A/N: I do not own anything to do with the Harry Potter universe. J K
Rowling owns it all. I'm just having fun with her characters. This is the
sequel to my first story Sekhmet's Book. I don't as yet know if I'll make
this into a trilogy series. I guess I'll just see how this story goes for
now. I am currently writing this story as fast as I can. which is
unfortunately about one chapter per month. So, it's not complete but it
most definitely will be. just give me time. Please leave a review as my
muse needs feeding before she gets up and leaves.
Enjoy.
Chapter Six
There was an insistent rapping at the door to Severus' and Hermione's chambers, which was threatening to wake a sleeping Callum and infuriate an already scarily mad Potions Master.
"What!" Snape yelled at the unwanted visitor as he swung the door open with such force. On the other side was Christopher Granger, who took a half step back in shock at his brother-in-law's greeting.
"P-Professor, sorry for disturbing you but I-I want to know what's going on. Where's my sister? Why is there a new Arithmancy professor and why is Professor Potter now Head of Gryffindor?" Chris asked in a rush in case Severus closed the door in his face.
"Acting Head of Gryffindor, Mr. Granger. Acting," Snape said acidly before standing to the side and allowing his brother-in-law entrance to the chambers.
"Where is she then?" Chris enquired as he stepped into the chambers and turned to face Severus.
"Egypt."
"Egypt?" Chris asked confused.
"Egypt," Severus nodded in confirmation as he made his way to the seating area.
"Why is she in Egypt then?" Chris tried in order to gain some answers. Severus paused in thought as he wandered over to the couch and sat down heavily, indicating Chris should take one of the armchairs.
"She is in search of the ingredients needed in order to hopefully destroy the Book of Shadows once and for all. She is with Professor Creevy." Severus replied.
"Okay, you should have just said. When will she be back then?" Chris asked nonchalantly.
"Hopefully sometime before Christmas," Severus said, not wanting to get into it all yet again. "I will be going to collect her. both of them."
"Hmmm," Chris said unconvinced as he narrowed his eyes and looked at Severus.
"What?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You are keeping something big from me, Severus." Chris stated with conviction. "You can't fool me."
"How do you know?" Severus asked, intrigued; he had a very good poker face after all.
"Your legs are crossed," Chris stated. Severus frowned and so he elaborated. "A defensive posture that I've noticed you adopt when you are being your more. Slytherin self."
"Indeed," Severus said raising his eyebrow again at his brother-in-law's astute reasoning. He had clearly been reading too many detective novels during his holidays.
"So?"
"Hermione is indeed in Egypt but she has travelled back in time to the era the Book of Shadows was first written. She is currently in the year 2457 BC." Chris looked shocked and paused for a moment before speaking.
"And you are going to get her back?"
"That's the plan."
"How?" Chris frowned in question.
"A Time potion."
"How come she can't get back herself then? Hermione is an excellent potions brewer." Chris asked as he frowned in thought.
"Look, Chris, this is a very long story. We both have classes tomorrow and I will be up through the night with Callum as it is. We should finish this another time." Severus told him with a yawn as he rubbed his forehead with one hand.
"Alright," Chris stood up reluctantly. "If you need to talk though, remember that we are now family and I'll be there for you, and."
"What?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow as Chris paused for a moment.
"You should tell my parents, Hermione is their daughter after all." Chris said and Severus nodded once, why he hadn't told them before now was beyond him anyway; it had been over a week so far.
"Thank you, I shall speak to Peter and Amanda soon. I will see you in class tomorrow morning. I'll be taking over all Potions classes for a while." Severus said as he also stood and they headed towards the door.
"Oh? Well, just don't show favouritism with the Slytherins." Chris said with a grin at Severus' wounded expression.
"Slytherin will be winning the House cup this year and Gryffindor will not stand a chance." Severus stated.
"That's fightin' talk that is." Chris smiled. "Just remember that the baseball season starts soon.. and that it's a Muggle sport. Slytherin won't stand a chance."
"Indeed. Good night, Chris." Severus said as he opened the door and Chris headed off back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew started.
~~*~~
The first day of classes approached all too quickly for Severus as he struggled the next morning to get himself sorted out and Callum ready to take down to Ron and Lavendar's to be minded whilst he was teaching. By the time he had managed to sort everything out and race down into the dungeons he was a full ten minutes late and in a relatively foul temper for his first class of the day, which was to be Slytherin and Gryffindor second years.
