MARRYING SNAPE- mypseudonym

All the usual disclaimers

AN: Okay, I can assume by the lower number of reviews that you guys didn't like Chapter 10 very much. Well, that's okay; I just needed to work it in. We're back to Hermione and Alex in this chapter, which is the first one I'm writing from just a bulleted list of notes.

Chapter 11

By the next weekend, Hermione and Maddy were settled into a new routine. Maddy adjusted to the wizarding world with relative ease, thanks to Hermione's bedtime stories during the summer months. She still refused to converse with portraits and was wary of house elves, but she had no problems with other things. Dumbledore had installed a child-size bed in Hermione's bedroom specifically for Maddy's use. She had toys and clothes courtesy of Julia. Also, Hermione had been named Maddy's legal guardian, a tricky issue since she was of age but still a student. Hermione had wanted to name Alex Maddy's other guardian, but the Headmaster vetoed that idea, saying it would mean she'd have to share custody for now, which meant more upheaval for Maddy.

On Friday, Hermione was packing and preparing for the trip to Snape Manor. They were traveling in a different manor now, since they had Maddy and she wasn't legally allowed to Apparate, just like Hermione. It was too risky for Severus to Apparate with two passengers. Thus, they were taking a portkey directly into the house.

When they arrived, Hermione was swarmed with children while Maddy hid behind Hermione, under her robes. She didn't know what to make of these children and this new place.

"Aunt Hermione! You're back! We missed you so so so much!" Quinnie yelled, hugging Hermione. Daisy and Jordan greeted their father first before recognizing Hermione.

"Hermione, it's so good to see you again. How are you doing dear?" Julia said, going to Hermione.

"I'm well enough Julia. It's good to be back here, relax a little." Hermione said.

"Did you bring Madeline with you?" Julia asked, after giving her husband a long kiss.

"Yes, she's around here somewhere." Hermione said, looking all around her. She didn't see Maddy, but there was a strange clutching sensation on her right leg.

"Maddy, it's okay to come out. These are friendly people." Hermione said, reaching down in between her legs. Maddy resisted her, yelling when Hermione tried to pull her out. Fortunately, Alex took that moment to enter the room. He kissed Hermione lightly.

"What is everyone still doing in here?" Alex asked.

"We can't coax Madeline to come out and say hello. In the mean time, Hermione can't really move." Julia explained.

"Where is she hiding?" Alex asked. Hermione gently tapped her leg. Alex nodded in understanding and knelt down in front of Hermione. "Maddy, darling, do you remember me?" Alex said gently.

"Alex." a quite voice said simply.

"That's right. You're in my house right now. It's safe here too, just like it's safe at Hogwarts. You don't have to hide." Alex whispered. He held out his arms and Hermione was almost knocked over when Maddy ran out into Alex's arms. In one moment, Alex was standing beside her, holding her 4-year-old sister now charge, who was looking about while safe in Alex's arms.

They spend the afternoon acclimating Maddy to various parts of the house and watching her play with the other children. Once she calmed down a bit, Maddy was actually quite sociable. She sat beside Hermione at dinner, the magical chair pushing her up to the table. It was quite a nice change from watching her eat at Hogwarts, where she got antsy because she either had to kneel on the bench or sit in someone's lap to be able to eat.

After dinner, Severus sent all of the children off to play because he had to speak to the adults. Daisy led Morgan away while Jordan had decided to be responsible for Maddy. Quinnie trotted happily beside Maddy, singing a happily little song. She was glad to have a little playmate her own age, even if it was only for the weekend.

Once the children were safely out of sight and hearing range, Severus opened his mouth to speak.

"We're having a visitor for dinner tomorrow night. Certain….precautions…. will have to be made for his visit. We need to figure out what to do with the children." Severus said.

"Oh no, they can't be in the house. Last time Quinn could hardly keep quiet and Morgan nearly gave us away screaming. I can't do that again. They need to be somewhere truly safe from your boss." Julia said, mildly panicked.

"What if I take them back to school? I can keep everyone in my rooms safely for awhile, and no one would know we were there. The other students think I'm gone again this weekend, so no one would come knocking on my door. I have a floo connection in my living room as well." Hermione suggested.

