"Father?"
"Yes?" He murmured distractedly, his mind on the thousands of things he still had to do.
"Tell me you didn't go to the Slytherin common room and threaten Theo."
Severus froze. "I would not like to lie to you, my girl," he said finally.
Hermione hummed, "I see. Care to explain what on earth you were thinking?"
"He made you cry!" Severus protested, she wasn't stupid, surely it was obvious? "What was I meant to do?"
"Trust me to deal with it?"
"Absolutely not! He made you cry!" He howled. Maybe she was less intelligent than he thought. That was concerning.
Hermione sighed, "Father you cannot go around threatening people who make me cry!"
"I can!" he repeated stubbornly. Why was she not understanding, for fucks sake? It was quite literally his job to protect her.
"Father!" she growled, sounding remarkably like him.
"This is not up for discussion, my girl"
"It bloody well is! Do not make me hex you!" she threatened, glowering at him in a way that was scarily reminiscent of his own signature look.
Severus scowled, unconsciously mimicking her. Why couldn't she fucking see that it was his job? Did she truly expect him to ignore it? The little shit had made her cry! And she had forgiven him with not nearly enough grovelling. It wasn't on!
"It is not. It is done and I would hope that he is not such an idiot in the future."
"You are impossible!" she screeched.
"Perhaps," he admitted. "However I will not apologise."
Hermione exhaled loudly through her nose as if attempting to calm herself down. "Father, you cannot fight all my battles for me."
Cautiously he approached her, answering softly, "But I can fight some. I didn't hurt him, I just reminded him to watch his behaviour in future."
"Father, what would you do if Thoros threatened me?" she sighed.
"I'd bloody murder him," he growled, his temper automatically flaring at the very thought.
"Exactly." She replied pointedly.
"It's not the same," he muttered petulantly.
"Of course it is!"
"It isn't! You haven't made him cry!"
"How do you know? Maybe I have!" she demanded, stamping her foot in her frustration. Severus very briefly wondered if she had been the same as a toddler. It was surprisingly easy to imagine her as a tiny thing, all hair and temper. Still, it was probably wise if he didn't laugh at her. It definitely wouldn't end well for him.
"Have you?" he queried instead.
"I have no idea. My point is that neither do you!"
"What do you want me to say!"
"Say it won't happen again! Say that you trust me enough to come to you if I need help dealing with something, otherwise, let me do it myself!"
"I…Damn it." he knew he couldn't disagree because then he'd be telling her he didn't trust her. For fucks sake she had him over a bloody barrel. Again. "Fine. But you promise to come to me?"
"If I need to." she agreed. Sighing, he wrapped her in a hug, feeling the tension leech out of her as she sunk into it.
"I just want you to be happy, my girl," he murmured into her hair.
She sighed, squeezing him tighter. He took it as a sign he was forgiven.
"Now!" The ringing voice of Minerva McGonnagal sounded, silencing the room. "Most of us are aware of how badly our last attempt at a duelling club went, however this time, we have enlisted the help of Hogwarts' very own champion duellist, Professor Flitwick." There was an instant murmur of interest. "You will be sorted into pairs at random within your year. Each year group will be assigned a teacher. We will all take turns at demonstrating both the spells we are expecting you to learn and how a formal and informal duel look. These are to show you what you are aiming for, not for you to replicate. Now, first years to Professor Flitwick to be assigned your partner, second years to Professor Sprout, Third years to Professor Snape, fourth years to Professor Lupin, and fifth years to me. Sixth and Seventh years stand by the teacher's table." There was a flurry of movement that made Severus wince as he attempted to decide how to play this. Did he split Harry, Hermione and Susan up? If he did he couldn't keep an eye on all three of them but if he didn't…well they'd be running rings around the rest of them. Perhaps he needed to keep them together…with Longbottom perhaps. Or Nott…this would be the perfect time for him to prove to Hermione that he wasn't just placating her.
