Chapter 31: Face To Face

{A/N: Here's Another Long awaited Update,I do apologize for the delays...}

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

Hermione Granger's Residence, Unknown Location, Muggle World...

The turning of the knob for the front door signaled the arrival of none other than Hermione Granger as she ventured back to her home and to her young daughter, unsure of what the day would bring due to her houseing her former lover. She had not seen Severus Snape since that night all those years ago, when he had left her heartbroken and pregnant with their only child in the wake of his inner anguish. Finding him a few nights prior nearly frozen to death after a drinking binge gone too far had shaken her to her very core. That night had stayed with her longer than she had ever let on, the constant reminder being her little girl. When she initally found out about the pregnancy, she'd been quite shocked, having only had the experiance of that one sexual encounter, it amased her that it was even possible. A part of her had been quite furious at the wizard for abandoning her at such a vulnerable time in her life but she soon realized that he'd been in a great deal of pain since before the second wizarding war and coming to terms with the nearly fatal conclusion possibly pushed him into a state where he needed a firm grasp on his sanity given all he endured. The moment she found out about her daughter, Hermione had been dead set on bringing her into the world and raising her as brilliantly as she herself had been raised. As much as it pained Ron to find out about it, he had been quite helpful during the first few weeks of her pregnancy, even going so far as to claim to have been the father and offering to marry her in a bid to keep her from the shame of being an unwed mother.

Hermione respectfully declined and insisted upon raising her daughter as intended. She ensured that despite Severus Snape's treatment of her after their encounter, that their daughter knew exactly whom her real father had been and what lead to the circumstances of her birth. Of course, Ellie had been a good deal intelligent and much to curious for her own good. She'd ask about the dour former Potions Professor almost every day and wouldn't sleep otherwise until she heard the story of how he had saved the wizarding world as a spy for the Order of Phoenix.

At the present time, Hermione had been quite nervous as she entered her home, finding that Harry James Potter had been slacking on his job looking after her daughter due to a sleeping spell. Instantly, she knew that her sly daughter had been the culprit and even impressed by the level of ablitiy she posessed at her young age. She was of course the daughter of Severus Snape. Shaking her head, she left Harry to his slumber and made her way toward the stairs. She could hear the excited tone of her daugher's voice as she made her way up. Fear coursed through her as to what Severus Snape would think of her and of their daughter.

She wondered if Ellie had been eager to inform the ailing wizard of their connection and if he would believe her to have been a fool all those years ago for giving in to her desire to be closer to him and having his child, the child of a man whom the wizarding world condemed as a traitorous murderer despite all evidence pointing to Dumbledore's plot to undo the despot. It seemed Ellie had not been in the least intemidated by the mere fact of being in her father's company, a trait that Hermione had not shared as she felt herself began to tremble as she neared her daughter's bedroom.

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Ellie's Bedroom, Hermione's Flat, Unknown Location, Muggle World...

Severus Snape stood in the center of his only daughter's bedroom as he looked over her toys and the decor with interest. She had clearly wanted for nothing, despite Hermione doing a good deal of work to ensure she provided for them both. It was a rather cozy little room, one no doubt fit for a child such as Eileen. He couldn't imagine what life had been like for the young witch he had left behind to carry his child in the wake of his mental anguish. Oddly enough, there wasn't a moment that went by that he did not think of that young woman, the one that haunted his dreams and waking hours with impunity causing him to seek out what he knew not to ask for. The memory of that night had been fogged via lust and drink but the warmth he felt from her embrace seemed to linger, a lasting comfort even on the darkest night. Not once did it ever occur to him that the woman he'd been subconciously seeking had been Hermione Granger, his former student and apparent lover.

Ellie smiled as she looked over toward him.

"Mummy's home." she said rushing toward the lone figure standing in the hall outside the bedroom.

Snape turned his attention to Hermione whom has stopped in her tracks aside from embracing her rather excited little girl whom had rushed to greet her. Hermione treated her daugher to a solid hug and once more looked up at the man whom had been responsible for ensuring her arrival.

The awkward silence had been broken by Ellie whom looked back n forth between her parents and smiled.

"I'll go wake Uncle Harry now." she said rushing downstairs leaving the two adults alone.

"Y-You seem to be doing much better, Professor." said Hermione unsure what he'd permit in terms of interraction.

