Chapter 3 – Thy Nurse's Fee

And he had ta'en a purse of gold
And he had placed it upon her knee
Saying "Give to me my little young son,
And take thee up thy nurse's fee."

"Longbottom, I expect you have that room ready," Snape snapped as he ushered the Muggles into the house, his temper at the breaking point between Andrew's incessant questions, and Aquilo's wailing ever since they stepped into the boat. "I have another assignment for you once you have shown them upstairs," he added as Longbottom came out of the parlor.

Longbottom nodded, and beckoned the Muggle couple forward, an affable smile on his face. "Of course, sir. I'll be right down, once Mr. And Mrs. ...?" He looked at Andrew for a name.

"McAllister."

"If you'll follow me, Mr. McAllister, Mrs. McAllister, I took the liberty of setting up rooms for you adjacent to the nursery." His voice trailed off as he led them up the stairs, and Snape rolled his eyes before unlocking the door to the basement, where he kept his office.

"Oh, Professor, Dumbledore wanted to speak with you. He's in the parlor." Longbottom was leaning over the rail, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Apparently there's been an attack on a protected Muggle sanctuary."

Snape ground his teeth in frustration, carefully locking the door to the basement again, and sweeping into the parlor instead. Dumbledore waved him to a seat across from him, his eyes devoid of their normal twinkle.

"Albus." Snape crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to sit down. "To what do I owe the unexpected privilege of a personal visit?"

"Sit down, Severus." Dumbledore gave him a stern look, and Snape scowled, reluctantly taking the chair across from the older wizard.

"Well?" Snape raised an eyebrow when Dumbledore didn't reply, merely pouring a cup of tea, and pushing it across the table to Snape.

"I had been hoping you would be able to tell me why there was an attack on Castlebay today, Severus."

Snape shrugged. "I am no longer welcome among the Death Eaters. If you wanted to know why there was an attack, why don't you ask your new spy?"

Dumbledore watched him over his half-moon spectacles, a disappointed expression on his face. "I thought I could trust you to tell me the truth, Severus."

"I am not some misbehaving student who needs to explain his actions to the Headmaster, Albus. You can ask your precious young spy why the Death Eaters attacked Castlebay, but I have no need to justify what I have done to you."

"Severus, you know that Miss Granger was doing what she thought was best for the child."

Snape's lip curled up in a snarl. "She had no right to take my son from me without my permission, nor did I approve of Muggles raising MY son! And you are no better than they are, defending the blatant disregard for the laws of Wizarding Britain that Potter and Weasley and Granger display!" He stabbed an accusing finger at Dumbledore. "Your precious Gryffindors can do no wrong, and it is always, always, at my expense. No matter what I do, I will never make up for having made the mistake of being sorted into Slytherin!"

"Severus, that is enough!" Dumbledore glared at him until he subsided sulkily. "Whether or not Miss Granger disobeyed the law is not the matter in question at the moment. She did what she thought was best, and would have been best for the child, had you not gone looking for the child. As I asked you when you found out Miss Granger had taken the child out of your reach."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Than what do you think is the question at hand? Because I see nothing that needs addressed more than the transgression against the law that Granger and her friends have made."

"You have to consider the emotional well-being of the child you have just brought back here, Severus. Even you can admit you are not the best..."

"Do not tell me I am not the best caretaker for my son, Professor." Snape's lip curled up in a sneer. "I will decide what is best for Aquilo, and not Granger, or you, or those pathetic Muggles she left him with."

Dumbledore regarded him with a pained expression. "Severus..." he began gently, but Snape cut him off before the older wizard could say something that he didn't want to hear.

"If you have nothing else to discuss, Albus, I will retrieve the potion I finished last night, and you can leave. I am sure you have more important matters to attend to." Snape stood, sweeping from the room to fetch the bottled potion, his customary scowl on his face. When he returned with the tightly sealed bottles, Dumbledore was standing in the entryway, his cloak on his shoulders.

