Author's Note:

I'm not overly pleased with this chapter. I sort of want them to get on with it, but it's important plot stuff. It's not all going to be dreary stuff, so please do continue reading. I'm going back to my glass of sake and I wish you all a good evening and happy reading.

DaenerysTargary3n

Chapter Three:

"Not one word. No judgement. No disdain. No anger. Nothing. You say nothing."

Harry watched as Morgana's world spun and reeled from witnessing the pre-violation of her mother at her father's hands. He could not find the words, so being told to shut up really made no difference. He knew Hermione survived and even grew to love her one-time rapist, but given that he did not see what actually befell her in the moments after they left the memory, though he did not want to in any way, shape or form, his imagination was running rampant. All he wanted in that moment was to sweep his best friend into his arms and offer her comfort, the way Hermione had done countless times for him. She was not there, though, she would never be there again.

Striding over to Morgana, Harry opened his arms and enveloped his best friend's daughter's entire, slight form in a strong bear hug. "Why are you crying? You knew that was how…it happened."

Morgana pulled away, unwillingly, from Harry's muscular and masculine frame and looked into his jade eyes through the unshed tears that dampened her own, "Knowing is different to seeing it in real-time, Harry. Though I've been aware of how I came to be for many years, it's another thing entirely to see my mama, who was always strong to me and in love with my father to be so hurt and frightened. It's so strange to my soul to see papa as a…as someone who would do that to a woman when all my life he's the one I depended on for everything, he's the one who told me never to let any man hurt me and to always stand up for myself. I…I don't think I can watch what comes next. I don't think I can do what they asked. You should go back into the pensieve alone."

"I won't be doing that. This is something you and I were meant to share, to do together. I know this is hard for you, far more than it is for me. I know it must hurt terribly seeing your parents in that way. I understand that, but it's part of your history, part of what made you Morgana Eileen Snape."

She squeezed him back gently, "You're good at that, you know. She always said. Knowing exactly what to say to make you feel better."

"I'm glad she said that. Especially to you. Do you think you might be ready to see how it all played out? Snape obvio-"

"Professor Snape."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Merlin's balls, woman! Every time? Every time you're going to do that?!"

Morgana twittered coquettishly, "Until you get out of the habit. Think of it as character enhancement."

"Save me! Anyway, as I was saying, your dad obviously let her go so I'm curious to know how she ended up back with him."

"I'll go." Morgana whispered, pulling Harry by the hand back to the bloody pensieve catalogue. She pulled the next memory away and deposited the mackled fluid into the basin.

As the memory whorled around the pensieve, Harry caressed Morgana's palm before leaning his forehead down.

Memory Date: 01-03-1980

Location: Spinner's End, Cokeworth

"Huh," Harry murmured, inspecting their surroundings, "do you know where we are?"

"This is Spinner's End, Harry," Morgana replied, looking around the old, dingy library of her father's ancestral home, "papa's home. This is where we lived until I was eleven years old. It looks so different though. Darker, almost occult. I don't remember this room being this…depressing."

"Hermione probably redecorated. This doesn't look like a kid-friendly, or a woman-friendly for that matter, house."

Morgana smiled, "Of course she did."

"Shush, I can hear voices!" Harry exclaimed.

"Severussss, Severusss," a voice called out from behind the sturdy oak door, "we have a surprise for you. Come out, come out wherever you are."

An overcast silhouette emerged from a corner armchair to walk to the door and swing it ajar with a screech that spoke of long neglect or absence.

"My Lord," Severus greeted his guests with a bow, "what an unexpected pleasure to see you…and in my vestibule."

As Tom Riddle swept by him and descended into the largest seat, flanked by Antonin Dolohov and Fenrir Greyback, he replied, "You do not sound pleased nor honoured to offer your Lord hospitality, Severus."

"Forgive me and my manners, My Lord. Naturally, I am most honoured and flattered to have your august person in my humble, destitute abode. My forbearance stems from surprise that you would deign to visit such an insignificant servant such as I in this hovel when eminent families vie for your every favour."

"You speak well, Severus, it is a talent we recognise in you and applaud, for it will serve us both. You are correct – we do have the support of England's most prominent wizarding families who have all offered their own manors. We will in fact be residing at our good friend, Antonin's manor in Suffolk this evening. It was imperative that we three pay you a visit first though, Severus, after Greyback here made the most…unanticipated and unpalatable discovery only this morning."