"Alright, you lot. Shut it immediately," Severus bellowed as he stormed into the classroom and banged the door off the wall loudly. A hush descended on the room as Severus approached the front, robes billowing behind him as he walked and spoke at the same time.
"Second years, welcome back," Severus drawled in his less than warm tone. "You have the pleasure of my teaching for a while this year. Let us see if any of you dunderheads have retained any knowledge from your last year of Potions." Severus about turned when he reached the front of the room and glared at the class. He had only ever taught this class for half a lesson the previous year when Callum had suddenly discovered his magical abilities and Hermione had needed to see to a burn that he had received after animating a toy dragon. He remembered quite well the insufferable questions that he had been asked regarding things that the class had been taught several times previously, and so he knew that he would be in for a headache by the end of the lesson. He gazed around the classroom and stopped when he saw two empty stools. Who was missing? He searched again and his memory supplied two names; Weasley and Weasley, both of the male variety. He wondered what mischief the two boys could be involved in already on the first day of a new school year and sighed inwardly.
"Where's Professor Granger?" Severus heard one of the students whisper to her friend.
"Silence," Severus growled as he stared at her. He wasn't about to give anything away regarding the whereabouts of his wife to any of the students, bar Chris of course. "Today, we will be having a test." There was an audible groan from around the room. "I will be deducting House points for every wrong answer given and questions not attempted. I will also award points to the student who achieves the highest score." Severus waved his wand at the board behind him and the test questions appeared in his usual florid writing.
"How many!" One of the Slytherin's exclaimed as he browsed the board and noticed it was crammed full of questions. in excess of one hundred.
"I said silence! That will be twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. Azalia." The Gryffindors grinned at the loss of House points for the opposing House. "Everyone begin, you have the rest of the lesson to complete the test."
Complete silence descended the Potions lab, which was only punctuated by the scratching of quills on parchment as the students each raced to get through the set test questions. Severus settled himself at his desk and gazed about the room as he thought to himself. He would have to check on his time potion later that day to begin the next phase but until that time he would have to try to keep life as normal as he could, for the benefit of his son and his own sanity.
A knock on the classroom door disturbed Severus from his mental gymnastics and he called for the visitor to enter as he glared around the room and ensured that his students continued to work. The door creaked open and in walked the two missing Weasley brothers and one Professor Wolf. Both boys looked quite solemn as they were nudged in the direction of their two empty stools and Professor Wolf approached Severus' desk.
"You two!" Severus growled as the Weasley's sneaked along the back wall towards their desk. They stopped abruptly and turned to their glowering professor. "My office immediately and wait for me there. Do not touch anything!" They scurried off into the adjoining room as quickly as their legs would carry them.
"Professor Snape, please do not punish the boys. It was I who delayed them." Cil said quietly as she stood in front of the Potions Master and gazed down at him, her eyes holding a mischievous twinkle. Severus stood up slowly and glared at the woman before him.
"For what purpose would you see fit to disrupt my class, Madam?" He growled in a slow and succinct manner.
"They saw me moving some boxes of items out of my classroom, Sevvie. They offered to help and I of course accepted." Cil replied, trying to keep her voice down. Severus just glared at the woman; he had totally missed her address of him as he was too wrapped up with what she had exactly been doing to his wife's classroom.
"Put it all back." Severus growled at her venomously and she took a step back at his sudden wash of anger and his unwavering glare.
"I shall not. It is my classroom for the time being. I am sorry for disturbing your class, Sevvie. I will leave you now and if I find those poor boys have been punished I shall be speaking to the Headmaster personally." With that she about turned and exited the classroom leaving Severus to stare in anger after her with balled up fists.
"Everyone get on with your work. No cheating or there will be most dire consequences. I want silence." Severus glared at each of his students before heading into his office to speak to the Weasley boys. This day seemed to be going from bad to worse.
~~*~~
"Weasley's, I did not invite you to sit down and make yourselves at home." Severus snapped as he entered his office. The boys both stood up quickly and faced Snape as he walked around to the other side of the desk. "Explain your tardiness." He demanded as he leaned forward with his hands on the desk.
"Well, you see, sir. We found Professor Wolf struggling with boxfuls of stuff coming from the Arithmancy classroom." Jim started the tale only to be picked up by Josh.
". Being the gentlemen that we are we decided to lend a hand." Severus rolled his eyes; typical heroic Gryffindor's.
".Which she was grateful for."
". We wanted to say hello to her and see if she knew where Professor Granger-Snape was."
