Chapter Forty-Three – A Place to Hang your Hat
Tonks woke up the next day to find her husband staring at her. "I look awful, don't I?" Tonks sighed. She actually had to wear make-up yesterday for the wedding since she wasn't able to morph. And she never did find the time to wash her face. "My make-up's all smudged, isn't it?"
She started to get out of bed, but Severus put his arm around her and pulled her next to him. "You look fine, wife," he said with a small smile.
Tonks threw back her head and laughed. "Well, thank you, husband," she said, resting her head against his chest. "Then why were you staring?"
"Do I need a reason?" Severus asked innocently. "Maybe I simply wanted to look at my beautiful wife."
"I like hearing that," Tonks said with a sigh. She raised her head and kissed him on the neck.
"I like saying that," Severus said, kissing her on the lips. They started kissing lazily, slowly building up, until Tonks stomach started growling.
"You're hungry?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tonks nodded. "It's been forever since we had dinner."
"I will never understand how you can eat so much and yet stay so tiny," Severus commented.
"Maybe I'm not tiny," Tonks giggled. "Maybe I'm using my powers."
"If I remember correctly, at the moment you're unable to morph," Severus said dryly.
"Oh, that's right," Tonks said. "Give me some credit, I work out a lot."
"That I will never understand," Severus said, shaking his head. Tonks giggled, remembering when she tried to get him to take a run with her last fall. Severus got so far as to change into a t-shirt, but then changed his mind.
"So let's go down and get some breakfast, and then we can spend the rest of the day in bed," Tonks said, running her hand over his chest.
"I think you mean lunch," Severus said, looking over at the nightstand. Tonks looked at saw that it was already eleven-thirty in the morning. "I never sleep in this late."
"Fine, we'll have brunch, then," Tonks said brightly, wiggling out of Severus' arms. He stayed in bed. "Severus, I'm hungry! Let's go!"
Severus grudgingly got out of bed. "For the record, I was more than willing to stay in bed for the entire day."
"Me too," Tonks said honestly. "But I have to start eating right, Severus. Three meals a day and all that jazz."
Severus' eye lit up at the passing mention of the baby. "All right. We eat lunch and then go straight back to bed."
Tonks smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me!"
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There was a loud murmur when Tonks and Severus walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Severus walked to the Head Table, and Tonks went to the small table set up for the Aurors.
"I hear congratulations are in order," William Treeroot smirked. The rest of the Aurors at the table simply smiled.
"Thank you, William," Tonks said with a smile on her face. Tonks looked at the food on the table, trying to decide what to eat. Her eyes settled on a pitcher of milk. She hated milk, and generally avoided it. But her baby needed calcium, and Tonks poured herself a large glass.
Tonks had just bitten into a piece of bacon when Treeroot nudged her. "Someone's trying to get your attention."
Tonks looked up and saw that Ginny was waving at her, beckoning her over to the Gryffindor table. Tonks smiled and excused herself from the table.
Both Hermione and Ginny were at Tonks side in an instant. "You looked so beautiful yesterday," Ginny gushed.
Tonks blushed. "Thank you," she said, smiling.
"So you and Snape?" Ron asked as Tonks sat down.
"Me and Snape," Tonks said casually.
"How long have you two been together?" Hermione asked.
"Since last February," Tonks answered.
"We had no bloody clue," Ginny said, shaking her head.
"Well, we kept it pretty quiet," Tonks said. "The war and all."
"Why Snape?" Harry asked suddenly. He seemed genuninely interested, so Tonks wasn't offended by the question.
Tonks thought for a moment. "He helped me get through last year," Tonks said quietly. "I guess I can talk about this now. Albus wanted Severus to have a back up, and I actually joined the Death Eaters last year."
"Really?" Ron said, a hint of awe in his voice.
Tonks nodded. "Severus helped me through that, and once you've shared an experience like that with someone, you don't forget it. And from there, it just seemed natural to be together."
"It was a quite a shock seeing you walk down the aisle yesterday," Hermione said.
"Why are you at lunch?" Ginny asked. "We all thought we wouldn't see either of you today."
Tonks threw back her head and laughed. "We were hungry," Tonks admitted. "Severus needs to teach tomorrow, so it's not like we get to have a honeymoon or anything."
"Too bad," Hermione said.
"So its back to being a plain old Auror now, eh Tonks?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Something like that," Tonks smiled.
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A few days later, Tonks was in their bedchambers when Severus got back from class.
"What are you doing here, Dora?" Severus asked, puzzled. "Why aren't you on patrol?"
