AN: Here's the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.

After the Wait
Chapter One

The last ten years had been both cruel and kind to Severus Snape. He was on his own for the most part, seeking what peace he could in his research and solitude. At first, though pardoned for his actions during the second war of Voldemort, public opinion of him was not good. He had little support from the ministry for his research, and been forced to seek work out of the country for a time. He had lived in France and Germany for several years, gaining new connections in academic circles, and only returned to England after earning enough clout within his profession to ensure steady work.

Work in England, however, brought back memories that, in his solitude, Severus found rather uncomfortable. He had made a point to stay clear of old acquaintances since his return, but he knew he was bound to run into someone sooner or later. Minerva McGonagall, the current Headmistress of Hogwarts, had owled him shortly after his return to England in hopes that he would be interested in the position of Potions Master at the school – this offer had been flatly refused. Communication from Hogwarts stopped coming soon after.

For the past several months, Severus had been attempting to develop a muscle regeneration potion to counteract a new, rather nasty, dark curse that had been making its rounds in England's seedier wizarding communities. Thus far, progress had been slow. It was taking a great deal longer than he had initially hoped to analyze the curse itself and longer still to set out a base from which to begin potion development. Frustration was something he was used to – but this case was stretching his last nerve.

To add to his mounting frustration, he had just received an owl from the last person he wished to ever communicate with again. Allowing his cowardice to rear its ugly head, Severus had simply thrown the letter on his desk several days ago and tried to forget about it. The letter, however, seemed to be the only thing he could think about.

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To: Severus Snape

From: Hermione Granger-Harris

It has been close to ten years since we last spoke and I am certain that you did not expect to hear from me again at all. I will understand if you do not respond to this letter, as what I am asking is rather unorthodox, but I have nowhere else to turn. My husband, Gregory Harris, passed away two months ago – You might have read of his death in the Daily Prophet. I am left with a four year-old daughter to care for and no means with which to do so.

You once offered me the chance to be your partner and said you would wait as long as necessary for a response. If the position has yet to be filled by another, would you consider allowing me to accept that offer, ten years after the fact? Please note that this letter has been excessively difficult to write and I have little hope that you are still willing to have me – but as stated above, I have nowhere else to turn.

I look forward to your response.

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Severus sat in slight shock after reading and re-reading the extremely unexpected letter. It had been a foolish and hopeful thing to offer her all those years ago. He had put his pride on the line for the little chit and she hadn't had the common decency to even respond to him… until now.

He had, in fact, heard of the death of Gregory Harris – though he didn't know that Miss Granger had been married to the man. Harris had died, rather embarrassingly, outside a brothel in Knockturn Alley. The article hadn't stated the he was a husband and father – only that he had taken advantage of the services offered within the establishment and refused to pay afterwards. The ensuing duel had left him dead and with a great deal of debt left behind (for damages to the building and other such things, though the article had not gone into detail).

Apparently the debt the man left had fallen onto the shoulders of his wife – Mrs. Hermione Granger-Harris. And now, that wife needed him – Severus Snape – to come to the rescue. He'd spent ten years alone, with no one but himself to answer to, and she wanted him to give that up to help her. "Fat bloody chance." Severus muttered while tearing the letter into small pieces and throwing it into the rubbish bin. She'd lost her chance with him many years ago.

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"Momma!" A little girl with curly brown hair yelled from the door to her mother's bedroom. "Momma!"

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and focused on the little girl that stood a few feet away from her. "Darling, why are you out of bed?" Looking to the clock, she saw it only half past two in the morning. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Seeing her mother sit up, Emily Harris ran forward and jumped up onto her mother's large bed. "Where's daddy?" she asked while snuggling into the pillows on the side of the bed that her father used to sleep on. "Is he still in heaven? When will he come home?"

Hermione cringed slightly before turning to look at her daughter. Emily had always been smaller than most children her age, with a very slight frame and very little extra weight on her tiny form. Tonight Emily wore her favorite blue pajamas, covered in ridiculous looking, fat little birds. Seeing Emily's eyes trained fully on her, Hermione cleared her throat. "Emily, darling, your Daddy can't come back from heaven. He's going to wait for you there."

"Why?"

"Well, he got a bad ouchy, sweetheart. No one could make the ouchy go away, so he had to go to heaven to get better." Emily nodded and looked rather unconvinced at her mother's story. Instead of arguing the point, Emily simply rolled over and snuggled further into the covers.

"Goodnight, Mummy."

Hermione smiled and lay back down, in hopes of getting a few more hours sleep before dealing with the property witch again in the morning. She and Emily had only three more days before they had to vacate their home or they'd be forcefully removed.

Tears came to her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time as she thought about the reason for her current situation. That damned husband of hers and his penchant for Knockturn Alley whores… His death had been bad enough, but to learn that he owed his 'brothel of choice' close to half a million galleons in damages to their property and close to 100,000 more for "services rendered" that he never had the chance to pay for. It seemed that he was such a good customer that he'd had an account with the Madame for over seven years – He'd paid the Madame steadily for the "services" he took advantage of, but after Hermione had given up her career to raise their daughter, he hadn't had the finances to keep up with his tab. When the Madame had tried to collect… well, he didn't live much longer after that.

"You damned bastard, I hope you're rotting in hell." She whispered as the tears continued to come.

It was 1:30 the next afternoon by the time the property witch had left. Their meeting had gone as well as could be expected, with a guarantee that once the house was sold, there would be enough money to pay Madame Richardson and the case against her would be settled. The only problem was that after the case was settled, there would be nothing left for Hermione and Emily to live on.

It had been close to a week since she had sent her horrible letter to Severus Snape, begging him to take her in, and he had yet to reply. With nothing better to do and her desperation reaching a breaking point, Hermione got her daughter changed into her best black dress (maybe it would appeal to the horrid man's senses) and apparated to the Leering Sphinx, an inn much like the Leaky Cauldron, which as located only a few miles away from the home of one Severus Snape in Yorkshire. "Let's see if the bastard can refuse me to my face."

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Disclaimer: I don't know anything from the Harry Potter series – book or film. This is just for fun. Please don't sue me!