He took the bottles with a sad smile. "Thank you, Severus." He paused, hesitating as his hand rested on the door handle. "Miss Granger asked me to find out if Aquilo was safe, and to convey her apologies for not telling you where she had hidden him."

Snape snorted. "An apology is useless. Aquilo is now where he belongs, and she will have no contact with him. Ever."

"Severus..."

"That was how she arranged it when she took the law into her own hands, and she can live with that for the rest of her life, Albus. If she had used that intellect she is supposed to have, she might have spared herself the pain she is undoubtedly feeling."

Dumbledore sighed, but he left without saying another word, and Snape returned to the parlor, unlocking the charmed cabinet that held the liquor. He pursed his lips a moment before pulling out the bottle of Ogden's, and locking the cabinet once more. Settling into his favorite chair, he freed the cork from the neck of the bottle, and took a long swallow.

"... And in here there are some robes for everyday wear. Nothing fancy, I'm afraid. Professor Snape doesn't like to keep things without some function." Neville smiled at Vivian and Andrew. "I know they're a little old fashioned, so I hope you don't have any trouble with them. I took the liberty of bringing some of my own old robes, from when I was a child, for Aquilo. They're almost like Muggle clothing."

Vivian smiled wanly, jostling Aquilo again in an effort to get him to settle down. "I'm sorry, you'll probably have to repeat that again in the morning. I can't concentrate at the moment." She switched the boy from one arm to the other, saying softly, "Oh, Ryan, please! Be quiet, little love, won't you?"

"May I?" Neville gestured to Aquilo, raising an eyebrow. "I usually help Maggie with her little ones when I go visiting my friends. I'm not much help otherwise."

"I don't know. He's never been like this before. Ryan's usually such a sweet child." Vivian bit her lower lip, absently jostling the toddler again.

"Oh, let him hold Ryan. He has as much chance as you or I of getting him to settle at this point." Andrew ran a hand through his hair, widening his eyes slightly in an effort to keep them open. "And the sooner he settles, the sooner we can sleep. I am knackered, Viv."

Neville smiled again as Vivian reluctantly let him take Aquilo, gently settling the boy against one shoulder, one arm under his bottom, and the other hand resting on his back to support him. He hummed the lullaby he'd learned from Maggie, Aquilo's wails quieting into hiccups and sniffles as the child began to fall asleep.

"Why don't I take him into the nursery while you two settle in. Breakfast is usually at seven, and the Professor will be in his lab or his office for most of the day. I'll show you the rest of the house, and we can divide up the chores that need done."

Vivian looked like she was about to protest, but Andrew leaned over to whisper in her ear, and she nodded slowly. "Thank you, Neville. You're very kind."

Neville chuckled dryly. "I'm surprised you think so. I was the one who told Professor Snape where to find you, after all."

"Why wouldn't I think you were kind? You've shown us far more generosity and patience than that man." Vivian wrinkled her nose. "He hates us, and I can't understand why. We didn't know that Ryan wasn't our son. No one did. Not in Castlebay."

"Don't worry about the Professor. He hates everyone." Neville made his way to the door, Aquilo nestled against his shoulder. "Good night, Vivian, Andrew."

"Good night, Neville."

Vivian woke with a start, her breath coming in gasps as she tried to determine where she was. It took a moment for the memory of the previous night to surface, and she shivered, turning over to bury her face against Andrew's shoulder, clinging to his warmth.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. His lips brushed her forehead as he whispered, "I'm right here, Viv. Everything will be all right. It has to be. We're alive, and Ryan's alive, and we're safe. The rest will come."

"I wish I could be sure of that, Andrew." Vivian turned her head so her words wouldn't get muffled. "How long will we be safe here? How long will we have to deal with that man? And if he hates everything, like Neville says he does, what kind of place is this for Ryan to grow up?"