". But she didn't know."
". And Chris won't tell us."
". But we don't think he knows either really." They both said together as they glanced at each other and nodded.
"What was Professor Wolf moving?" Severus asked as he sank into the chair behind him and tried to keep up with what the boys were both saying; it was quite confusing when they both picked up from each other's sentences.
"Books and."
". Papers, rolled up posters and."
". Photographs."
". She seems to be having quite a good clear out." Severus' temper was getting the better of him and he was trying in vain not to blow his stack. He needed to think, needed to speak to Dumbledore.
"Right," he held up his hand to stop them both. "You will both have detention this evening since you have missed today's lesson. Detention begins at eight o'clock." Severus glanced at his time piece and noted that it was almost the end of the lesson. "Dismissed," he told them both and they scurried out of his office as Severus stood up and entered the classroom again. "Time. Hand in your parchments and leave."
There was a stampede to tidy up quills and ink pots and rush to the front to hand in papers before scarpering out of the door and leaving the Potions Master to his own devices and thoughts once more.
~~*~~
Seventh year Potions was next on the agenda before lunch and due to the fact they were all doing research into the individual projects that they would be undertaking that year, Severus spent the time marking the second year test papers. This lesson was relatively pleasant on the whole as Severus managed to get all but three papers graded and had only been interrupted once by a seventh year Ravenclaw who had requested a pass for the Restricted section of the library.
Severus had noted that Hermione had seemed to drum quite a good grounding of Potions into last year's first years. The test scores were all relatively high on the whole and with the amount of anti-cheating spells and wards Severus had cast in his classroom it did mean that what he had marked was each student's own individual work. Severus was indeed impressed; Hermione had obviously devoted the time needed to drum the facts into their tiny brains.
At lunch time Severus had arranged to spend the time with Callum and therefore had permission to eat elsewhere to the Great Hall. He left the dungeons and headed out into the sunny and warm day towards Ron and Lavendar's home on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Knocking on the door to the Weasley's home Severus waited a few moments for Lavendar to answer. "Hi, Severus," Lavendar greeted him as she opened the door. "Callum has been such a treasure. No problems at all. Come on in." She told him as she moved to the side and Severus entered.
"Thank you, Lavendar for watching him." Severus said as he looked around the living room and found four sleeping children, one of them being Callum. He raised his eyebrow in surprise; he hadn't thought Callum would be sleeping with it being lunch time and all.
"No problem. Now, if you want to bring him back this afternoon then I'll be happy to watch him again for you." Lavendar said as she smiled happily.
"I shall bring him back later this afternoon as I have a free period after lunch." Severus said as he approached his sleeping son and bent to pick him up.
"No problem, enjoy your lunch together." Lavendar said.
"Thank you, we will." Severus replied as he nodded and Lavendar let him back outside again.
Severus decided that he would dine back in his own chambers as he wanted to eat quickly before going to see the Headmaster about Professor Wolf. She made him angry beyond reason, what right did she have to come in and completely take over Hermione's classroom? He swore that she had addressed him in an all too familiar way as well, only he couldn't quite remember.
Severus entered his chambers with Callum who was just waking up and starting to cry for his dinner. "There, there, Callum. Dad's going to get your dinner shortly." Severus soothed as he stepped into the kitchen area and pulled out Callum's high chair. Severus sat Callum into the chair and then summoned Kelpy from the kitchens.
"Yes, Professor Snape, sir. Kelpy is here to help you." The house elf said as she danced about on the spot.
"I'll have whatever is being served in the hall and Callum shall have some mashed vegetables without any added salt." Severus stated.
"Yes, sir, Kelpy gets it right away for you." She popped out of existence from the chambers and returned seconds later with the requested food before leaving once again.
Severus set the mashed vegetables down in front of Callum along with a conjured teething spoon. Callum could eat by himself but had not yet mastered the use of utensils as yet, he was learning though. Severus placed the spoon into Callum's right hand and showed him how to hold it and use it for a few mouthfuls. He managed but not too well, causing food to drop on the floor and across the high chair table in front of him. Severus sighed and started on his own dinner, he would let Callum figure things out for him self but keep a close eye on him.
"Professor Snape," a voice from the fireplace sounded. Severus turned to find the head of Albus Dumbledore floating in the grate.
"Headmaster," Severus greeted as he chewed on his salad.
"Come see me in my office when you have finished your lunch."
"I was planning to anyway, Albus." Severus told the Headmaster.