The door to the great hall was flung open making Severus roll his eyes. Overdramatic sod.
"Ah Auror Moody, Madam Bones." Minerva greeted. "Sixth years with Madam Bones, for those who do not know, Madam Bones is the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Auror Moody with the seventh years. For the love of Merlin Alastor, remember that they are children!" Several of the seventh years looked terrified.
"Sixth and Seventh years, this way. We're going into the grounds." Alastor called before grinning in a way that looked sinister. "More room to run…. fewer places to hide."
"Alastor!" Minerva hissed, before turning to Amelia, "For Merlin's sake make sure he behaves!"
"Could you ask me for something attainable?" Amelia muttered as she followed Moody out of the doors.
"Right, the person next to you is your partner for your next duel." Severus declared thinking quickly, "now watch the stage."
Remus and Flitwick were standing at opposite ends of the stage, Fillius cast a sonorous and began speaking, forcing the noise to cease. "This is the spell for first years. You are going to be using expelliarmus, yes, yes. " he placated at the increase of nose, "I know exactly how that went last year, let's not have a repeat."
He ran through formal duelling etiquette, demonstrating the spell for the first years before moving on to the freezing charm for the second years and the full body bind for the third. Severus winced as Remus fell without a cushioning charm. Fillius grinned. It was rather scary if he was honest. He briefly pondered whether he should bring him along to Alastors next lesson, the children would learn something but perhaps not quite what he would want them to…there was scary and there was fucking terrifying and the thought of Moody and Flitwick in the same room should probably be classed as the latter.
Filius finished by demonstrating the jelly-lex jinx for the fourth years and the tipping jinx for the fifth.
"Now!" he squeaked, "I only expect the first years to stick to their spell, the rest of you should begin layering them. Third years, for example, bind your opponent or partially bind your opponent and then disarm them. All of you should know the shield charm by now. I look forward to seeing what you do. The strongest competing pair from each year will pair off against the year above. At the end, myself and Professor Lupin will demonstrate a formal duel. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape will demonstrate an informal one."
"Right, split into your pairs, I will reassign you if necessary," Severus called over the din. "Nott with Granger-Snape. I believe there are some scores to settle." Theo turned pale but nodded, ignoring the questioning stares of the students in his year who were not aware of their extracurricular lessons. "We will have five duelling pairs on the floor, the rest of you will watch" he instructed reaching for Hermione and Theo, before deciding on Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchly, Terry Boot and Miranda Elliott, Draco and Blaise Zabinni and Lavender Brown and Padma Patil. "You are up first. Everyone else against the wall."
He cast the wards to keep stray hexes from hitting spectators and stood back to watch. Zabinni was surprisingly competent, as was Miranda Elliott, Brown and Patil were both hesitant and ridiculous. Silently he sent a prayer of thanks into the ether that his daughter was not so…giggly. Theo appeared to have finally grown some balls as he gave Hermione a workout, the gleam in her eye told him that there was no way she was going to let the boy win but that she appreciated his effort. Slowly the other pairs came to stand against the wall to watch them.
"Gods do you think her dads been teaching her?" he heard Ernie MacMillan ask quietly. He snorted quietly to himself. They really were rather impressive, Moody had been a surprisingly adequate teacher. He smirked slightly as Hermione changed direction suddenly causing Theo to stumble. She had his wand in her hand before he righted himself but she was smiling. Genuinely. And while he wasn't sure he was ok with her smiling at the boy like that, he was at least glad this duel wasn't ending with him having to buy a new shovel and taking a trip into the forbidden forest to hide a body.
"Next five." he barked. "Let's see if you can live up to that."
They couldn't of course, it was over in under five minutes. Goyle had actually tripped over his own feet taking out Crabbe. He bit back a sigh. More practice for them, then.
His next group included Harry with Neville, Weasley with Finnegan and Susan with Hannah Abbott. That might actually be interesting. He wasn't sure how Pansy Parkinson with Millicent Bulstrode or Daphne with Marriane Clearwater would go.