Snape sighed hearing the title he had given up long ago fall from her lips. It was clear that he was no longer in the world where Sidney Sinclair had been the head of his household and married to the girl turned woman before him.

"Given the circumstances, I suppose it would not be too outlandish for you to call me by my first name." he said not at all use to the pressure this simple interaction provided.

Hermione nodded in agreement, still unsure how to proceed with this discussion. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd have questions. She had just not been prepared to answer them, and of course she didn't believe she could at that moment.

"It's been a while, Miss Granger." he said unsure himself on how best to address her.

"It's Hermione...please." she said rather nervously.

Snape nodded and turned his attention to one of the stuffed bears that had been on their daughter's bed.

"She's quite impressive." he said turning the conversation to the subject of their daughter.

"Of course." said Hermione. "And quite mischievious it seems."

"A trait from her mother." said Snape recalling just how troublesome Hermione had been as a girl.

"Like you were any better." countered Hermione.

Snape smirked a bit wondering just how a match between them would have worked had he stayed.

Hermione had not expected to see him, let alone have him know about their daughter. She knew first hand how damaged he'd been during the outcome of the second wizarding war and his subsequenmt survival after the fact.

"You look rather well considering the condition you were in...previously." she said giving him something of a compliment.

Snape noted the sadness behind her eyes that briefly flickered before he recalled the memories of his time as Sindey Sinclair, her husband in another life.

"Hermione..." he began knowing all too well what had been going through her mind.

"Why did you leave?" she asked unable to put the question that had been plauging her ever since that night seemingly so long ago.

"I don't know...I..." he began unsure how to express his mindest from that rather complex encounter. "I suppose I wanted to get as far away from Hogwarts and that life as possible."

"So you never looked back?" asked Hermione as if the words had been more along the lines of him wanting to get as far away from her as possible.

"To tell you the truth, I never quite got over what happened." admitted Snape. "Not even when it came to leaving you behind."

Hermione seemed to be caught off guard by this revelation.

"S-Severus..." she began only to be interrupted by the apparent noise of a groggy Harry James Potter making his way up the stairs.

"Mione!" he called rather absently.

"In here Harry." she replied greeting him in the hall.

"I thought I heard voices..." said Harry still coming to terms with what was happening.

He gasped quite loudly when he took notice of a fully awake and functioning Severus Snape standing on the opposite side of little Ellie's bedroom.

"S-Snape?" he said looking from the dour wizard to Hermione. "Snape's here?"

The former Potions Professor rolled his eyes not in the least interested in the younger Potter's babbling any more than he had been the former.

"Harry, why don't you go back downstairs." said Hermione. "The last thing he needs is everyone crowding him."

"But Mione, you didn't tell me Snape was...what's he come back for?" asked Harry before his best friend politely shoved him away from Ellie's bedroom and toward the stairs.

"We were having a discussion." Snape provided much to Hermione's shock. "One that doesn't need your meddling, Potter."

"But..." began Harry only for Hermione to close the door on him and turn her attention back to the father of her child.

"Why do you always have to goad him?" she asked seemingly exhausted from the exchange. "It's like you can't help but be an unlikeable git."

When he had been Sidney, it had been far easier to reach Hermione when she became overwhelmed via the strain of her emotions when dealing with his less than savory perosnality. In the present, he'd been at a loss as to how to approach her, needing desperately to let her known just how much she had come to mean to him since that night he'd walked out on her. Of course he'd been oblivious to the fact that it had been her at all due to his anguish and drunken status at the time.

"Force of habit I suppose." he replied.

Hermione sighed unsure what to make of this new situation. She had gone on with her life in the wake of his apparent rejection and now here he was clueless as she had been about what to do concerning their history together.

"I have to tend to Ellie and Harry." she said attempting to make her escape.

Snape had been at a loss for words but desperate in his attempt to make some headway with her. As she opened the door to be on her way, he closed it before she got the chance to leave.

Sensing that he had more to say, Hermione didn't think she could bare it after all this time.

"Let me go, Severus." she said still facing the door.

Once more reminded that he had no true right to her reciprocating any sort of affection for him, Snape did just that and she'd been out the door as quickly as she could manage, possibly not looking back as she assumed he hadn't when he left her at Hogshead Inn.

Finding himself alone behind the closed door of his own child's bedroom, Snape let out a sigh leaning against the door as the words that he'd been so desperate to tell her fell from his lips amid the silence.

"I'm sorry." he had said although only he had heard it.