"I do not doubt that, Severus. I have received a complaint about you however, and I need to address it."
"Really," Severus drawled, he didn't need to ask who had lodged that complaint for he already had one burning suspicion.
"I shall see you both soon." With that, Albus' head vanished from the grate and Severus was left to finish his lunch with Callum.
Fifteen minutes later, Severus and Callum were stepping out of the floo grate in the Headmaster's office. Albus was petting his pet phoenix and turned as he heard the roar of the floo.
"Ah, Severus, do come on in. Callum is fine wandering about on the floor if you like. I've set wards so he cannot hurt himself." Albus said as he gestured with his hands and made for his chair behind his desk. Severus nodded and lowered Callum to the floor where a pile of toys was already waiting for him to play with.
"Okay, Albus. I want to know what is going on." Severus said as he sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk and crossed his knees.
"Many things are going on, Severus. To what would you be referring?" Albus asked as he spread his hands in a shrugging gesture.
"Albus," Severus growled. "My patience has already reached its limit. Do not mince words with me. Tell me why that woman was moving Hermione's belongings out of her classroom."
"Ah, well as you know she has taken over from your wife whilst she is away," Albus began.
"Who will be returning before Christmas I might add." Severus growled.
"Really? How do you know this then?" Albus asked.
"I will be collecting them both from the past," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh?" Albus said as he raised an eyebrow at his Potions Master. "You are heading back in time?"
"Yes."
"Without thought of letting me know?"
"Albus, my mind is made up. You cannot persuade me otherwise, and do not come all innocent with me. You know just about everything going on in this castle so don't toy with me." Severus said sternly. "Now answer my question."
"Professor Wolf shall be taking over from Hermione for the rest of the year." Albus stated.
"Why!" Severus demanded as he shot to his feet and glared at the Headmaster.
"I'm sure you realise that with two children, Hermione will need to take some extra time off?" Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes. Severus' jaw dropped- despite what he had just said, nothing got past this man what so ever. He sunk back down into the chair.
"So, she has lost her job?" Severus demanded.
"No, but I shall be offering Hermione a different position before I retire at the end of the school year, which I do not wish to discuss right now." Albus said holding up his hand to stop Severus interrupting. "What I do wish to discuss is your seemingly cold attitude towards Professor Wolf and the two Weasley boys that you have apparently punished despite the fact Professor Wolf told you it was her fault they were late to class."
Severus sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "What do you expect, old man?"
"Manners, my boy, they are not beneath you after all. I felt sure that having a wife and son now would mellow you somewhat."
"It may have done, Albus. If she hadn't spent most of our marriage thus far being separated from me that is."
Albus looked into Severus' desolate eyes. "You still have your son. You shall have you wife back once again. Do not lose hope." Albus sighed. "Tell me when the potion will be ready."
"Seven weeks." Severus mumbled as he glanced down at his son who was playing with a toy train.
"Very well. Is there a way to speed up its brewing time?"
"No."
"Then I suggest you focus on your son in the interim period and work on a plan for when you return to Ancient Egypt." Severus nodded. "I've also lifted the detention the Weasley boys had with you tonight, it was most unwarranted, Severus." Severus moved to protest but Albus held up his hand to silence him. "Use the time to finish reading the diary."
"I will." Although he did not relish the thought of finding out why they had suddenly stopped writing in it.
"As for Professor Wolf, I know you two have something of a history between you but."
"What?" Severus asked wide eyed. He had no idea as to what kind of a history they may have had.
"Wolf is her late husband's name. He died in a terrible accident involving a broomstick and the Knight Bus some years ago."
"What was her maiden name?" Severus asked as he continued to rifle through his memories of how he might know her.
"You really do not know?" Albus asked taken aback slightly. "She hasn't changed much over the years, Severus and you were very close indeed for years."
"Priscilla..Priscilla." Severus said to himself as he thought hard.
"That is also her middle name, Severus." Albus told him.
"Just tell me then." Severus demanded, his patience not going to hold for much longer.
"Patricia Priscilla Pendragon." Severus gasped.
"Merlin. never in the world. Patty?" He asked; his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.
"The one and only. You remember your first cousin now then?" Albus asked chuckling merrily.
"Indeed I do. We were very close as children but lost contact when Voldemort first came into power. My word. Patty."
"I take it she now meets with your approval, Severus?" Albus asked, chuckling at his Potions Master.
"Hmm. Perhaps," Severus conceded with a small smile.
