The group of eleven witches and wizards were currently seated in an inviting front room of Severus and Hermione's impressive Victorian home. There was a distinct and pervading silence. The air was thick with an oppressive tension; it was as if the severe discomfort each person was experiencing had somehow managed to permeate the very atmosphere. The disquiet of the room's occupants was clearly the result of to the recent scene outside.
The impromptu reunion had rapidly gone from bad to worse. Dumbledore had dropped his silencing spell, in order to speak to a defensive Severus and Hermione. He assured them that they were safe. He convinced them there really was no threat to either of them from magical law enforcement or the Ministry. Stilted pleasantries were exchanged. Albus was introduced to Severus and Hermione's daughter, Sulevis Snape. Generally, things were going ... well.
Unfortunately, as soon as Albus had finished talking, Harry Potter found his voice. It had taken both Harry and Ron mere seconds to decompensate completely once they understood that Hermione was actually married to Snape. They shouted one vile accusation after another at Snape. When Hermione leapt to her husband's defense, Harry and Ron's acrimony was turned on her.
When Harry and Ron maligned Severus and Hermione's child, it took Albus nearly twenty minutes to undo all the hexes that Severus and Hermione had simultaneously hit them with.
After Harry and Ron were revived, and reasonably repaired, they both apologised to Severus and Hermione for their outburst. However, every word was obviously insincere, and their expressions were those of barely contained hostility.
Nonetheless, Hermione allowed them entrance to her and Severus's home, along with the other visitors.
Harry and Ron were both now seated silently in the corner of the large welcoming room, squirming under the intense glare of a small child. Sulevis Snape may not have understood the words Harry and Ron had thrown at her mother and father, but she understood their tone, and she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.
Sulevis Snape turned her gaze on the young man who had declared himself her brother; whom she had taken an immediate liking to. "What did it mean when that bad man," Sulie pointed to Harry Potter, "said I was that I'm an, 'abhorrenth child of a Death Eater and his hoar'? And what did all those other words mean? I don't," the child scrunched up her forehead in concentration, "I don't know what a peed-ee-o-pill-ic-per-bert is; and I don't know what: turn-coat-two-knut-slut, means. Can you tell me?"
"Sulevis, don't say those words!" Hermione chastised sternly; at the same time that Severus explained to the other's, "She has an extraordinary, if not eidetic, memory."
Severus Evans looked at Hermione for guidance. "Do your best, Ian," Hermione told him with a shrug.
"The first thing you need to know," he said seriously, "is that your mother and father are not any of those things."
"But what do they mean?" the child insisted doggedly. She knew bad things had been said about her parents, and she wanted to know what these things meant.
"Well... a Death Eater is a person who hurts other people for pleasure, to feel good," he said in a patient tone. A blush crept up his pale face as he continued, "And a whore is a woman who sells her body to people."
"My Daddy doesn't hurt people to feel good; and my Mummie hasn't sold her body to anyone. She has all her body parts." Sulevis declared emphatically, as she gestured to Hermione.
"Exactly," Severus Evans concurred, "those words do not describe your parents."
"What about the other words? What do they mean?"
"Er," Severus Evans looked at Albus Dumbledore pleadingly.
"My dear, Miss Snape," Dumbledore said, drawing the girl's attention. "May I explain those to you?"
"Yes," the child responded with an expectant look.
"The first one... I believe you pronounced it as: 'peed-io-pillic-perbert'. That would be an adult who marries a child. Both your parents were adults when they fell in love and got married. So: that word doesn't describe your parents. The last one, a turn coat two knut slut; that would be a woman who breaks promises and has many boyfriends. Now, does your mother break promises?" Albus asked gently.
"Never," Sulevis replied solemnly.
"Does your mother have a lot of different boyfriends, all at the same time?"
"No," the child giggled, "Daddy is my Mummie's only boyfriend."
"So, you see Miss Snape," Dumbledore intoned earnestly, "your new brother was quite correct. None of those bad words are right for your mother or your father."
Sulevis smiled brightly at the kindly old wizard.
Harry and Ron were now quietly grousing to each other, some obscenities could be understood in their grumblings.
Ginny Weasley was trying to quiet them down. Her voice carried as she told them, "Even though you think it's disgusting, that's no reason to go all -"
She was distracted by her mother hissing something unintelligible to her father who was attempting to calm his wife down. However, he failed. Molly Weasley started shouting at Ron, Harry, and Ginny. She was trying to make them be quiet in front of the small child. However, all she managed to do was increase the din.
Ron drew his wand and pointed it at Severus Snape.
"Mr Weasley, put that away," Minerva McGonagall ordered in her sternest voice.
Albus Dumbledore waved his hand, and ten wands flew into it.