"That's an excellent suggestion Hermione and probably the best thing to do, if you can manage it. It would only be for a day and probably the night while we cleaned up afterward." Severus said.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. The kids and I get along fine and there are some toys there already since Maddy's arrival. If I need more help I have three best friends that could help me and could be trusted to keep everything secret." Hermione explained.

"So it's settled then. Hermione will floo to Hogwarts with all the children tomorrow morning, leaving us the entire day to make this house into what it's expected to be. Alex will come in the evening to let you know that dinner is over, and he will spend the night in Hermione's living room to help her get through the night with five little ones. We'll send word when the house has been returned to normal and the children can return." Annick said, closing the issue.

They rose from the table to begin readying the children. Severus and Julia told the children that they would be spending the day at Hogwarts tomorrow with Hermione and Maddy, and they would be sleeping over. For the most part, the children were excited. Daisy and Jordan were pleased, but curious as to why. They were old enough to know that sleeping over somewhere else was not usual. Hermione communicated with Dumbledore through the Order's system. She told him the truth about what was going on. Dumbledore assured her that her secret would be kept and her rooms would be prepared for children visitors by the time they arrived. That night, Maddy slept with Quinn, allowing Hermione to lay awake in her own room, worrying for her little family. She and the children would be safely tucked away, but the rest of the family would be dining with the Dark Lord. She lay awake for hours, unable to sleep for all the worrying, so she did the only thing she could do to stop the worries.

Hermione let herself into Alex's study and knocked lightly on Alex's bedroom door. She wasn't sure whether she wanted him to hear her or not. Hermione was feeling slightly better by just being in Alex's study, and that made her feel silly for coming in the first place. She didn't have time to brood on that, because Alex did hear the tapping on the door and answered it.

"Hermione? What are you doing here? What's wrong?" Alex asked. Hermione stepped up to him and hugged him tightly, taking in his scent with every breath.

"I'm scared….about tomorrow. I just needed to see you- to make sure you were still here. It's silly; I'll go back to my room now." She whispered, turning away. Alex caught her by the wrist and pulled her back to him.

"It's not silly; I'm scared too." He whispered, hanging his head. That was all it took for Hermione to come back to their embrace. After a moment, Alex pulled her into the bedroom with him. "Stay with me tonight. I want to be sure I remember you and how much I love you tomorrow, when I come face to face with hate." He whispered. The young couple curled up together in Alex's bed, holding each other with the silent knowledge that this could be the only night that they could.

Alex woke up in the morning to a tickling in his nose. He looked down to see that Hermione's hair was attacking him. It was an incredible thing. He'd never noticed before that she had so much hair. He reached up to stroke it, waking Hermione in the process. Hermione noted the curious look on her fiancé's face when she woke.

"Alex, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's just- I've never seen your hair do something like this before." He said, in awe. Hermione knew in an instant what had happened. The charms she used to control her hair had worn off during the night, because she hadn't refreshed them before she went to bed. She'd been too overcome with worry to think of something as trivial as her hair. She began to cry, afraid of what would happen now that Alex knew what she really looked like in the morning.

"Hermione, please don't cry. What's the matter?" Alex asked.

"It's silly. I didn't want you to see my hair. It's not my best quality." She said tearfully. Alex leaned down and kissed her softly.

"Actually, I rather like that you wake up with bushy hair." He said.

"You do?" she asked, terribly confused.

"Oh yes, I was beginning to think you were too perfect to be true. Ever since I've met you, Hermione, I've not seen you been unfocused for a moment. It's nice to see that you have something that you must control." Alex said. They both laughed, which the thought later was a great start to the day. They got out of bed to see that Forchette, the family house elf, had laid out clothing for Alex as well as bringing up one of Hermione's outfits.

"So, Alex, what's your character fault?" Hermione asked in jest, not really expecting him to tell her.

"I fall for people too quickly. That and I can't pick out my own clothes for the life of me. I always get it wrong, so I just started having Forchette lay clothing out for me." He said. "You see, Severus and I are both colorblind. That's why I think purple and orange look just fine together and Severus wears black all the time at school." He explained. Hermione thought that explained a lot.

Alex gave Hermione the bathroom to change and get ready in while he changed in his bedroom. Forchette had set aside stone wash jeans and a gray t-shirt, obviously anticipating the level of moving and un-cleaning that would occur. Hermione came out also wearing jeans and a t-shirt. After Alex took his turn in the bathroom, Hermione began to question him again.