Badly, was the answer. Millicent lost her wand rather quickly but refused to concede defeat, using her fists so he was forced to intervene. Daphne had Clearwater down in minutes with a surprising amount of grace. Narcissa would adore the girl based on that alone. Hannah lost to Susan in seconds. But Finnegan was giving Weasley a run for his money. Harry and Longbottom were dancing around each other rather like Hermione and Theo had been. It was rather entertaining to see the expressions of stunned disbelief as people realised that Longbottom was more than competent. In the end, he won. Just, but won nonetheless. All of the third years were silent, his group because it was nothing new, the rest of them because it was almost inconceivable.
The remaining groups were equally as painful, unfortunately. He was going to have to split them by ability at the next meeting.
"Time!" Filius called. "Who is your strongest pair?"
Severus froze. He really had no idea. Seeing his indecision, Fillius wandered over. "Is there an issue?"
"I have more than one strong pair. I'm not sure I can choose between them," he admitted softly.
"Oh?
"Hermione, Mr Nott, Harry, Draco, Mr Zabini, Mr Longbottom, Miss Bones and Miss Greengrass."
"Good gods," Filius muttered before he cast another sonorous. "Right, everyone clear the centre, it appears we have additional duels to determine the third year winner. Who is with who?"
"Ah…Miss Bones with Miss Greengrass. Mr Zabini with…Harry. Mr Longbottom with Hermione, Draco with Mr Nott."
"Very good. On you go." he shooed them into the middle of the room. Groaning, they went as the entire hall watched with interest. Daphne lost to Susan within ten minutes but she showed enough potential that Severus wondered if he should suggest Hermione invite her to Moody's sessions. Draco lost to Theo shortly after that followed by Blaise to Harry, in an incredibly lucky move that allowed Harry to capture his wand. Despite that Zabini was potentially another one worth watching. However, it left Hermione and Longbottom who were now panting hard as they kept pushing the other to concede. Filius was watching with undisguised interest, which never boded well.
"I see why you struggled." he murmured, "They're rather good, aren't they?" Severus hummed his eyes on the duel in front of them. "Am I missing something, Severus?" he asked pointedly. Fuck.
"They might have been training with Alastor." he sighed.
Filius' eyes widened. "Have they indeed" he mused before calling." Time!" Just as Neville sent an overpowered expelliarmus at Hermione, causing her to stumble, her wand clattering to the floor seconds after she did. The entire hall was silent until she stood up, grinning.
"Well done Neville! Looks like I'm going to need to practise more, I refuse to let you win next time."
He smiled back, the gratitude clear on his face. "I look forward to the rematch."
"Right, Mr Longbottom and Miss Granger, you are up."
Hermione and Neville swivelled to look at him in disbelief. "What?"
"You held out the longest, you're up."
"But….shouldn't whoever won before Neville be up?"
Filius considered it. "Perhaps. However, in this instance, I'm choosing you. You were both well matched and lasted longer than the other competitors."
"We don't have to first, do we?" Hermione groaned.
Filius grinned, "Stamina is important, you will not always be well rested before a duel."
"Wonderful." She groaned, trailing after Neville towards the others
He watched as two impossibly small first years went up against only slightly less small second years. One of them was rather good. Esme Jenkins, he thought the girl's name was. They were beaten of course but they put up a rather good fight, he watched as Hermione and Longbottom got back on their feet. Facing up against the second years, a smirking Ginevra Weasley and Samuel Peters, a slightly worried-looking Ravenclaw. He was bound in under five minutes, but he was glad the girl Weasley had made them work harder.
Next up was Katie Bell and one of his own, Miles Lewis. This one would be interesting. He almost grinned when Hermione and Longbottom beat them, Moody's training proving to have been worth all the hours they'd spent on it. The fourth years looked momentarily shocked before Bell shook their hands and took up her stance to go up against the fifth years.