Harry Potter's shout of, "Who had my wand!" as he watched it fly to Dumbledore was silenced by the ancient and powerful wizard himself.
"Silence ... everyone!" Dumbledore ordered as he gently lay a grizzled hand on Sulevis's head. "As we all seem to have forgotten our manners, we will play a game I learned many years ago. One that will help us remember to be polite to each other." He pocketed all the wands and waved his hand. In it a thick, brightly painted stick appeared. "This, he said is a talking stick."
Many mouths opened to question either: his motives; his sanity; or his spell work. However, no questions were heard.
"And here you see it's value," Dumbledore continued. No one may speak unless they are holding the stick. You see, I hold it now, so I can speak. This spell will not affect our generous hosts," Dumbledore smiled at Severus and Hermione Snape. "However, I thought you'd like to be a part of our game, Miss Snape," Dumbledore said as he looked down upon the child with twinkling eyes, "would you like to hold the stick?"
The child tried to say, 'yes', but no sound came out of her mouth. She giggled silently and shook her head in a vehement positive instead. Dumbledore handed her the stick. "So, I'm the only one who can talk now?" she asked the wizened wizard.
Dumbledore nodded affirmatively to her.
"Wow," she breathed.
Dumbledore smiled at her and held out his hand, with a questioning look on his face.
"Would you like the pretty stick back?" Sulevis asked.
Dumbledore nodded again, and the child handed him the stick with some reluctance.
"That is, all except your parents, Miss Snape. Mr and Mrs Snape have invited us into their home, so they may speak at any time." Dumbledore and the little girl smiled at each other. "Now," Dumbledore said to the assembled, "that we have a way to respectfully communicate with each other; perhaps, Mr Evans and his newfound sister should get to know each other better?" Dumbledore gave Severus Evans a meaningful look, and handed him the stick.
"Hermione, and uh... yeah," Severus Evans said, in a voice so quiet that only Hermione and Severus Snape could hear, "maybe I should take Sulie out while you all talk?"
Severus Snape and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione turned back to Severus Evans and said simply, "Thank you."
Severus Evans spoke in a jovial tone, "Sulie, may I have the honor of taking my sister to McDonald's for dinner?" He handed the child the talking stick.
"Really? May I?" she responded looking to her parents with wide eyes.
"Yes," Severus and Hermione replied in unison.
"I never get to go there!" Sulie exclaimed excitedly, as her dark eyes sparkled with excitement.
Dumbledore's smiled as he waved his hand at Sulie and Severus Evans. He reached down and touched the stick Sulevis was holding. "There you go, you may both speak freely. May I have the stick back Miss Snape?"
When the two left the room Hermione rounded on Harry and Ron. She was absolutely seething. "How could you do that to my daughter?" she asked shrilly.
Harry and Ron's mouths were moving very quickly. Harry was gesticulating wildly as Ron stood up.
"Mrs Snape, would you like me to remove the spell; now that you daughter will not be subjected to any expletives?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"If," she spat as she glared at Harry and Ron, "we can have a civilised conversation. If we cannot, I shall ask you to leave my home."
"And I shall see that you comply," Severus hissed in a quietly menacing tone; sneering in turn at Harry and Ron.
"Gentleman?" the Headmaster queried.
The two gave affirmative, if angry nods. Albus Dumbledore waved his hand, cancelling the spell. He handed the painted stick to Hermione and said, "For you daughter." Hermione took the stick that now made the musical sound of falling rain when it was moved.
"Thank you," she said, nodding at the Headmaster.
In the ensuing silence Minerva spoke, "Severus, Hermione, how did you come to marry."
"Did he force- " Ron began in a plaintive voice.
"Why- " Harry asked at the same time.
A sad, "Severus, how could yo- " from Remus, added to the cacophony.
"Silence!" Dumbledore boomed. "We are guests in the Snape's home. We will act like it.
"If I may?" Molly Weasley spoke up. When no one objected she looked at Severus and Hermione in turn and said, "I'm so pleased for you both. I think -"
A noise was heard from Ron, but it was cut off by the sharp sound of Ginny slapping him on the back of the head.
"I think," Molly repeated as she spared a glare at her youngest son, "that we would all like to know how this came to be; if you don't mind telling us that is?"
Hermione looked to Severus and he merely arched an elegant eyebrow at her. "I would be happy to share our... story; if... and only if, I can tell it without any rude interruptions."
Everyone in the room looked at Harry and Ron. The two mumbled assent and indistinct apologies to their feet.
"Very well," Hermione agreed, sounding a bit like Severus for a moment. "Just let me get everyone drinks first, this may take awhile."
During the short time that Hermione was gone, the only words spoken were those of Molly and Albus, each in different ways, warning Harry and Ron to remain silent when Hermione got back.