Harry and Morgana watched as Voldemort's demeanour switched during his speech from amiable to downright sinister. If he was honest with himself, Harry had feared for Hermione during the last memory but now, he actually felt some semblance of fear for the fearsome teacher who had plagued most of his younger years. He too had been on the receiving end of the flare that was boiling over in his blood-red eyes. Terrifying.

"Greyback?" Snape asked coolly.

With a flick of his wand, a rope swung in from the hallway and at its end was a startlingly familiar figure.

"Hermione?" Severus breathed, his face losing what blush it had in the blink of an eye.

Hermione Granger was once again in his presence having been captured for the pleasure of Lord Voldemort. She had been lucky to escape with her life the first time, but only due to her counterpart's unwillingness to add murder to his list of sins. She doubted heavily she would be so fortunate a second time.

"Yes, yes," Voldemort hummed, "your piece of entertainment from our revel at the Selwyn house. How surprised I was when your brother brought her to me since I was under the impression all the entertainment from that night had been seen to in the proper way."

"I-"

"Yes, Severus? As we have said, you are an eloquent young man. May it serve you well in this moment. For your life's sake."

Severus centred himself, inwardly agreeing with the Dark Lord that he was good with words, before explaining, "I used her as I was bid. She served my needs well and she reminded me of a young witch I…cared for as a boy. She served her purpose and was discarded though for her attentiveness during our time together I thought it a poor dessert for her to die."

"Then why pretend to end her miserable life? Why not act openly?" Voldemort questioned, leaning forward to peer into his acolyte's very soul.

"In all truthfulness, I am still new to the ways of my brothers, Lord. I willingly and proudly enact your will, as I did only this week past, gleaning intelligence against Auror Longbottom's movements and Secret Keeper to support Madam Lestrange's plan. Perhaps it is the manner of my upbringing, during which my alcoholic, weak Muggle father beat the strength and the magic from my mother until she died, but I find it unseemly to kill a woman after she well tends me, which is what my brothers would have done and the reason why I concealed her exit from Selwyn Abbey. I beg your forgiveness and will endure any suffering you wish to atone for my crimes against you. I will not resist your will. Do as you wish with my body and mind, Lord. They are yours."

Voldemort stared at the younger man before him for what seemed like an eternity after he stopped talking. He then looked at the bedraggled figure of the Muggleborn witch behind him. His gaze narrowed and she fell to the floor in pain from the invasion of the master legilimens.

Seconds after he withdrew from her mind, Voldemort shrilly cackled, "Well, it seems the chit you wished to save has provided us with your punishment. We will not exact our punishment on your body on this occasion, despite your brothers here wishing to see it, but be wary, Severus Snape, of concealing your actions from us henceforth. Next time do not depend on your lord being as forgiving."

"What will his punishment be, Lord?"

Riddle's nostrils furled at Dolohov's impertinent interruption. Without giving his lieutenant so much as a glance, he whipped his wand hand round and growled, "Crucio."

Dolohov fell writhing and screaming his throat raw. Harry, recalling his own trauma from that particular curse, winced for the poor man, Death Eater though he be.

"You will stay silent, Dolohov! You have no leave to speak. Mind your place."

While Antonin lost control of his bladder beside him, Severus awaited his judgment with bated breath.

"The Mudblood over there," Voldemort began, missing the almost-hidden flinch in Severus' expression, "got more than she bargained for from you. She carries your child, Snape, and as you are not married and are childless, you will suffer her as your wife, and I forbid you now from killing her. She will be your lifelong punishment and I suspect the scorn for you she will instil in the child she will birth will be your ultimate heartache. I will be interested to see whether you turn into your father and have a child and wife to loathe your very existence. In the years to come I expect you to be more in my presence, particularly as the soon-to-be Madam Snape will not want you in your own home."

Morgana could only spectate the reactions of both her beloved parents. Her papa's face immediately recoiled and he brought his hands up to cradle his cheeks, knowing in that moment that he would have faced a lifetime of Cruciatus cursing rather than bequeath his legacy to the next Snape generation who would despise him. Meanwhile, Hermione had heretofore stood taciturn, even as Voldemort slithered into her mind and learnt what she had herself only seven days previously, that she was pregnant from her only sexual encounter. Her life had once again been upended on a whim of a mad megalomaniac and her fate was bound once more to the will and grace of Severus Snape – at this point she wondered if he was becoming inescapable, if there was some greater power that needed them together so much so that any pain either suffered justified the ends. Hermione's turmoil extended to child growing in her belly. The poor child. Though its conception was vicious, her heart had already opened to it and she had grown attached. Already, though the foetus was smaller than a poppy seed, she was committed to a happy, safe, peaceful life for it. Severus Snape and Voldemort be damned.