Tonks sighed. "I'm working the day shift for a while," she said sadly.
Severus sat down next to her and put his arm casually around her shoulders. "That's great news, love. Now we can have somewhat of a normal day together. What happened?"
"I went to my supervisor and told her about the baby," Tonks said as she punched a pillow. "And I was immediately taken off of the field and put in a desk job."
Severus seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I can tell you're upset, Dora."
"I'm not due for eight months!" Tonks cried. "But I guess the rules are no pregnant women out in the field, for Enforcers or Aurors."
He stroked her hair gently. "This is for the best, Dora. I'll be honest, I hated the idea of you patrolling in your condition. You're the one who said the pregnancy could be very complicated. Why take any chances?"
Tonks felt tears sting her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't want to protect the baby, but being an Auror was who she was. It was her identity. The thought of being behind a desk for eight months was awful.
"They have a really nice maternity policy," Tonks told him. "Three months of paid leave, with an optional three months unpaid afterwards."
"That's generous," Severus said, his hand resting on her stomach. Tonks laid her hand on his and smiled at him.
"All right, I'm done pouting," Tonks said. They stayed silent for a moment. "Does being married feel different to you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Severus said truthfully.
"Maybe it's because we still basically have the same routine, but being married doesn't feel all that different," Tonks said.
"It will hit us when we move from Hogwarts," Severus said. Tonks perked up. Maybe he'd finally be willing to talk about moving. "Speaking of which…" he trailed off.
"I know this will be hard for you, Severus," Tonks said gently. "But we really need to start thinking about where we're going to live."
"I was thinking London," Severus said suddenly. "You've lived there since Hogwarts, right?" Tonks nodded. "It might be a nice change, going to a big city."
Tonks smiled. "London it is, then," Tonks said happily. "Did Professor McGonagall ever tell you when you need to be out?"
"July fifteenth," Severus said. "We have five weeks."
"Do you think we could try to find a place by graduation day?" Tonks asked.
"We could try," Severus said warily.
"Let's see if Draco would want to live with us until he goes away to study dragons," Tonks said excitedly. "My mum said he could live with them, but I bet he'd rather live with us."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Severus said. He starting looking around the room. "It will take me forever to pack. We need to find a place with an enough room for all my potion ingredients. Maybe an extra room to be used as an office."
"So we need a mansion," Tonks joked. "Too bad we can't afford a mansion."
"Something will come up."
"I certainly hope so."
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The next morning Tonks experienced her first bout of morning sickness. Severus couldn't understand why that made her so happy. She tried to explain that it meant that the pregnancy was really happening. He still thought it was odd to get excited about throwing up.
Tonks had the day off, so she decided to investigate some flats. She first went to her old neighborhood of Maze Hill. She loved the area; it was mainly muggles, though several wizarding families did live nearby.
On her fourth viewing of an apartment, Tonks knew she found the perfect place. It was two bedrooms, plus a small den. There was an open living room attached to a fairly small kitchen. But neither she or Severus really cooked, so they didn't need a large kitchen.
And she liked the name of the street, Old Woolwich Road. Better yet, it was one hundred pounds less than what they planned on spending each month. She knew Severus would be wary of having to deal with a muggle landlord, and having to exchange money each month, but Tonks didn't mind. She had only lived in muggle buildings since she was able to live on her own. Tonks would be able to do all the paperwork, since she had a national ID and a British passport and everything. Her muggle born father had insisted.
She brought Severus to see the place the next evening. Tonks had predicted his reaction. He really like the flat, but hated the idea of living in such proximity to so many muggles. But Tonks had done her homework. She showed him the prices of the few flats available in Diagon Alley. They were all out of their price range.
Tonks took his hand and brought him to biggest bedroom. The landlady was quite interested in their conversation, but she and Severus talked in very low voices. "Can't you see us living here? I can," Tonks said eagerly. "This would be our bedroom, and then the baby gets the other one. You can use the den as an office."
"Dora, it's really nice, but all the muggles?" Severus asked. "You made me wear muggle clothes just to see the place tonight." Which was true. Severus was wearing a pair of black slacks with a navy blue button down shirt.
"You look good in muggle clothes," Tonks teased. "Look, it's not like we're buying a property. Let's live here for a year. Next year, you'll have a new job, and everything will be different. We might be able to afford one of the places in Diagon Alley after a year."
"I thought I was supposed to be the practical one," Severus said, wrapping his arms around her.
"I won't let it happen again."
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Two days later, Tonks signed the lease. The landlady was quite nosy, wanting to know why it was just in Tonks' name, when she knew Tonks had a husband. Tonks just smiled. It wasn't as if she could tell the woman that Severus really didn't exist in the muggle world.