"So what exactly are you all going to do all day while I'm amusing the children at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Well, Lord Voldemort doesn't know that Severus has children, so we have to hide any evidence of the children. I imagine Severus and Julia are going to send you off with five children and a lot of family photos. We have to take all the extra dining room chairs to the dungeons. We have to be sure that there are no toys, no little socks, no popsicle sticks or anything that provides evidence of children in any of the rooms. We cover the children's rooms and playroom in a thick coat of dust. That's basically what we'll be doing all day." Alex explained. Hermione nodded. It made sense, but she hadn't thought of doing those things to prepare for the Dark Lord to descend upon the manor house.

After breakfast, the children strapped on their overnight packs and Hermione was handed a small box to take with her for safekeeping. She knew it was probably the photos that Alex had mentioned. Hermione went first through the floo while Severus, Julia, and Alex helped the children through on the other side. The Headmaster had indeed taken measures to ready the room. There were more toys around as well as games. There was a stack of cots piled in one corner of the room as well as a temporary crib for Morgan. The children passed the day quietly enough, while Hermione's worry grew as it came closer and closer to dinner time. Dobby brought them lunch and dinner, telling Hermione that the Headmaster had appointed Dobby to take care of their every need while in the castle.

Eventually, it came time to put the children to bed. Hermione knew that she herself would not be able to sleep until she knew that Alex was okay. She set up sleeping space in the bedroom for all the children. Maddy and Quinn were clamoring to sleep together again, so they slept in Maddy's bed. Hermione had given Daisy her own bed, which took some amount of convincing to get Daisy to take it. Morgan slept in his crib and Jordan pulled a cot into the same room. The children had started getting quieter as the evening wore on, no doubt sensing that something was off. They seemed much calmer when kept all together. Hermione needed have the strength of mind to separate them and deal with the consequences. As it was, the children were sleeping peacefully in her bedroom, while Hermione sat in her living room, pretending to read when she really just worried. Ginny popped in that evening. She had a sixth sense, much as her mother did, and somehow knew that Hermione was in her room wishing she wasn't all alone. Ginny sat with her friend silently, staring into the fireplace with her.

In the wee hours of the morning, the fireplace burned green and Alexander Snape stepped through. Hermione jumped into his arms before pushing him away and surveying him for injuries. He looked tired and….something else, but he bore no signs of physical injury. Hermione hugged him tightly again.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Hermione said.

"I am okay, but all is not well." Alex responded.

"What do you mean 'all is not well?'" Hermione answered.

"Sit down. There's much to tell." He said, pulling her onto the couch beside him. He looked warily at Ginny.

"It's okay. She's really asleep, and she's my best friend. If she were to hear anything, she can be trusted to keep it to herself." Hermione responded.

Alex ran a hand through his hair and sighed quietly. "We spent all day preparing, like I told you we would. When he finally got there, we thought everything was going to be okay. He sat down to dinner, at the head of the table obviously. When Forchette went to serve the soup, he was dissatisfied and cast the Cruciatis Curse on her. After dessert, when we thought we were all clear, he announced that he knew about Severus' spy activities. He called my brother a traitor and said he knew now why I didn't join his ranks, as my brother never truly had. He raised his want to kill Severus with Avada Kedavra, but….but Julia- but Julia ran at him. She- she got hit by the curse instead. Severus was so angry- so angry. He was terrifying. The Dark Lord must have thought so as well, because he called Severus a lucky bastard and left the house in a hurry. For a minute, we all just stood there, trying to figure out what had just happened. Severus was shaking with hatred and fury, while Julia lay dead in the floor. We tried to revive Julia, but nothing worked. She was hit too hard with the curse. We had to lock Severus in his room without his wand for the night. That's when Mother told me to come here and help you with the children. We might need to keep them here for a while longer. Mother is making plans, and Severus is by no means capable of caring for them right now." Alex said.

Hermione was shocked. She managed to nod. She got up and went to her personal medicine cabinet to retrieve a calming potion for Alex. He took it when she offered without comment. After Alex had been pushed toward the bathroom for a bath, Hermione woke Ginny.

"Hermione? Oh gosh, Mione, I must have fallen asleep. Are you okay?" Ginny asked.

"I'm doing better now that Alex is here. Thank you for all your help Ginny." Hermione responded. Ginny looked about her, clearly looking for a sign of this Alex. Except for a long robe hanging on the rack with all the tiny ones, there was no sign that anything had changed.

