A/N: Well as soon as I uploaded the last chapter, my computer shut down (literally) and wouldn't turn on again. Luckily I had already written this chapter. Hopefully it wont do it again. (crosses fingers)

Chapter 8: Dad

Hermione set down her bags and hugged Ginny and Harry.

"Thank you so much. The both of you. You have helped more than I possibly could have asked for." They smiled.

"You're welcome Hermione but you can stay longer if you would like." It had been four days since Hermione had shown up in their living room.

"No, no, I've stayed to long already. I need to deal with this on my own."

"If you insist. Remember, if you need us we're just a phone call away." Since both Harry and Hermione had grown up with muggles, both of their homes were semi-wizard and semi-muggle. Ginny had gotten used to it immediately unlike her brother when he came to visit. Hermione thanked them again and apparated to her home. She set her things down in the living room, sighed and looked around. When she finally realized how alone she was, she broke down, and collapsed on the floor crying. She wiped her eyes and sighed again.

"I can do this. I don't need him. I am perfectly fine on my own. I don't need him or his wife." Her voice cracked as she spoke. She got up and walked over to the kitchen. She started making herself something to eat. She was determined to do anything that would keep her mind off of him. She wanted everything to go back to normal. She wanted her heart to stop hurting. She wanted him. Stop thinking about him, she thought.

Severus had resumed teaching his classes much to the displeasure of the students. Now he was in a very bad mood everyday. Emma wasn't talking to him and he had given up calling on her in class since she never seemed to know the answer which he knew wasn't true. Dumbledore had said she would come around eventually. Lately he was being meaner, crueler and stricter than he had ever been. He wanted so much to kill Olivia for ruining his life . . . again, but he knew that could make things even worse seeing as how Hermione definitely wouldn't want him if he was a murderer. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about how he intended to make Hermione speak to him again. Severus was sitting in his office when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he called not even looking up.

"Severus . . ." Emma said quietly. He immediately stood up and walked over to her.

"Emma, I'm glad you came."

"I really need to talk to you. I want to know exactly what happened." She looked at him sternly as if daring him to say no. He didn't dare.

"All right. Have a seat." He sighed as she sat down. He sat on the desk in front of her.

"Should I start from the very beginning?"

"Yes, when you and my mom first got together." He didn't think that an eleven year old should be hearing how he had had a relationship with a student but he had no choice. He told her of how he had fallen in love with Hermione when she was seventeen and he was thirty seven.

"Now that doesn't mean that you can go falling in love with someone your mother's age," he said strictly.

"Don't worry, I already have a boyfriend." She grinned and he scowled.

"What! Who!"

"Don't change the subject. Get back to the story."

"Fine but as soon as I'm done I'm going to have a long talk with this boy." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Well a few months before she graduated, I . . . well she got pregnant."

"So you had sex with a seventeen year old?" Did his eleven year old daughter just say sex? He gulped.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"Again don't worry. Mum and I have already had the sex talk and I don't plan on having kids for about fifteen years or so."

"Make it twenty-five years. Anyways, as I was saying, she got pregnant. Then the last day of school she disappeared. She left me a note . . ." he went over to a cabinet and pulled out an old piece of paper and handed it to her. She read it and had tears in her eyes.

"I never saw her again . . . until eleven years later that is. She wrote me another letter saying that she had an urgent matter to discuss with me. So I wrote her back telling her to meet me at the Leaky Cauldron."

"So you were the friend that she was having lunch with."

"Must be. She told me about you and then I left. I was hurt and angry and confused. Then you showed up here for school. I don't know why but I was really nervous about meeting you. Then I found out that you didn't know that I was your father. Dumbledore called me into his office and your mother was there. He said we were going to tell you and I just lost it. I couldn't believe that she had kept this from both of us. Especially you. But the after you left the office I felt bad for her. You had taken after me and exploded. I . . . we were about to kiss but we were interrupted." He told her of how Dumbledore had suggested that she stay for a while and that she sleep in Severus' spare room.

"Then the other day, when I was leaving for breakfast I couldn't get out of my room. I'm sure Dumbledore told you all about it." Emma smiled.

"Kind of . . . Severus, it was my idea."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well about a couple of weeks ago I . . . spied on you. That day that you told me that she was staying with you. After class I used my Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak to follow you to your rooms. I wanted to see what she acted like when I wasn't there. I saw the way the two of you acted and I knew you still loved each other but neither of you wanted to do anything about it. You were still mad at her and she just wanted to be forgiven . . . so I took action. I had Dumbledore cast a spell on your room so that you would not be able to get out until you two had made up. And I guess it worked because that same night is when . . . well you know. Sorry you can get back to your story."

"That was you?" She nodded. "You're more like me than I thought. Well yes we made up. Then we were laying in bed and someone knocked on the door. It was Olivia, my ex-wife. I told your mother to go back in the bedroom but being her she was to stubborn and kept asking Olivia questions. I pleaded with her but she still didn't listen. Then when she found out she packed her things and left. But not before taking the time to say some very bad things that you do not need to know."

"I'm not a kid . . . but I'd never heard her swear before."

"I have. But only when she's extremely mad. I found her just as she was leaving the building and she swore some more."

"Yeah I heard."

"Oh yeah. Well that was when you came out into the hall." He sounded like he was finished but Emma wasn't satisfied.

"So what about this Olivia woman? Why did you marry her and what made her go from wife to ex-wife?"

"Oh her. Well first you should know one thing Emma. I don't love her nor have I ever loved her. I love your mother and only your mother."

"Then why did you marry her? And don't say it's complicated."

"To be honest I don't know. It was about five years ago. I was drunk and I just remember that the next morning I woke up married. When I realized what I had done I told her to get out and that I never wanted to see her again. I didn't think the marriage was legal so I ignored it. I had no idea that she would just show up like this."

"Why did she show up?"

"She wanted a divorce. So I obliged. I hate that woman and you never have to worry about seeing her again Emma. I promise. I never wanted to hurt your mother or you." Emma suddenly ran over to her father and hugged him tightly. She was crying. At first it felt awkward but then he hugged her back. He didn't want to let go.

"I love you dad." Dad, he liked the sound of that.

"I love you too Emma." He kissed the top of her head.