The lease started in a week, which meant they had time to move everything into the apartment before the school year ended at Hogwarts.
It certainly wasn't exactly how she thought the first week of her marriage would be; finding a place to live, scheduling movers, and arranging utilities. But it was at least something to be excited about, since every ounce of excitement was gone from her job.
She now was in charge of duplicating the field reports from the Aurors, and charming them into memos so they went to the right person. It was eight hours of pure boredom, five days a week.
A few Aurors, at first, thought that Tonks had been demoted. Tonks quickly put a stop to that rumor by loudly talking about her pregnancy to several of the female Aurors. Since Aurors gossiped about each other more than any other department, by the next day, everyone knew.
Arthur Weasley stopped by to congratulate her. Tonks found out that Fred and Angelina were expecting their first child as well.
"They'll go to Hogwarts together," Tonks said happily. Tonks had spoken to Angelina a few times. She made a note to send her an owl; Tonks would love another pregnant witch to talk to.
"I'm sure Fred and Angelina's child will be in Gryffindor, what about yours?" Arthur asked enthusiastically.
"Merlin, I don't know," Tonks said. "I'm from Ravenclaw, but my parents were from Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Severus' family has been Slytherin for the past twelve generations, or something like that. The Sorting Hat will have quite a fun time choosing."
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"I didn't think it was possible," Tonks said, her hands on her hips. "You hate absolutely every single piece of furniture I own."
"I didn't say that," Severus said unconvincingly.
"Your look says it all, Severus," Tonks told him. "I'd like to remind you that I own furniture. You don't. And we don't have money to buy new furniture. We really don't have a choice in the matter."
Severus looked around their new apartment. They hadn't moved in yet, but Tonks had movers bring over the furniture she had had in storage for the past two years. There was only one theme, that nothing matched.
Tonks' furniture was loud, which was the nice way to put it. A bright purple couch and a lime green overstuffed chair. The dining room table was painted a light blue with yellow chairs. The bookshelves had been painted various shades of red.
"It's very colorful," Severus said finally.
"Like me," Tonks said slowly.
Severus nodded. "Like you. Unlike me."
Tonks shook her head. Truth be told, she really didn't like the furniture all that much anymore. She liked to think she had better taste now when she did five years ago when she attacked her furniture with a paintbrush.
"Look," Tonks said, waving her wand at the couch. The couch turned from bright purple to a navy blue. "Better?"
"Much," Severus said, sitting down. "Can we do that to everything?"
Tonks sat next to him and elbowed him in the side. "Don't sound so excited about it," Tonks laughed.
Severus changed the color of the easy chair from lime green to a forest green. Then the dining room table was stained cherry wood, the chairs to match.
"We'll have to buy you a desk," Tonks said, "And a supply cupboard." All of the furniture that Severus had been using for the past sixteen years belonged to Hogwarts. He wouldn't be able to take anything with him.
"Don't forget baby furniture," Severus said into her hair.
"I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl," Tonks said.
"Do you have any particular names in mind?" Severus asked hesitantly.
Tonks knew that tone. Severus wanted to tell her something, but wasn't quite sure how. "I'm pretty open, why?"
"There's a tradition in my family that I would like to keep going," Severus said quickly. "But only if you agree."
"What's the tradition?" Tonks asked warily.
"As you know, the Snape family had been advisors to Roman Emperors years ago," Severus started. Tonks nodded. Severus told her all about his family history. Apparently, a member of the Snape family advised each and every Roman Emperor. Severus was incredibly proud of that fact, and Tonks didn't have the heart to remind him that the Roman Empire did eventually fall.
"We've been naming the children after Emperors, and their offspring's," Severus continued.
Tonks sighed. "Tell me the choices, and I'll let you know if I like them or not."
"I'm named after Septimius Severus. Not a very good emperor; he was influenced by what historians call 'the Severan Julias.' If we had a girl, to continue the tradition, she'd be named Julia."
Tonks brightened. "That's not so bad. I like Julia. I'd be okay with that. What about a boy?"
"I don't like either of the sons name, Caracalla or Geta," Severus said.
"No," Tonks said. "Absolutely not. I'm not naming my son Geta."
"I didn't ask you to," Severus told her, holding her tighter. "Severus' grandson's name was Severus Alexander. I thought Alexander would be a good name."
Tonks thought about that. "I like that name, too. We could all him Alex or Xander." She kissed Severus on the cheek. "We can continue the Snape tradition! Snapes everywhere are rejoicing in their graves!"