"Then do not let me keep you, Severus. I believe you have something of a family reunion to see to. Cil has a free period this afternoon. the same time as yours actually."
Severus nodded, stood and retrieved Callum before leaving the office and heading off to find his first cousin.
Enjoy.
Chapter Six
There was an insistent rapping at the door to Severus' and Hermione's chambers, which was threatening to wake a sleeping Callum and infuriate an already scarily mad Potions Master.
"What!" Snape yelled at the unwanted visitor as he swung the door open with such force. On the other side was Christopher Granger, who took a half step back in shock at his brother-in-law's greeting.
"P-Professor, sorry for disturbing you but I-I want to know what's going on. Where's my sister? Why is there a new Arithmancy professor and why is Professor Potter now Head of Gryffindor?" Chris asked in a rush in case Severus closed the door in his face.
"Acting Head of Gryffindor, Mr. Granger. Acting," Snape said acidly before standing to the side and allowing his brother-in-law entrance to the chambers.
"Where is she then?" Chris enquired as he stepped into the chambers and turned to face Severus.
"Egypt."
"Egypt?" Chris asked confused.
"Egypt," Severus nodded in confirmation as he made his way to the seating area.
"Why is she in Egypt then?" Chris tried in order to gain some answers. Severus paused in thought as he wandered over to the couch and sat down heavily, indicating Chris should take one of the armchairs.
"She is in search of the ingredients needed in order to hopefully destroy the Book of Shadows once and for all. She is with Professor Creevy." Severus replied.
"Okay, you should have just said. When will she be back then?" Chris asked nonchalantly.
"Hopefully sometime before Christmas," Severus said, not wanting to get into it all yet again. "I will be going to collect her. both of them."
"Hmmm," Chris said unconvinced as he narrowed his eyes and looked at Severus.
"What?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You are keeping something big from me, Severus." Chris stated with conviction. "You can't fool me."
"How do you know?" Severus asked, intrigued; he had a very good poker face after all.
"Your legs are crossed," Chris stated. Severus frowned and so he elaborated. "A defensive posture that I've noticed you adopt when you are being your more. Slytherin self."
"Indeed," Severus said raising his eyebrow again at his brother-in-law's astute reasoning. He had clearly been reading too many detective novels during his holidays.
"So?"
"Hermione is indeed in Egypt but she has travelled back in time to the era the Book of Shadows was first written. She is currently in the year 2457 BC." Chris looked shocked and paused for a moment before speaking.
"And you are going to get her back?"
"That's the plan."
"How?" Chris frowned in question.
"A Time potion."
"How come she can't get back herself then? Hermione is an excellent potions brewer." Chris asked as he frowned in thought.
"Look, Chris, this is a very long story. We both have classes tomorrow and I will be up through the night with Callum as it is. We should finish this another time." Severus told him with a yawn as he rubbed his forehead with one hand.
"Alright," Chris stood up reluctantly. "If you need to talk though, remember that we are now family and I'll be there for you, and."
"What?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow as Chris paused for a moment.
"You should tell my parents, Hermione is their daughter after all." Chris said and Severus nodded once, why he hadn't told them before now was beyond him anyway; it had been over a week so far.
"Thank you, I shall speak to Peter and Amanda soon. I will see you in class tomorrow morning. I'll be taking over all Potions classes for a while." Severus said as he also stood and they headed towards the door.
"Oh? Well, just don't show favouritism with the Slytherins." Chris said with a grin at Severus' wounded expression.
"Slytherin will be winning the House cup this year and Gryffindor will not stand a chance." Severus stated.
"That's fightin' talk that is." Chris smiled. "Just remember that the baseball season starts soon.. and that it's a Muggle sport. Slytherin won't stand a chance."
"Indeed. Good night, Chris." Severus said as he opened the door and Chris headed off back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew started.
~~*~~
The first day of classes approached all too quickly for Severus as he struggled the next morning to get himself sorted out and Callum ready to take down to Ron and Lavendar's to be minded whilst he was teaching. By the time he had managed to sort everything out and race down into the dungeons he was a full ten minutes late and in a relatively foul temper for his first class of the day, which was to be Slytherin and Gryffindor second years.
"Alright, you lot. Shut it immediately," Severus bellowed as he stormed into the classroom and banged the door off the wall loudly. A hush descended on the room as Severus approached the front, robes billowing behind him as he walked and spoke at the same time.
