Chapter 30: A Common Understanding

{A/N: Here's Another Long awaited Update, I've been improperly scheduled at work and battling a cold...I do apologize for the delays...}

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

Upstairs,Unknown Location, Unknown World...

Warmth had been the first thing Severus Snape had taken notice of as his senses slowly began to return to him. The numbness in his fingers and toes slowly subsided and there was even a hint of comfort in the atmosphere, Snape's mind wondered for a few moments...attempting to guess where he'd been placed only for him to be interrupted via full on consciousness as he felt the weight of his magic running through him.

He had forgotten how heavy it felt when being separated from it.

The next thing he had taken notice of was that he was no longer lying in the middle of the street amid vast snow banks and there was no sign of the strange enchantress that had plagued his days ever since their first initial meeting.

Realizing that the enchantress had in fact been the grim reaper coming to collect, Snape suddenly sat up in bed, giving notice to his aching joints and minor bruises as he found himself wincing in agony as a pair of small obsidian eyes peeked in at him in the form of a four year old girl with familiar raven hair and pale skin.

"E-Ellie?" he said attempting to make sense of his surroundings.

He knew he wasn't back in Sidney Sinclair's world, as Hermione would have no doubt been fussing over him to the point where she wouldn't have left the room, he couldn't shake the intense stare she had given him as she noted that he had been the one surrounded by snow and reeking of firewhiskey.

It seemed the booze had been just enough to keep him from freezing to death before she'd taken notice at random. Snape sighed closing his eyes and opening them again. It was he that had definitely fallen in the snow and he that had been near death when she'd found him frantic in her attempts to keep him alive.

He was indeed the bloke Sidney Sinclair, but it was merely a muggle I.D. used to disguise himself while he avoided his former comrades and associates in the wizarding world.

It had all been so clear at this point, but what he had not understood was how he had sired little Ellie in both worlds, and how he knew so much about her despite his near-death experience.

The little girl kept staring at him inquisitive in nature as much as her mother had ever been.

"Why were you playing in the snow without a coat?" she asked meeting his obsidian gaze with one of her own.

"I was...in the middle of a rather foolish endeavor when I lost my footing...and from there getting up didn't seem an easy task." replied Snape evenly.

"So you were being a dunderhead?" she asked seemingly amused.

"For lack of a proper term...I suppose so." replied Snape still very groggy from his ordeal. "Where is your mother?"

There had been no sign of the Gryffindor witch at all as his sight adjusted to the brightness of the bedroom.

"She's at work." replied the girl as if he should have known this.

"And whom did she leave in charge of you?" asked Snape with an arched brow.

"Uncle Harry...but he's sleeping." she replied with a mischievous giggle. "Uncle Harry is always sleeping."

"More like you always seem to knock him unconscious." muttered Snape not at all masking his approval.

"You're funny daddy." she said forgoing any aspect of pretense and rushing into his arms.

Snape had been caught off guard but allowed her to hug him, curious as to how she knew whom he was given his lack of presence in her life. Then again, it had been just like the witch to inform his child of her origins despite having little reason to do so.

"Ellie." he said returning her hug.

She seemed to delight in his attention, almost as much as she had when he'd been dropped off in that strange world by the enchantress...the enchantress that turned out to be a fragmented image of death of course.

"Well...I can't spend all day lying in bed with Potter out cold and you without supervision." said Snape once more thinking along the lines of reason.

Ellie seemed pleased with this turn of events, Snape had no doubt they had been her intended plan all along. He managed to sit up well enough before stretching and yawning until he felt his blood circulate, before climbing out of bed and venturing with his young daughter down the stairs which had been quite familiar despite his never having been to Hermione Granger's home.

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The Kitchen, Hermione's Flat, Muggle World...

Snape had been oblivious to how he knew where to find the girl's favorite mug as they passed through the sitting room with a snoring Harry James Potter had still been effected by the quite formidable young lass' spell-work given her youth and capacity for magical feats. He had been even more pleased that Potter wouldn't be awake to ask him a billion unwanted questions about his past and long forgotten relationship with Lily Evans-Potter.

Eileen had been ecstatic to spend the afternoon with her long absent father not in the least put off by the time he had spent away from her and her mother.

"I got my wish Daddy." she said sweetly as she clung to his hand as they ventured about in the kitchen. "You came finally came home."

Snape arched a brow at this as he proceeded to treat her to her preferred round of juice in the afternoon and poured it into her usual mug. It did strike him as quite odd that Hermione's kitchen had been similar to the one in the glimpse given to him by the deadly enchantress but he said nothing about it.

His daughter on the other hand seemed quite impressed by his manner despite their lack of time together. It seemed her fairy godmother had been quite right about the man whom had entered her life for the first time since her conception.

"I'll bet you're hungry." said Snape looking her over for a few moments. "How about a sandwich?"

"I bet you can't guess what kind?" said Ellie with a smile.

Snape smirked and with a wave of his hand he managed to complete her sandwich in seconds. The girl looked at him evidently shocked by his prowess as a wizard.

"You are not the only Snape whom is well versed in magical attitudes." replied Snape with something of an arrogant smirk filed across his sallow pale face.

Eileen couldn't have been happier as she grasped the sandwich before her noting that her father had even gone through the trouble of chopping it into easy to manage squares so that she could eat it properly. She further tested the waters of her inner theory when she noted that it had been peanut butter and blackberry jelly, one of her favorites.

"I like having you home daddy." she said happily enjoying her meal.

Snape shook his head and proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee. Not in the least put off by the muggle machine that Hermione had used to make it.