Hermione returned bearing a large tray of filled glasses. "I've brought tea, juice, Ogden's Old, and local spring water. Pick your poison." Severus handed Albus, Arthur, and grudgingly Remus: Ogden's; while Hermione poured tea for Minerva and Molly. Harry and Ron, and Ginny each took a glass of juice.
Hermione settled herself on the settee with her glass of water. She sat quite close to Severus, allowing discreet parts of their persons to touch.
Severus made no comment, nor did he draw away; he realised that Hermione needed this comfort in the face of the people from their past.
Hermione looked at the expectant faces around her and cleared her throat. "When you ask, 'how this came to be?', I'm assuming you mean our marriage; as Ian must have already told you how we came to be in Nova Scotia."
At the affirmative motions, Hermione nodded in acceptance and took a breath. "It all began at the beginning of sixth year -"
Predictably Harry and Ron began again. This time it wasn't a cautioning Ginny, an irate Mrs Weasley, or a disappointed Dumbledore who censured them.
"I would suggest," said Snape, in a voice of deadly calm, "that you belay your interruption; and give my wife your fullest attention." He looked at each of the young men in turn, his dark eyes glittering dangerously. "If you do not," he continued, his deep voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I shall see you out of our home, and you will never be allowed to darken our door again."
As the two subsided, seemingly once and for all. Hermione began again, "Yes, well... it was the beginning of our sixth year and Harry had just gotten Severus's old Potions text. After I tested it for anything Dark, I became interested in it. I mean, someone seemed to know more than the text, and that knowledge was written in Harry's book. So that night I snuck into to the boy's dormitory. I took it out of his trunk and stayed up all night reading it. I did this four nights in a row. When I was done, I thought I knew who the previous owner of the book was. The next weekend, I went to ask Severus about it. I was fairly sure that he couldn't expel me for asking, but I was a nervous wreck anyway. I found him in the Defense classroom. When I finally got the words out, he demanded the book. I told him I didn't have it anymore." Hermione looked directly at Harry. "I told him you did, Harry. So, you see, he knew you were using his work long before you cast Sectumsepra on Malfoy. He let you keep it. He hoped you would learn from it. He said he thought you might take Potions and... things, more seriously if you thought you were being nefarious about it. He only wanted to take it away from you when you almost killed someone with it. He never thought you would use any of the Darker spells you found in there, unless you had to." Hermione's demeanour turned thunderous. "I TOLD SEVERUS THAT YOU WERE CLAIMING HIS WORK AS YOUR OWN!" she said shrilly, as she remembered Harry's misdeed. "But HE THOUGHT it was to the greater good to allow you to continue! As long as you were learning, he was pleased. You know how I felt about that, Harry, I let you know clearly. You should learn from Severus's book, yes, I was with Severus on that, BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO CLAIM HIS IDEAS AS YOUR OWN! I may not have told you that I knew whose work you were PLAGIARISING, but..."
She trailed off as Severus whispered in her ear.
Placing a hand on her abdomen she said quietly, "Yes, well, I can get a bit emotional these days. Severus just wanted you to learn, in any way that you would. But," Hermione smiled at her husband, "I was telling you about Severus and me."
"He said you should keep it, his book. He wasn't even angry, well, not for him, anyway. Encouraged by his lack of anger, I asked him to teach me. To tutor me in Potions and Defense. I explained that I got an unsatisfactory O.W.L. score in Defense, and that I would like to know anything he could teach me in Defense and Potions. He said my O.W.L. in Defense was remarkable, considering that I had taken defense with Quirrel, Lockhart, and Umbridge. He made me suffer and wonder, but eventually he said he'd consider it, and that I should come back the next day.
I did come back, and we discussed his old book, and Potions. We talked for hours," Hermione glanced at the rapt faces listening to her, "my friends thought I was in the library. Just about every time I said that I would be in the library in sixth-year, I was with Severus. He actually had better books in his personal collection than the library had," she gave her husband an indulgent smile. "He taught me so much, and I taught him some things as well. His knowledge of Muggles ended in the late seventies. I brought him up to speed in: science, technology, world events, everything that I could. We even met up over the Holidays, at night, and I taught him how to use a computer. I spent a good half of my nights with Severus after that. No. NOT like that," Hermione pre-empted the exclamations she expected. "Severus never touched me. We would talk ... about everything. Sometimes we would experiment with Potions and Defense. It was ... it was ... incredible. Although, it took me a while to convince him to allow me to break school rules; and I'm sorry Albus, but you always allowed Harry to break the rules. I thought what Severus and I were doing was just as important. We spent all the time together that we could; without being seen. It wouldn't have helped his position in Voldemort's camp to be seen with a Muggle-born.