"Second years, welcome back," Severus drawled in his less than warm tone. "You have the pleasure of my teaching for a while this year. Let us see if any of you dunderheads have retained any knowledge from your last year of Potions." Severus about turned when he reached the front of the room and glared at the class. He had only ever taught this class for half a lesson the previous year when Callum had suddenly discovered his magical abilities and Hermione had needed to see to a burn that he had received after animating a toy dragon. He remembered quite well the insufferable questions that he had been asked regarding things that the class had been taught several times previously, and so he knew that he would be in for a headache by the end of the lesson. He gazed around the classroom and stopped when he saw two empty stools. Who was missing? He searched again and his memory supplied two names; Weasley and Weasley, both of the male variety. He wondered what mischief the two boys could be involved in already on the first day of a new school year and sighed inwardly.
"Where's Professor Granger?" Severus heard one of the students whisper to her friend.
"Silence," Severus growled as he stared at her. He wasn't about to give anything away regarding the whereabouts of his wife to any of the students, bar Chris of course. "Today, we will be having a test." There was an audible groan from around the room. "I will be deducting House points for every wrong answer given and questions not attempted. I will also award points to the student who achieves the highest score." Severus waved his wand at the board behind him and the test questions appeared in his usual florid writing.
"How many!" One of the Slytherin's exclaimed as he browsed the board and noticed it was crammed full of questions. in excess of one hundred.
"I said silence! That will be twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. Azalia." The Gryffindors grinned at the loss of House points for the opposing House. "Everyone begin, you have the rest of the lesson to complete the test."
Complete silence descended the Potions lab, which was only punctuated by the scratching of quills on parchment as the students each raced to get through the set test questions. Severus settled himself at his desk and gazed about the room as he thought to himself. He would have to check on his time potion later that day to begin the next phase but until that time he would have to try to keep life as normal as he could, for the benefit of his son and his own sanity.
A knock on the classroom door disturbed Severus from his mental gymnastics and he called for the visitor to enter as he glared around the room and ensured that his students continued to work. The door creaked open and in walked the two missing Weasley brothers and one Professor Wolf. Both boys looked quite solemn as they were nudged in the direction of their two empty stools and Professor Wolf approached Severus' desk.
"You two!" Severus growled as the Weasley's sneaked along the back wall towards their desk. They stopped abruptly and turned to their glowering professor. "My office immediately and wait for me there. Do not touch anything!" They scurried off into the adjoining room as quickly as their legs would carry them.
"Professor Snape, please do not punish the boys. It was I who delayed them." Cil said quietly as she stood in front of the Potions Master and gazed down at him, her eyes holding a mischievous twinkle. Severus stood up slowly and glared at the woman before him.
"For what purpose would you see fit to disrupt my class, Madam?" He growled in a slow and succinct manner.
"They saw me moving some boxes of items out of my classroom, Sevvie. They offered to help and I of course accepted." Cil replied, trying to keep her voice down. Severus just glared at the woman; he had totally missed her address of him as he was too wrapped up with what she had exactly been doing to his wife's classroom.
"Put it all back." Severus growled at her venomously and she took a step back at his sudden wash of anger and his unwavering glare.
"I shall not. It is my classroom for the time being. I am sorry for disturbing your class, Sevvie. I will leave you now and if I find those poor boys have been punished I shall be speaking to the Headmaster personally." With that she about turned and exited the classroom leaving Severus to stare in anger after her with balled up fists.
"Everyone get on with your work. No cheating or there will be most dire consequences. I want silence." Severus glared at each of his students before heading into his office to speak to the Weasley boys. This day seemed to be going from bad to worse.
~~*~~
"Weasley's, I did not invite you to sit down and make yourselves at home." Severus snapped as he entered his office. The boys both stood up quickly and faced Snape as he walked around to the other side of the desk. "Explain your tardiness." He demanded as he leaned forward with his hands on the desk.
"Well, you see, sir. We found Professor Wolf struggling with boxfuls of stuff coming from the Arithmancy classroom." Jim started the tale only to be picked up by Josh.
". Being the gentlemen that we are we decided to lend a hand." Severus rolled his eyes; typical heroic Gryffindor's.
".Which she was grateful for."
". We wanted to say hello to her and see if she knew where Professor Granger-Snape was."
". But she didn't know."
". And Chris won't tell us."
". But we don't think he knows either really." They both said together as they glanced at each other and nodded.