"Hermione, where is he? I want to make sure you're going to be okay." Ginny explained.

"He's in the bath right now, and we're going to try to sleep when he gets out. You'll probably see him tomorrow, along with the little ones." Hermione said as she herded Ginny out the door. Ginny allowed herself to be shepherded out of the room and into her own bed. When Hermione returned to her own room, Alex was coming out of the bathroom.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering where you were." Alex said. "Do you think we should tell the kids tonight?" he asked.

"Not tonight. Let them sleep. We'll tell them after breakfast in the morning." She said. That way, they've got a good night's sleep and a good meal under their belts before we give them bad news." Hermione said. Alex smiled at her.

"I'm so glad you know how to deal with these things." Alex said. They each took a calming draught, pushed Hermione's two couches together and curled up in each other's arms. They woke a few hours later, slightly before the children woke and returned the room to rights. The children all slept in. Hermione wondered if some part of their subconscious knew what they would be facing today. By the time all the children were awake, clean, and dressed, it was peak breakfasting hours for Hogwarts during the weekend. Hermione wasn't looking forward to prancing into the Great Hall in front of everyone with Alex and 5 children. She wasn't a big fan of attracting attention like that, but the children were tired of being cooped up in the room, especially Maddy who had grown used to taking meals in the Great Hall. When everyone was ready, Hermione decided she couldn't put it off any more. She took up Maddy's and Quinn's hands; Alex picked up Morgan. Hermione cautioned them all to follow her steps exactly. There were a few trick steps in the staircases that they would have to avoid. They marched down to the Great Hall, only having to stop to free a stuck foot once- Daisy slipped into one of the trick steps. They caused no commotion when reaching the Great Hall. In fact, they stopped all commotion. Everyone stopped talking to watch them. The students and staff had grown used to seeing Hermione walk in with Maddy, but not Maddy and four other children plus a tall, dark, and handsome man. They hurried to the Gryffindor table and sat among Hermione's closest friends.

Hermione introduced them all around, and they all had a very pleasant meal. Before they got up to leave, Professor Dumbledore came up and asked Alex if he could have a word in his office. He found Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the children playing outside.

"Alex! What did the Headmaster have to say?" Hermione laughed as Quinnie clung to her waist.

"Well, he needed to be caught up on last night and our plans for the future. He asked me to take on Severus' teaching duties during his absence. He'd already cleared it with Tonks and my boss, so I guess I'm the new Potions professor. Severus left his lesson plans, so I doubt there will be a problem." Alex explained. They played for a while longer before they knew it was time to break the news to the children. They took everyone back into Hermione's rooms and broke the news to the children gently. It took the rest of the day before they felt that the kids understood and would be okay. They drew lots of pictures of Julia with the angels and Hermione hung them all around the room.

Annick and Charles showed up the next morning after breakfast and explained that they were leaving the country bound for Chile until after the war. They offered to take Maddy too, but Hermione declined, choosing not to uproot her sister again. The Snape's wanted to leave immediately, while they still could. They walked into Hermione's room to gather the children and came out with Morgan and Quinn. Apparently, Daisy and Jordan were not in the room. They didn't have time to look for the missing children and urged Hermione to send them along to Chile when they were found.

As soon as Annick and Charles left, Alex and Hermione dashed into Hermione's bedroom. Maddy sat in bed crying. Hermione went to comfort her through the loss of her friend. Alex called out to Daisy and Jordan, trying to draw them from their hiding place. Turns out, they were hiding underneath Hermione's bed, trying not to be sent away with their grandparents.

After a long conversation, Hermione decided to allow them to stay as they wished. They were old enough that they wanted to help fight the people who killed their mother and so many others. It was decided that they were to join Tabitha Weasley in training with Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. In the event of a battle near to Hogwarts, that was the safest place for them to be. Plus, there was always a need for more hands in the event of an emergency. Daisy and Jordan both knew a fair bit about Potions, so they would study healing potions from books during the day and practice making the potions with Alex during the evening.

The darkness was drawing nearer. It was now too close to be concerned with anything else. It was evident to all who knew what was going on that the battle would take place sooner rather than later, and it was likely to go down on the sloping fields of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the only place Voldemort's fingers had been unable to touch.

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been writing it in shifts as I go along.