"We will marry you now and then leave you to your wedding night. There will be no escape for either of you that will not result in your painful death. Reconcile yourselves to your fate." Voldemort announced.

Greyback moved to push Hermione to kneel beside her husband. Neither looked at each other as Voldemort bound them in body and soul with his magic. The words were a blur. They uttered the minimum necessary to seal the deal and after a flurry, they felt the magic tie them together as man and wife.

Once his part had concluded, Voldemort gracefully rose and pulled Dolohov up from his continuing agony on the floor. "Enjoy your conjugal bed, the Snapes. We will leave you to it."

After the door slammed shut after the trifecta had departed, neither Hermione nor her husband could find the words to say to each other. The last time they had been in each other's presence, Severus had cloaked her and whisked her away from Selwyn Abbey to safety. He had passed her some balm for her injuries from her abduction and their subsequent time together, kissed her on her brow, softly, apologetically, sadly, performed what seemed to be an advanced Geminio charm that replicated her inanimate body so he could curse it to 'death' before instructing her to apparate away and keep herself tucked away for a while. She had done so without looking back.

Now, that man, the man who had taken her virginity and presumably faked her death, the man whose face above her and cock inside her was branded onto her memory, the man who had risked his hide and hair to send her to safety when all about him would have ended her life callously, was her husband.

"How did they find you?" Snape almost whimpered, interrupting his wife's trance-like state.

Hermione turned towards him, "I don't know. I did as you said. I left my house and told no one where I was going. I took every precaution."

"Then how did Greyback come upon you this morning?"

Hermione winced at the memory, "He came out of nowhere. I was walking to the pharmacy. I've had morning sickness something awful and I wanted to see if there was something I could get. I was walking along my lane and suddenly from the park, he ran and grabbed me. We apparated away before I could even scream."

Severus saw his new bride was shaking and hesitantly grasped her hand in his. She did try to pull away, but he held her tight but with a small caress of tenderness. Their first meeting had been disastrous but had not led to her death. He knew their second encounter was already off to a similar start, but they could not undo their marriage except in both or one of their deaths.

"I am not going to hurt you…again, Hermione. Truly. I only want to keep you and the child safe. I did not want to last time, but the circumstances were against us in Yorkshire. Now, though neither of us willed it, we are wed, and you have my promise that I will always try to protect you and cause you no hurt, and that extends to our baby. I don't know how you feel about your pregnancy and I would like you to tell me – if you feel able – but I would like to tell you that although the child's conception is regrettable and I did not have a good father to set me any example myself, I find I am excited for its arrival."

The expectant mother and minutes-old wife widened her eyes at the startling outpouring of feelings from her unborn child's father. She replied gingerly, "The second Greyback heard I was pregnant – incidentally, I didn't know he was a werewolf and how heightened their hearing became leading up to a full moon – all my doubt about the baby vanished. I did wonder about…termination initially but I can't do that, not to my child."

"You love the child already it would seem? As do I." Snape asked, the corners of his lips shrugging upwards.

Hermione smiled back, "I do. I regret the manner in which it was made but I do not hold it, nor you if I am honest, to blame. You were unexpectedly kind afterwards and you tried to save me. I don't know how I was found or what drew Greyback to me, but you did your best to ensure I would never cross paths with another Death Eater."

Severus grimaced as she paused. "Hermione, let us go upstairs. It is late and we both need to sleep. I sadly do not have the other rooms up to snuff for human habitation in this house, so if you can stomach one night with me in the same bed, during which I will not touch you or invade your privacy, I will make every effort to prepare a permanent room for you tomorrow. But, for tonight, I need sleep."

"I trust you. I accept your offer of a bed, I'm exhausted."

Severus smiled at her acquiescence and proffered a hand to help her rise. "Then let us go."

Once the newlyweds were tucked up in the gigantesque king bed with at least a foot between them, Hermione frowned at her sleeping companion and turned towards him.

"I have a question for you, husband," she began with a teasing glint in her eye, "if you would answer it."

Still awake, her husband turned to face her, "Yes, wife. Ask away."

"When we…first met, you told me that you might tell me why the act you were required to commit bothered you several degrees more than it did anyone else in that fucking house. You didn't and I thought nothing of it. Now, I have several more questions about you that as the father of my child, I would like you to tell me, so I may better know you as our child's father and my husband."