"I don't know, Viv." Andrew tightened his embrace, his eyes shadowed by worry. "We'll make it through. We have to. Ryan needs us both to be strong. And we can't let Professor Snape see if we are afraid. It will just give him one more reason to hate us, and that won't help anyone."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Andrew gave Vivian's shoulders one last time before sliding out of the bed to open the door.

"Morning." Neville smiled at them, Ryan sitting in his arms, chortling as he played with something that slithered over Neville's shoulder. "I took the liberty of feeding Aquilo his breakfast this morning, since I'm sure you're still unsettled about this whole matter."

Vivian stood up, her toes curling as they came in contact with the cold floor. She stopped when she was in front of Neville, her eyes going to the thing Ryan was playing with. Gasping, she reached out to snatch Ryan to her. "Dear Lord, what is that?"

Neville let Ryan go, reaching up to pick the small snake off his shoulder. "It's just a toy. I found it in the attic, and I thought Aquilo might like it." He held it out, the snake curling in his palm. "It's just charmed to move. It won't hurt him."

Ryan reached out his hand, wrapping chubby fingers around the toy, and holding it up with a crow of delight. "Pretty snake, mummy!"

Vivian smiled, trembling slightly as the toy was brought close to her face. "Very pretty, little love. Why don't you let da see it, and mummy will find you some day-clothes to wear."

"They're in the top drawer of the wardrobe," Neville supplied helpfully as Vivian headed for the nursery.

Neville sighed as he turned to Andrew, the little snake that Aquilo had been playing with now slithering around the man's fingers. "Professor Snape had a long list of items not to touch, and places not to go for you and Vivian this morning."

Andrew grimaced, carefully setting the snake on a shelf in the wardrobe. "Everything and everywhere?"

"Not quite. You're not to go into the basement, the lab, or the attic. He'd be happy if he could ban me from the attic, but the house-elf won't go up there, and there are things he needs fetched down occasionally."

"What's a house-elf?" Andrew was looking at the robes with a bewildered look. "And why do these appear to have come straight out of the eighteenth century?"

"Because Snape's fashion sense is about a century behind the rest of the wizarding world." Neville came over, pulling out a simple set of work robes. "Try these. They're basic work robes, and really haven't changed in centuries, except to add buttons."

"Of course." Andrew held up the shirt and trousers, and the jacket, and raised an eyebrow. "These are basic?"

Neville nodded. "Of course, a lot of my generation, and even Professor Snape's generation, wear Muggle clothing, but he won't allow it here."

Andrew sighed and headed for the bathroom, the robes slung over his arm. "I hope nothing in the loo or bathroom is too different from normal?"

"Just the taps on the tub. Use the bottom taps, and you'll get normal water. We don't have a shower, I'm afraid. Professor Snape hasn't updated the house."

There was a grumble from Andrew before the door to the bathroom shut, leaving Neville to lean against the wall. How are we all going to survive this, nevermind the war? If Snape keeps using me as a go-between with Vivian and Andrew, I'm going to end up in St. Mungo's alongside mum and da.

He pushed away from the wall, going back down the stairs to the kitchen. "Patsy, how has anyone put up with the Professor for longer than a few days at a time? When they're not his students, I mean?"

The house-elf looked up from the dishes she was cleaning. "Patsy is not knowing how anyone puts up with the Master. Patsy is only knowing that Patsy has no place else to go if she is given clothes, and so Patsy puts up with the Master very well."

"Of course." Neville's lips twitched up in a wry smile. "Could you do me a favor, Patsy, and help me give Andrew and Vivian a tour of the house? Aquilo can be quite a handful, and needs someone's full attention, as does the tour."

Patsy smiled, her wrinkled face lighting up. "Patsy would be happy to help young Mr. Neville show the new Muggles the house. Patsy will tell them all about the house while Mr. Neville keeps the baby amused."

"Thank you, Patsy." Neville breathed a sigh of relief. One thing out of the way. Only a million more to go.