"Splendid!" Flitwick called, clapping his hands. "Next week we'll be sectioning you off by ability. Don't worry about where you're placed, just do your best with it! Ah here comes the upper years. Professor Lupin if you will?"
Severus whirled to look at the older students, they looked filthy and absolutely exhausted. What had Amelia and Moody done to them?
"I want to watch them next time," Hermione murmured next to him, dropping her head onto his arm, utterly oblivious to the looks of stunned disbelief on the faces of the other students when they spotted it.
"They do look like Moodys had fun with them, don't they?"
She snorted, "Yes. I don't think they had fun though."
"Probably not." he conceded, shifting her to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Well done on your duel."
She groaned, "I don't think I've been this tired ever before in my life. Neville has clearly been practising hard."
He laughed, startling more than one student. "So it would seem. Perhaps we need to up those runs too, my girl, if you're so tired."
She groaned, burying her face into his side. "Do you hate me, Father?"
"Of course not, my girl. I adore you. Which is why I cannot let you be worse than Longbottom."
"Don't be mean." she chided, "I like Neville!"
"Yes well, you have questionable taste in people, my girl. Now hush, it looks as if they're starting."
He watched as Flitwick and the wolf ran through proper etiquette with precision before the spells started flying. It was quick and messy, more than one hex got through their shields, both of them bleeding onto the stage as they picked up their speed. Severus had to admit they were impressive. In the end, Filius was the victor.
"Wow." he heard a student mutter. "They were brutal."
He almost laughed. They had been relatively polite, all things considered.
"Now," Filius called, "We were supposed to see an informal duel with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, however as Auror Moody is here, he has offered to duel Professor Snape instead."
"For fucks sake." He muttered into Hermione's hair, making her laugh.
"Good luck, Father." she grinned as he let her go and stalked up to the stage.
They both moved the moment the wards were set, their spells rapid and far less polite than anything the students had witnessed before. He was not fucking losing to Alastor sodding Moody, he was not, he chanted it in his head as he dodged an entrail expelling curse. Fucking arsehole. He wasn't actually meant to be trying to murder him. He sent a fireball back, making the man stumble slightly as it morphed into water and dumped itself over his head.
"Oh it's like that, is it, Snape?" Moody grinned, hurling a blinding spell at him, he dodged, sending back a knee-reversal jinx followed swiftly by a Ventus maxima as a small tornado swept around Moody, the man cancelled it quickly but not quite quickly enough to stop him from summoning his wand.
Moody grinned, wandlessly casting an incarcerous that caught one of his legs. "Of course you know wandless magic you utter arse," he muttered just loudly enough for Moody to hear him and grin as he dodged his next hex.
The students were completely silent, as the duel continued for another twenty minutes until Severus got lucky and landed a stunning spell while Moody was distracted by the fire he'd persuaded to trail from the candles illuminating the Great Hall.
"Alright, students tell me the difference between those duels? Mr Finegan? Filus called stepping up onto the platform.
" Professor Snape and…ah the Auror, didn't bow at the beginning."
"Indeed. Can anyone tell me why?" Filius paused looking around the room, "Ms Edgecombe?"
"Because an informal duel is usually when you're fighting, you don't have time to bow, if you did your opponent would likely murder you."
"Very good, very good!" Flitwick bounced on his toes. "Any other differences? Mr Goldstein?"
"The duel didn't end when Professor Snape caught Auror Moody's wand."
"Exactly, does anyone know why? Mr Bletchly?"
"Because your opponent isn't down in an informal duel until they're unconscious or dead. Just taking their wand isn't enough because you're not duelling with rules."
"Excellent!" Flitwick beamed, "Twenty points to each of our winning pairs and ten to those who answered my questions."
"Ah, Sir?" A voice called.
"Yes, Miss Seawright?"
"Is someone going to revive Auror Moody?"