The year flew by so quickly, and somehow we had become more than teacher and student. We were friends. He opened up to me more than he had to anyone, ever. Then one day towards the end of sixth-year, he warned me that his time was almost up. He told me that he had a task to complete that would seal his fate. He was basically saying goodbye to me. He always said he never expected to survive this war, that he was amazed that he had lasted this long; but, when I learnt that he would surely die soon, either at the hands of the Death Eaters or the Order, I couldn't just let that happen."
"So she came to me," Albus put in. "If you think I'm omniscient, I will dissuade you now. I had no idea that Severus and Hermione had formed a friendship. I was floored when she burst into my office, banished the portraits and demanded to know why I would throw away a brilliant man, a powerful and skilled wizard." Albus stroked his beard and his eyes shone with mirth, "Eventually I realised that her almost incoherent ranting was about Severus. I called him to my office. When he came in she stopped screaming, she got better."
"Better," Severus harumphed. "That's your idea of better?"
"You should have seen how overwrought she was on your behalf before you arrived, Severus," Albus chided.
"Surely, to your mind, her hysterical crying was so much better," said Severus.
"In the end, I decided to let Hermione know of our plans; the plans to make it appear as if Severus murdered me. She was, and is, a very intelligent witch. I knew that if I overlooked the fact that she already knew more than I intended her to, she could be very useful. And she was. She served as a liaison between Severus and my supposedly deceased self."
"I couldn't get Albus to promise me that Severus would live," Hermione said with an old consternation creeping into her voice. "But, Severus and I were able to keep meeting. We met as often as we could, at different places all over Muggle London, to exchange information. But, we always wound up talking long past that, and staying as long as we could. Nothing really changed; until my birthday. We met in Picadilly. He surprised me with dinner at the Ritz. We danced, I ..." she looked at her husband, and he at her. The intensity of their gaze was not lost on their unexpected guests. "He took my hand, led me to the dance floor, then ... it was ... perfect."
She forced her gaze from Severus to Harry, Ron, and Ginny. In an apologetic tone she said, "I knew Severus had become my best friend over the previous year," she glanced back at Severus and smiled, her tone brightening, "it was only then that I realised that I felt a great deal more for him then friendship. He resisted, of course," her indulgence could be heard in her voice, "on principle you know; but, I wore him down. It wasn't soon enough for me, but eventually we ended one of our 'meetings' with a kiss, and well ... " she trailed off, smiling in remembrance.
She shook herself back to reality and blushed as she faced the room to continue her story. "Then we were ending all our meeting with a kiss," she glowed as she thought about it, "and beginning them that way, as well. Then our 'meetings' became more; well, more 'date' and less 'meeting'. Then in October, we met in a beautiful suite, in Claridges. We finally -"
Her husband cut her off hurriedly, and loudly, "Read a Journal article," he said, "in... a, ah, a Potions Journal. Together. We read it together; in the suite."
This pronouncement drew some him some odd looks, and varied degrees of laughter. Although Harry and Ron looked appalled and rather sick.
Severus crossed his arms and glared at the room in general.
"My dear boy," Albus said to Severus with a chuckle, "it's so good to see it's been a while since you've had to act the spy. I'm very happy your skills at deception are so rusty!"
In an effort to smooth her husband's discomfort, Hermione rushed on, "Then Severus discovered the information that allowed you all to end Voldemort's reign of terror. Ian told you how we came to be in Nova Scotia -" she asked.
"Yes, dear," Minerva interrupted, "he testified about it all at your trial in absentia."
"I thought that must be how you knew," Hermione said. "So, you know I followed Severus. I found him in Halifax. Soon after I arrived, he got his job with his company in Quebec. We decided to remain living in Nova Scotia, though. We had taken a lovely flat overlooking the water. Once he was settled with the company, and I was settled with my home-based work; we talked about finding a house, starting a family. We decided to marry on my birthday, it was..." she noticed her husband's dark scowl and trailed off. "So, I went off the potion, and we married in October. I had Sulie, and here we are: in eight months we'll be four."
Hermione looked at each of her guests in turn, "I missed you all," she said seriously, "so very much. Ian kept me informed with the major events I was missing in your lives, everything that he could discover. But it wasn't the same. I'm so glad to see you all," she finished, giving them a watery smile.
"Ian," Harry muttered angrily. Then he snapped his piercing green eyes to Severus's black and shouted, "Severus Evans! What the hell did you do to my mother, Snape!"
Hermione rose to her feet and glared at Harry, "Harry Potter!" she raged, "Don't you dare speak to Severus like that! You shall be told in due time; after Severus and Ian have had a chance to -"
As if on cue, Severus Evans... 'Ian', opened the door and walked in with a sleepy Sulevis Snape on his shoulder.
AN :
I will finish this story. However, it may be a while before I have a chance to update.