner know they were entering. There was no reply, except for the baby's faint crying. They soon found the room where the baby was. The smell was unbearable, indicating the baby needed a change and fast. A bassinet sat near a window, and the room was no nursery. A few boxes and books were scattered around the room.
Albus picked the infant in his arms and expertly cast a cleaning spell, rocking the baby gently until the crying subsided. Severus, who had searched the house came back into the room with pure anger on his face.
"She's not here! She left a helpless child unattended for Merlin knows how long!"
"I say we sit down in her living room, and wait for her to come back." The old man sat in a comfortable chair, looking amused at the baby in his arms. "I must say, old boy, the paternity test will be only a formality. This child no doubt is a copy of you."
Severus looked disgusted at the twinkling-eyed old man. "I don't understand, Albus, it was just one night..."
"It's all it takes, Severus. I'm not about to tell you how to live your life, but you are the last member of the Snape line. Wouldn't be good to have someone, an heir, a family?"
"I'm not sure I know how to care anymore, Albus, I don't have what it takes to be a father. And I'm sure I don't want to destroy the boy's life like my father did to mine."
"I think you do have more in there than you believe. The anger I saw in your eyes earlier, when you realized his mother left him all alone, it was enough to know you care." Dumbledore looked down at the baby and smiled. Severus knew the man was always right, and it enraged him every time.
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After waiting for nearly two hours, Severus couldn't stay one more second. He would be damned if he would let that woman lay one hand in this child again, his son or not.
They apparated to St. Mungo's with the baby and performed the test. It was a simple procedure with the aide of a medi-witch, and they had the results in less than an hour.
Severus was the child's father.
With that, he questioned everyone he could at the hospital, to find under what name the child had been registered. He was not surprised to find out that the mother hadn't registered the child but decided to leave him open for adoption if she couldn't find the father.
The medi-witch who helped with the birth, told him the mother, at first, had no idea who the father was, and had flooed many pubs around London to interview several men she had been with. The hospital later found out that she had registered with a fake name and refused to give them anymore information.
When asked why the woman hadn't taken a potion to terminate the pregnancy, she said that she had had complications with the potion previously, and further attempt would leave her sterile. With that information in mind, Severus sent the infant back to Hogwarts with Dumbledore, and paid his last visit to the infuriating woman.
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When he arrived at the doorstep, he didn't need to knock to know she wasn't there. The house was dark and quiet. She had been gone for hours, and if it wasn't for him, the baby would have starved to death.
He quietly went in and sat in the same couch, in the dark, and waited.
About half an hour later, the door sprung open. The outline of two people stumbling around the room came to view. The woman was giggling, while the possible 'man of the day' was busy kissing her neck.
She squeaked and went for her wand, mumbling a slurred, "Lumos!"
The sight that met her eyes was a very intimidating-looking man glaring at her. She screamed and as she backed away, fell on the floor, bringing her boyfriend with her.
"What... how did you... what are you doing here?" The blonde managed to ask.
"What indeed," Severus said softly. "I believe the question is, what do you think you're doing, leaving an infant for an entire day unattended?"
The man, who was clumsily standing up, looked between the two and quickly made his way to the door. "I think I should be going."
No one paid him any attention.
The blonde explained. "I left him alone but it wasn't for long, the nanny was supposed to be here in the afternoon... I... "
"There was no one here, for the entire day," Severus spat.
She glanced around the room and rushed to the bedroom she had left the baby.
"No use, he's not here anymore." He waved a dismissive hand.
"Where is he? The nanny, I don't understand, I've paid her for the week and I always drop the wards, so she can come in by herself," she tried to explain.
"You mean to tell me, that you can't even wait for the nanny to arrive, so you can go looking for the shag of the day?" Severus couldn't believe it.
"Hey, I didn't ask for a kid, I was going to take him to an orphanage by the end of this week, but for his own sake, I thought it would be worth to give him a chance to stay with his father!" the witch blurted out. "Besides, what's a couple of hours? He's always sleeping anyway!"
Severus was appalled. "How considerate of you, and for his own sake. Your compassion is touching." It was no use reasoning with such a person.
He stood up and said, "I have registered him as my son, under my name, which I won't disclose to you. You are not to come near that child ever again or I'll report you to 'Witches and Wizards' Child Services'!"
She opened and closed her mouth, but finally nodded and sank into a chair.
As he was leaving, she said with tears running down her cheeks, "I am married and he's coming back after a year away... I-I couldn't keep the baby. Surely you understand that?"
Severus sneer was the only answer she got.
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Hermione sat shocked at the tale her former Professor had told her. "That woman has absolutely no common sense! Not to mention the lack of responsibility and maternal instincts!"
Snape didn't respond, just stared at the fire.
"But how could she be pregnant and Sirius not know? He must have apparated once or twice, back from wherever he was," Hermione asked more to herself than to the man in front of her.
"Sirius was away in India for a spiritual search to recover from the war," Snape mocked. "He didn't take Harry's death very well or so Albus tells me."
"Oh please! I didn't take his death very well either, but I didn't hide for a year without so much as showing my face to my friends!" She shot back.
"Oh, haven't you, are sure of that?" His voice was sarcastic. "I thought that was what you Gryffindors did. Hide their heads under the dirt like ostriches."
"Whatever do you mean by that?" Hermione snapped. "I have never run away from anybody, I mourned Harry as any friend would."
"How long has it been, since you talked to any of your friends? And to isolate yourself in a dull marriage with someone you obviously didn't love. Sounds like hiding to me." Snape seemed amused.
"This is not about me, is it? Don't you try to bring my personal life into this just because you resent having to confide your secrets to me, of all people!"
"Don't play Muggle psychologist with me, Miss Granger. I'm sure Sirius would benefit from this psychological rubbish more than me!" He said sardonically.
"Look who's talking about psychology! Like your ludicrous analogy of Gryffindors and Ostriches?" She snorted, in the most unladylike manner.
The furious cry of Seirian interrupted yet another row about to start and Hermione gladly left to tend to the child, before the Potions master had the chance to retort.
She liked having the last word for once in her life.
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A/N: Thanks to Shauna for beta-reading.
There you have it, a belated chapter but long enough to make up for the wait. Ya, I know I haven't gone yet into their interaction with the baby, but I had to take this out of the way. I thought I would let you guys know more of what kind of person Phyllis is and what brought Severus to accept being a parent.
People have been asking a lot about this woman not knowing who Severus was, but she didn't and Sirius was pretending to be dead for a long time, therefore, no one had met her before or soon after the war. Those things are explained in chapter one and Sirius was gone for a year after the war.
Thank you all for reviewing and I'm sorry for not replying in person to everyone ;-) I do appreciate your reviews and I urge you guys to do it! LOL