Severus snorted, "No, we were considering leaving him there for the elves to tend to."
She blinked, making him sigh, "Of course, we're going to revive him, Miss Seawright. Unfortunately, someone would notice him missing."
"Alright students, well done to all of you. Remember, a lot of duelling is luck on the day, all you can do is be as prepared as possible! Now back to your common room if you please, it is nearly curfew." McGonagall called, beginning to corral them towards the doors.
"Well done, Father, " Hermione beamed as she bounced up towards him dragging Harry with her. "Can you teach us those elemental spells?"
He laughed, "No." he replied pointedly. "You're explosive enough, the last thing we need is you controlling fire."
"But Father!" she whined.
"Absolutely not."
"Professor Lupin…." she wheedled, turning to look at the man making him laugh.
"What makes you think I'd contradict your father, Miss Granger-Snape?"
She huffed "But it looks so cool!"
"Aye, useful too." Moody grinned, coming to stand beside them. "Well done, Snape. I'll beat you next time. Now….how about we add those spells to our curriculum?"
"Yes!" Harry and Hermione shouted together as Moody's grin widened. The utter fucking arse! He'd done that on purpose to get back at him! Those spells were dangerous if you didn't have control and he had no urge to watch his children be burnt alive by their own magic.
"No," he growled.
"What?"
"Prove to me that you can keep me out of your mind for half an hour and I will reconsider. Those spells are emotion-based, they'll consume you if you are not careful" Hermione paled, they'd been lax with her occlumency training in light of everything and Harry's hadn't even started.
"We restart occlumency this week then, Father," she replied, tilting up her chin.
"Very well." he allowed, "Harry?"
"Sure. Why not? I want to learn those spells too. Can you imagine Draco's face when I dump water on him?"
Privately Severus wondered if the boy just wanted to see Draco soaking wet, the way Hermione was biting her lip to prevent herself from smiling made him think he wasn't the only one thinking it. He paused as a horrifying thought occurred to him, what if she was thinking of Mr Nott? No. No, she was definitely trying not to laugh at her brother.
"Right, off to bed with you both," he replied instead, rolling his eyes at Harry.
"Fine, goodnight, Father." Hermione sighed, hugging him. "Auror Moody, Amelia."
"Goodnight, you two." Amelia smiled.
"Are you intending to stay?" Severus asked, looking down at her.
"For a little while." she grinned, "I've missed the dog."
"Of course you have," he muttered, guiding her along the hall, to where Thanatos was waiting.
"Has he grown?" Amelia asked frowning as Thanatos forced his way onto the sofa.
"I think he's just fed." Severus mused. "The elves spoil him. At this rate, we'll need to put him on a diet."
The dog whined, making Amelia laugh. "He wouldn't do that to you, pretty boy." she cooed, having clearly been listening to his daughter. "Hermoine wouldn't let him."
"Indeed." he drawled, rolling his eyes at her. "How were the upper years?"
"Shell shocked." she snorted "We had them split into two teams and hiding in the forbidden forest…in an area I'd warded so they didn't go too far, obviously. They were to take down members of the opposite team. It was….carnage. I'll be more forgiving of the new recruits after that chaos."
"That explains the dirt," he mused.
"Oh yes. Alastor got involved. You know he can't help himself. I'm pretty sure he traumatised some of them."
"Fucking wonderful. I await the howlers from parents with anticipation."
Amelia laughed, "Don't pretend you listen to them."
He shrugged, "They think I do."
"No one who knows you thinks you'd willingly listen to someone shouting at you, Severus Snape. They send them hoping that you happen to be slow that day and they get some of it out."
"Speaking from experience?"
"I have never sent you a howler." she scoffed, "I've been tempted but it's far more satisfying to shout at you in person."
"Lucky me."
"Aren't you just." She grinned as she leaned in and kissed him. "Want to get luckier?"
He gaped at her for a moment in disbelief. "Tell me you did not just say that?" he groaned.
