Chapter 14: Where The Heart Is...
{A/N: Here's Another Update...Happy Valentine's Day and so forth...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
{"Guess it's true...I'm not good at a one night stand...But I still need love 'cause I'm just a man...These nights never seem to go to plan...I don't want you to leave...Will you hold my hand...Oh, won't you stay with me...'Cause you're all I need...This ain't love, it's clear to see...But darling, stay with me...Why am I so emotional...No it's not a good look, gain some self control...Deep down I know this never works...But you could lay with me...So it doesn't hurt..."} Stay With Me, Sam Smith
The Sitting Room, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown Location, Unknown World...
The silence despite being welcome had been maddening as Severus Snape found himself spending hours pacing the floor and rummaging through the cabinets and shelves in a bid to occupy himself. He had not known what to do with himself, feeling an onset of anxiety for the first time since returning to Sidney Sinclair's home following his ordeal in the winter snow. Initially, he had been pleased to have the house to himself but the void left by Hermione and the children leaving for the weekend had been quite disconcerting. If he was being truly honest with himself, Severus Snape would have no choice but to admit that he was rather looking forward to being in the company of his apparent wife following her saving him from freezing to death in the family van.
A node of panic had caused him to find something, anything to occupy his time in this empty place with no drink and his own misery for company. One thing Severus Snape had been keen on even in this world was amassing information. He searched along the shelves and random drawers until he found himself coming across rather carefully preserved home videos. He smirked at the rather unimpressive names and the rather pathetic dates marked with care via black permeate marker across the top of the strange looking black muggle VHS tapes.
He had been quote familiar with old muggle technology due to having lived in the muggle world for close to five years following the second wizarding war's epic conclusion.
One tape in particular caught his interest entitled, Valentine's Day Party with a more recent date written on it, particularly one being possibly before Mr. Sinclair had gotten his diagnosis from his good friend Lupin.
Snape set about playing the thing nearly breaking it about twice and putting it in wrong at least once before the muggle VCR finally accepted the muggle VHS. The moment the tape went in the image changed from a strange blue screen into a close up image of what appeared to have been the party with the house and yard decorated with various assortments of red, white, pink, and black. The middle aged wizard rolled his eyes noting the nauseating hearts and baby cupids that seemed to have been everywhere.
The view seemed to bounce in and out of focus...an irritating fact more annoying than sifting through unbalanced memories in a pensive, and he had gotten his answer as to why when the image of Sidney Sinclair came into view following his holding the camera up to capture himself and his young wife messing about in the view of the device.
Snape had been shocked to see that he had indeed resembled the muggle buffoon as he captured a giggling Hermione into his arms and attempted to get their kiss on camera.
{"Sidney, stop you know I can't stand to be on that thing."} she said still giggling.
{"That is precisely why I'm doing it."} he replied with something of a sly expression. {"What will the great grandchildren think of their grandmother being a coward in the future?"}
Hermione rolled her eyes.
{"They'll think their grandfather a shameless git that wants to torment me to no end."} she replied in her own defense.
{"Shameless git am I woman?"} asked Sidney apparently taking her words as a challenge.
The view once more bounced around before Snape noted the view from the ground as Sidney Sinclair scooped his wife into his arms and wrestled her into one of the white lawn chairs.
{"Where's my Valentine's Day kiss?"} asked Sidney tickling his wife as she attempted to combat his uncontrollable fingers with her own means of getting even. Snape had a pretty good idea where her hands roamed to do the most damage as Sidney's eyes widened briefly before he looked down at her with heat behind his obsidian gaze.
{"You wake him up you deal with the consequences woman."} he said as if daring her to continue.
Hermione herself had something of a mischievous look herself as she continued with her plans gripping her husband as only she could.
{"Perhaps...are you going to give me detention...Professor?"} she asked biting her bottom lip as her amber eyes focused on him.
Before Sidney got the chance to say anything more, their children came rushing over toward them with candy in their collective little arms and smiles on their faces. It seemed Sidney and Hermione's love for each other was met with relative approval from everyone in the family.
Snape noted the look on the man's face as he paused the screen studying his apparent doppelganger for a moment. It was clear that he was the family loving sort and seemed quite content to bask in their apparent returned affections, for a moment...the former Potions Professor envied this strange muggle man when it came to his boldness and willingness to prove to those around him that he had bothered to care about them...of course he never had to suppress his emotions nor had he garnered the hatred of everyone he knew in order to keep not only himself but them safe as well.
Looking down at his hands, and noting his apparent shaky vision...he made his way to the sofa pushing play on the tape as he did.
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Hours Later...
Hermione Granger's amber eyes had been all over the television screen as Severus Snape stared rather intently at the young woman whom he had known in his world to have been his insufferable know it all student. Rummaging through the collection of movies and recordings, Snape found himself curious about the life of the man whom he had been mistaken for in this strange place, Lupin's words about Hermione loving Sidney even in the darkest of circumstances had him puzzled. His own previous relationships had made him quite embittered as well as weary about the affections of young women, Gryffindor witches in particular.
He'd nearly dozed off after watching yet another home video following his viewing of the first five he had found, when the front door rattled before opening and the darkness of the chilled night had gotten his full attention. As per his old habits, he had readied himself to combat the intruder only to find that he had been in the company of the very woman who's face he had nearly gone to sleep staring at prior to her entrance.
"Hermione." he said finding it odd that he was pleased to see her return.
"I know you wanted your privacy Sidney and I'll still leaving I just came by to get Eileen's teddy bear you know she can't sleep without it..." said Hermione as if she were merely trying to stay out of her rather distant husband's way.
Snape said nothing as he followed her through the house and up the stairs toward their daughter's bedroom. Despite his initial reaction to her since his first awakening in this strange place, he found the prospect of sleeping in their shared bed alone to be quite daunting.
Hermione continued to move briskly though the house pausing only as she neared the door noting how relatively empty the house felt with the children gone. Still, she had been determined to give her ailing husband his space, if only to keep him from seeking privacy in the elements and nearly getting himself killed in the process.
"I'll be going now." she announced as she gripped the teddy bear and attempted to open the door.
"Hermione..." began Snape suddenly feeling his nerves get the better of him. He had never felt anxious about being alone before and wondered if it was the tumor or the impulsiveness of his apparent doppelganger that had gotten the better of him. "It's much too dark for you to be driving at this late hour."
"I'll be fine Sidney." she replied. "I made it over here in once piece didn't I?"
"You are not going out there at this time of night." said Snape finding himself easily reverting to his Potions Professor persona as he looked upon Hermione Granger in person for the first time that day.
"Sidney...I have to get back and you wanted to be alone so..." she began.
Snape leaned against the door preventing her from leaving entirely.
"Sidney..." said Hermione unsure of what to make of his behavior as of late.
"It's too late for you to be out on the road...and last I checked this was your home as well." he said in a practical manner.
Hermione sighed.
"Can't sleep without me huh?" she asked with an arched brow.
The former Potions Professor didn't speak. He simply took her by the hand and lead her toward the sitting room where the video continued to play in the back ground as they both sat on the family sofa in silence. It wasn't long before Snape had fallen asleep and Hermione managed to get a nearby quilt to cover the both of them as she nestled herself into his arms as he lied back on the sofa with the images from their life playing on the television screen.
The rather exhausted wife of Sidney Sinclair had been grateful for this small moment of familiarity, her husband had still been a bit distant and rightly confused due to the accident but at least he wasn't completely rejecting her.