"So, when you said, 'a question' what you really meant was you had the Collected Works of Bathilda Bagshot in questions?" Severus rejoindered jovially, wondering if his new wife's thirst for knowledge extended from the personal and banal to the interesting and scholastic.

She snickered, "I love Bagshot. The way she writes about Hogwarts is fascinating. I used to have all the editions of Hogwarts: A History. There's no text like it about Beauxbatons and it's a shame. She describes Hogwarts so well; I've always wanted to see it for myself. But back to my point, yes, I do have a few questions for you, as I imagine you might have for me?"

Severus' eyes glimmered with hope at his wife's words. "You mustn't lament your lost copies, my dear. I have them all too in the library here at Spinner's End and you may read anything on those shelves that you wish – I would only ask that you stay away from the shelves in my bureau. They are warded in any case, but I would not wish for you to harm yourself trying to read every volume in this house. Those works should be of no interest to you. In any case, I would like to know you better, however I will cede this evening's inquiry to you, madam. Ask away."

"What happened to your parents? You said your father beat your mother to death…did he actually or were you exaggerating for effect?"

The questioned sighed, knowing the most arduous path would be her first avenue of investigation, "You wish to know the truth? Very well. I will be candid in everything with you. I was born to Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince. My father was a Muggle who inherited this piss-poor excuse for a house. My mother was a Pureblood witch from the Ancient and Most Noble House of Prince. They used to be the cream of the English Pureblood crop but in recent generations, heirs died and wives were barren. My mother was assaulted by my father in an alley outside a public house in Coventry when he was drunk and she was ill-prepared. Much like yourself, she found herself with child and her parents disowned her. They were different times and they were married. My father found out she had magic and forced her to give it up. As far as I am aware, they lived as Muggles until I was eight years old. Their marriage was never happy, but he did not touch her in anger until I unwittingly began to show signs of magic. I was named after an ancient Prince ancestor and though my father never shied away from telling me how he despised my name, he was never physically aggressive. Everything changed once I cast my first child magic. I made a bottle of Scotch explode and I ruined a significant portion of carpet. He was livid. He blamed my mother for passing on her weakness and deviation onto his son. He took a poker to her and she was black and blue for weeks. He was clever though, nothing visible, nothing life-threatening that could not be remedied at home. It was the same with me. My mother and I fended him off for years until it was time for me to attend Hogwarts. I didn't want to go – I was afraid, you see, for my mother. She would be all alone with a drunken, belligerent bully and I would not be there for her."

"It wasn't up to you to protect her." Hermione interjected, unable to hold her peace.

"It was," Severus replied forlornly, "and I failed her. When I was twelve and just into my second year, I was called to the Headmaster's office and he told me my mother had been found outside our house in a bad state and she had died in hospital. I was so angry, Hermione, I was so angry. I had only one friend at school then, but she could not understand. I could not talk to her about any of that. I was angry and at her funeral, I told my father – though whether he remembered or cared enough to hear is neither here nor there, intoxicated as he was – that I wouldn't return to this house while he drew breath. I didn't return here or see him until I was fifteen."

"Ah, I remember. You killed him?" Hermione said, recalling his words on the night they met.

"I did. By accident. I may have exaggerated the motive to the Dark Lord, but I did kill the arse. I wanted something of mother's, so I did come back here during the Christmas break. I snuck in and tried to find an old textbook of my mother's – she like me, was a keen potioneer. Anyway, the long and short of it is, I got caught, he tried to take his belt to me. I stopped him, he hit his head and died. I was an orphan and Albus Dumbledore then became my guardian."

Hermione was visibly shocked, as were Morgana and Harry standing in the corner. Harry for his part had known that Snape's upbringing had been tumultuous but the decimation of his childhood at the hands of his own father was gut-wrenching. Morgana, knowing her father and his face better, had noted all the subtle changes in her papa's expression that belied his intense suffering at the death of his mother and what his childhood must have been. She knew he had tried to make her childhood as different to his own as possible and now she knew the true feeling of loss and lack of love from whence that came.

"I don't want to hear any more," Hermione blurted out, "Severus, I'm almost sorry I asked. Not tonight at any rate. Let's sleep? We can speak more in the morning once we've both slept a bit."

"As you wish, Hermione. That's the first time you've called me by my name. Thank you." With that, Severus Snape turned away from his wife and embraced his pillow, falling asleep directly.

"Let's go, Harry. The memory ends here." Morgana announced, watching the figures of her parents turn wispy as the memory around them started to fade.