"Is that a no?" She replied pointedly.
"Absolutely not. Lead the way," he commanded, deciding he could berate her for propositioning him in such a poor manner later.
"Father? Are you here?"
Severus frowned, stalking over to the door that separated his quarters from his office. He wasn't expecting her. Had something happened? She sounded upset. Fuck. He didn't really have time to murder someone tonight, the first-year essays were fucking brutal. Although maybe murder would break it up a little…so he didn't curse one of them. Minerva would be displeased if he did. But really, why was it so hard to find competent children? Did any of them listen? Clearly not given the state of their essays. But it would be nice just once. Was that too much to ask?
He opened the door to find a visibly angry Hermione and….Luna Lovegood. That was unexpected.
"Are you alright, my girl?" She seemed alright, minus her fury. Which was a relief.
"They took her shoes!" she growled.
His eyebrows hit his hairline. "Pardon?"
"The Ravenclaws, they're taking her things! She has no shoes!"
He floundered for a moment. What the fuck did she expect him to do about it? Clearly something. Could she not be more specific? His brain was fried for fucks sake. He had first year essays! Wasnt it time she was doing them? He paused at that unexpected thought. She could mark them…she was technically his apprentice, wasn't she? Fuck he was a genius. He almost grinned.
"I…what would you like me to do, my girl?" he hedged.
"Fix it!" she hissed.
Right, that was as clear as mud. Fucking fix it how? As gratifying as her faith in him was, he really did need more specific instructions.
"It's alright Hermione. They always come back eventually."
Hermione frowned. at Luna "It is not alright!"
Luna blinked slowly at her. "The wrackspurts are congregating near your dad, Hermione. Do you need me to clear them?"
Hermione visibly paused, "I ah. No thanks, Luna. I'm sure Father will ask if he feels he needs it."
"What, in the name of Merlin, is a wrackspurt?" Severus demanded.
"Oh, they're creatures of course. They float through your ears to your brain and make it fuzzy. You really should think more happy thoughts, Sir."
"Think more…." he looked at Hermione for assistance only to find her struggling not to laugh at him.
"Happy thoughts." Luna supplied. "It really does help. Shall I start?"
"Please do," Hermione grinned just as Thanatos made his appearance. "Puppy!"
Luna watched the dog shrewdly as he bounded up to them, begging for pets that Hermione happily provided. "Oh. It's nice that your feelings have changed, Sir." Luna commented idly, stroking one of the dog's ears.
"What?" he asked, utterly bewildered.
"For…Puppy, was it? It took quite some time but it really will be best for everyone if you get along."
"I…right," he replied slowly, wondering what the fuck was going on. Maybe he'd finally gone insane, given the drivel he'd read in essay form tonight, wouldn't be all that surprising.
"Father…will you have a chat with the Ravenclaws?"
"Tonight, my girl?" he whined.
"She has no shoes!"
"Right. Tonight." he sighed. "Take that infernal beast out for a walk. Miss Lovegood, come with me."
He stalked up the quite frankly ridiculous number of stairs to the Ravenclaw common room with Luna Lovegood trailing breezily behind him as if she did this every day.
"What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?" the door knocker demanded.
"Silence." Severus drawled, ushering Luna inside. The common room very slowly started to quieten as students realised he was standing there. He smirked. "Imagine my…displeasure…to happen across a student wearing no shoes." he mused aloud. "Imagine again, my daughter's fury upon discovering that this was not an isolated occurrence. Now, I am only going to say this once. Miss Lovegood's possessions will be returned to her. They will not be taken again. Ever. Or I will turn a blind eye as Hermione hexes all of you. Am I clear?"
"Yes Sir." was murmured around the room. There was more than one person who now had a healthy dose of fear when they thought of his daughter after watching her duel. He was glad. It made his job much easier.