"What was Professor Wolf moving?" Severus asked as he sank into the chair behind him and tried to keep up with what the boys were both saying; it was quite confusing when they both picked up from each other's sentences.
"Books and."
". Papers, rolled up posters and."
". Photographs."
". She seems to be having quite a good clear out." Severus' temper was getting the better of him and he was trying in vain not to blow his stack. He needed to think, needed to speak to Dumbledore.
"Right," he held up his hand to stop them both. "You will both have detention this evening since you have missed today's lesson. Detention begins at eight o'clock." Severus glanced at his time piece and noted that it was almost the end of the lesson. "Dismissed," he told them both and they scurried out of his office as Severus stood up and entered the classroom again. "Time. Hand in your parchments and leave."
There was a stampede to tidy up quills and ink pots and rush to the front to hand in papers before scarpering out of the door and leaving the Potions Master to his own devices and thoughts once more.
~~*~~
Seventh year Potions was next on the agenda before lunch and due to the fact they were all doing research into the individual projects that they would be undertaking that year, Severus spent the time marking the second year test papers. This lesson was relatively pleasant on the whole as Severus managed to get all but three papers graded and had only been interrupted once by a seventh year Ravenclaw who had requested a pass for the Restricted section of the library.
Severus had noted that Hermione had seemed to drum quite a good grounding of Potions into last year's first years. The test scores were all relatively high on the whole and with the amount of anti-cheating spells and wards Severus had cast in his classroom it did mean that what he had marked was each student's own individual work. Severus was indeed impressed; Hermione had obviously devoted the time needed to drum the facts into their tiny brains.
At lunch time Severus had arranged to spend the time with Callum and therefore had permission to eat elsewhere to the Great Hall. He left the dungeons and headed out into the sunny and warm day towards Ron and Lavendar's home on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Knocking on the door to the Weasley's home Severus waited a few moments for Lavendar to answer. "Hi, Severus," Lavendar greeted him as she opened the door. "Callum has been such a treasure. No problems at all. Come on in." She told him as she moved to the side and Severus entered.
"Thank you, Lavendar for watching him." Severus said as he looked around the living room and found four sleeping children, one of them being Callum. He raised his eyebrow in surprise; he hadn't thought Callum would be sleeping with it being lunch time and all.
"No problem. Now, if you want to bring him back this afternoon then I'll be happy to watch him again for you." Lavendar said as she smiled happily.
"I shall bring him back later this afternoon as I have a free period after lunch." Severus said as he approached his sleeping son and bent to pick him up.
"No problem, enjoy your lunch together." Lavendar said.
"Thank you, we will." Severus replied as he nodded and Lavendar let him back outside again.
Severus decided that he would dine back in his own chambers as he wanted to eat quickly before going to see the Headmaster about Professor Wolf. She made him angry beyond reason, what right did she have to come in and completely take over Hermione's classroom? He swore that she had addressed him in an all too familiar way as well, only he couldn't quite remember.
Severus entered his chambers with Callum who was just waking up and starting to cry for his dinner. "There, there, Callum. Dad's going to get your dinner shortly." Severus soothed as he stepped into the kitchen area and pulled out Callum's high chair. Severus sat Callum into the chair and then summoned Kelpy from the kitchens.
"Yes, Professor Snape, sir. Kelpy is here to help you." The house elf said as she danced about on the spot.
"I'll have whatever is being served in the hall and Callum shall have some mashed vegetables without any added salt." Severus stated.
"Yes, sir, Kelpy gets it right away for you." She popped out of existence from the chambers and returned seconds later with the requested food before leaving once again.
Severus set the mashed vegetables down in front of Callum along with a conjured teething spoon. Callum could eat by himself but had not yet mastered the use of utensils as yet, he was learning though. Severus placed the spoon into Callum's right hand and showed him how to hold it and use it for a few mouthfuls. He managed but not too well, causing food to drop on the floor and across the high chair table in front of him. Severus sighed and started on his own dinner, he would let Callum figure things out for him self but keep a close eye on him.
"Professor Snape," a voice from the fireplace sounded. Severus turned to find the head of Albus Dumbledore floating in the grate.
"Headmaster," Severus greeted as he chewed on his salad.
"Come see me in my office when you have finished your lunch."
"I was planning to anyway, Albus." Severus told the Headmaster.
"I do not doubt that, Severus. I have received a complaint about you however, and I need to address it."
"Really," Severus drawled, he didn't need to ask who had lodged that complaint for he already had one burning suspicion.
"I shall see you both soon." With that, Albus' head vanished from the grate and Severus was left to finish his lunch with Callum.
Fifteen minutes later, Severus and Callum were stepping out of the floo grate in the Headmaster's office. Albus was petting his pet phoenix and turned as he heard the roar of the floo.
"Ah, Severus, do come on in. Callum is fine wandering about on the floor if you like. I've set wards so he cannot hurt himself." Albus said as he gestured with his hands and made for his chair behind his desk. Severus nodded and lowered Callum to the floor where a pile of toys was already waiting for him to play with.
"Okay, Albus. I want to know what is going on." Severus said as he sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk and crossed his knees.
"Many things are going on, Severus. To what would you be referring?" Albus asked as he spread his hands in a shrugging gesture.
"Albus," Severus growled. "My patience has already reached its limit. Do not mince words with me. Tell me why that woman was moving Hermione's belongings out of her classroom."
"Ah, well as you know she has taken over from your wife whilst she is away," Albus began.
"Who will be returning before Christmas I might add." Severus growled.
"Really? How do you know this then?" Albus asked.
"I will be collecting them both from the past," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh?" Albus said as he raised an eyebrow at his Potions Master. "You are heading back in time?"
"Yes."
"Without thought of letting me know?"
"Albus, my mind is made up. You cannot persuade me otherwise, and do not come all innocent with me. You know just about everything going on in this castle so don't toy with me." Severus said sternly. "Now answer my question."
"Professor Wolf shall be taking over from Hermione for the rest of the year." Albus stated.
"Why!" Severus demanded as he shot to his feet and glared at the Headmaster.
"I'm sure you realise that with two children, Hermione will need to take some extra time off?" Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes. Severus' jaw dropped- despite what he had just said, nothing got past this man what so ever. He sunk back down into the chair.
"So, she has lost her job?" Severus demanded.
"No, but I shall be offering Hermione a different position before I retire at the end of the school year, which I do not wish to discuss right now." Albus said holding up his hand to stop Severus interrupting. "What I do wish to discuss is your seemingly cold attitude towards Professor Wolf and the two Weasley boys that you have apparently punished despite the fact Professor Wolf told you it was her fault they were late to class."
Severus sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "What do you expect, old man?"
"Manners, my boy, they are not beneath you after all. I felt sure that having a wife and son now would mellow you somewhat."
"It may have done, Albus. If she hadn't spent most of our marriage thus far being separated from me that is."
Albus looked into Severus' desolate eyes. "You still have your son. You shall have you wife back once again. Do not lose hope." Albus sighed. "Tell me when the potion will be ready."
"Seven weeks." Severus mumbled as he glanced down at his son who was playing with a toy train.
"Very well. Is there a way to speed up its brewing time?"
"No."
"Then I suggest you focus on your son in the interim period and work on a plan for when you return to Ancient Egypt." Severus nodded. "I've also lifted the detention the Weasley boys had with you tonight, it was most unwarranted, Severus." Severus moved to protest but Albus held up his hand to silence him. "Use the time to finish reading the diary."
"I will." Although he did not relish the thought of finding out why they had suddenly stopped writing in it.
"As for Professor Wolf, I know you two have something of a history between you but."
"What?" Severus asked wide eyed. He had no idea as to what kind of a history they may have had.
"Wolf is her late husband's name. He died in a terrible accident involving a broomstick and the Knight Bus some years ago."
"What was her maiden name?" Severus asked as he continued to rifle through his memories of how he might know her.
"You really do not know?" Albus asked taken aback slightly. "She hasn't changed much over the years, Severus and you were very close indeed for years."
"Priscilla..Priscilla." Severus said to himself as he thought hard.
"That is also her middle name, Severus." Albus told him.
"Just tell me then." Severus demanded, his patience not going to hold for much longer.
"Patricia Priscilla Pendragon." Severus gasped.
"Merlin. never in the world. Patty?" He asked; his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.
"The one and only. You remember your first cousin now then?" Albus asked chuckling merrily.
"Indeed I do. We were very close as children but lost contact when Voldemort first came into power. My word. Patty."
"I take it she now meets with your approval, Severus?" Albus asked, chuckling at his Potions Master.
"Hmm. Perhaps," Severus conceded with a small smile.
"Then do not let me keep you, Severus. I believe you have something of a family reunion to see to. Cil has a free period this afternoon. the same time as yours actually."
Severus nodded, stood and retrieved Callum before leaving the office and heading off to find his first cousin.