"Good. Now…should I hear of Miss Lovegood suffering any…repercussions for tonight's little chat, I shall be most…displeased. It would be such a shame if I had to publicly reprimand you for your behaviour….say in the Great Hall at dinner. I would, of course, then be forced to write to all of your parents to explain why you had an entire term's worth of detentions split between myself and Mr Filch." They all paled significantly. He grinned, several of them looked close to tears. "Good. I shall leave you to enjoy your evening. Miss Lovegood."
"Bye Professor!" She waved cheerily, "Remember to think happy thoughts!"
He found Hermione in the grounds. "They are sufficiently terrified."
"Oh? What did you threaten them with?"
"You." he grinned. "Amongst other things."
"Me?" she yelped.
"I might have told them I'd turn a blind eye to you hexing them. After your duel, it was sufficiently discomfiting for many of them."
She laughed. "Wonderful, so tomorrow I'll have scared Ravenclaws to deal with."
"Perhaps, but at least your friend will have shoes."
"Thank you, Father," she murmured, looping an arm through his. "I…it just wasn't ok."
"I know, my girl. Do you think you've tired out the beast yet?"
Hermine looked over to where Thanatos was running full pelt just by the lake. "I mean you can hope, right?"
He sighed, "Around the lake and back to the castle? Some of us still have marking."
"And some of us still have homework. Five feet, father! Surely you don't want to read five feet of parchment several times over?"
"No," he admitted. "But Finegan blew up another bloody cauldron, the second years almost lost several limbs and the seventh years who should know better attempted to poison us all. I was…."
"Annoyed and taking out on us?"
"Indeed. Although now I have to mark the sodding things so I don't think I won."
She laughed, patting his arm consolingly "I'd say probably not."
"Mr Snape, how kind of you to fit me in." Marilynn Travers looked at him pointedly over the run of her teacup.
"I apologise." He replied stiffly, "Something came up."
"Oh?"
"Hermione…she had an argument with Mr Nott. She was upset and I did not think it wise to leave her."
"I see," she murmured. "Where were her friends?" he replied, not sure why she was asking.
"Susan came with her, Draco and Harry turned up later."
She hummed, "And your presence was needed?" He frowned, not entirely sure what the witch was getting at. Noticing his confusion, she clarified, "Her friends were there, I assume they were able to provide some distraction, after the initial moment had passed, were you required?"
With a painful flashback to the horrific conversation he'd endured, Severus paused. "I…perhaps not," he admitted
"And yet you cancelled your session."
"At the time I had no idea what would happen." he defended.
"Perhaps. But once it became clear you did not rearrange."
He sighed, "I felt it was worth missing one session in order to remain where I was. Regardless of anything else, I needed to be sure she was alright."
"It was just an argument, Mr Snape."
"And she was upset."
The healer smiled, "Mr Snape, your daughter is a teenage girl. She is going to be upset. It is, unfortunately, a right of passage for us all."
"I do not understand your point."
"My point, Mr Snape, is, while I would never ask nor expect you to ignore your daughter when she is distressed, what I would ask is that you….assess the situation in a manner that is …less reactionary. You could have made your session last week, yes?" Rolling his eyes he nodded, "Sessions that I am aware you do not want, nor do you feel you need, but that your daughter wants you to attend. You cannot take care of her if you neglect to care for yourself." He huffed, making her smile. "There will be days where there is a reasonable reason for cancellation, however, if you use your daughter's arguments as an excuse again, I shall be….displeased. And if everything you've told me about her is true, I imagine so will she. That being said, I do hope that we get to the stage where you attend sessions not because Hermione is forcing the issue, but because you want to….be a better version of yourself."
A better version of himself, he scoffed. Internally, he wasn't a fucking idiot. What sort of nonsense phrase was that? He was a perfectly fine version of himself. Bloody witch. "I understand you do not envisage that day coming Severus but I remain optimistic. Now, Why don't we resume our discussion about your mother."
Severus sighed. Bloody fucking witch.