Chapter 30: Home

Their cottage was dirty, old, and perfect.

Rose couldn't stop smiling as she stepped inside. Severus stood beside her, looking at her through his peripherals. "It will need work," he told her.

"Yes," Rose agreed brightly. "But it has so much potential." The floors were a faded, grayed wood, with matching built in bookshelves that took up an entire wall. The walls had peeling white paint that had a brown quality to it from all the dust and dirt of neglect.

The house opened to a little sitting room and moved into a kitchen with many faded cupboards.

Rose ran through the rest of the cottage. It was mostly all on one level. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There was also a small room in the back with wide windows (most of them broken), that looked out to a little garden. Rose imagined a terrarium where she could grow magical plants indoors and Severus could use them for potion making.

There was a rickety staircase in the front room that led to a spacious attic. That would be a perfect office for Severus once fixed up.

"You do like it?" Severus asked. He watched Rose as she moved around their little home. He could see her mind working furiously.

Rose turned to him. "I absolutely love it," she assured him.

"We can do with it whatever you see fit," Severus told her.

Rose grinned. She had already decorated the whole place in her mind. She thought about her flat with no personality. This would be a home that she would be excited to come return to each evening.

Severus had to go back to teaching for winter term. Rose took time off to put their cottage together. She was extremely glad she was a witch, it was a huge time saver. She cleaned the cottage thoroughly, brooms and mops zoomed around the house of their own accord. Paint brushes stroked the walls with fresh white paint. Rose brought in her furniture from her flat. She stocked the kitchen, imagining cooking meals for her family. She bought a few empty picture frames and hung them around the house. They awaited patiently for family portraits. She filled the back room with pots. Severus had promised her that he would talk to Professor Sprout about Rose coming to harvest a few magical saplings and seeds from the Hogwarts greenhouse.

Severus brought very little to their new home. He packed up his limited wardrobe. Rose liked to see his black robes hanging beside her colorful clothes in 'their' closet. Severus did fill the shelves with books, some of which he brought from his house on Spinner's End. Those were the only things he could stand to keep from his previous life. Rose did not know what would become of Severus's childhood home. He had no desire to sell it or keep it up. It would probably just sit and slowly fall apart until it looked as unlivable as it always had been.

The cottage was declared ready after only four days of Rose's hard work. Severus had looked forward to coming to the place everyday after classes to see the progress Rose had made. He felt a bit guilty that he was not helping her, but Rose assured him lovingly that he would just get in the way.

On the last night before they planned to move in, Severus and Rose stood just beyond the doorway, admiring their home.

"You did well," Severus said gently, taking Rose's hand in his. She squeezed his hand back, grinning. "I have something for you."

Rose turned towards him. "Severus," she protested. "You bought us this house. You are going to thoroughly spoil me."

Severus smirked and pulled Rose into him. He kissed her forehead. "Women like you deserve to be spoiled by their husbands," he said into her hair.

Rose wrapped herself around Severus. "Well who am I to argue," Rose teased, craning her neck to kiss his lips quickly.

They pulled apart slightly and Severus gave Rose one of his rare large smiles. He reached into his pocket and took a few steps towards the window. He placed something on the floor and then pointed his wand at it.

A small piano expanded just under the windowpane.

Rose eyed the instrument for a moment and then looked up at Severus. "Is that from the Shrieking Shack?" she asked him. She moved closer to it and ran her hand over its smooth surface.

"It was no good to anyone in there." He reached out and rested his hand on the instrument too. "But it holds great importance to me."

"How so?" Rose questioned, looking towards him with examining eyes.

Severus moved into Rose and took her face in his hands. "That day you played for me," he began, "I realized that I felt something for you. Something I would not admit to myself at the time. I was in deep denial and I would not dare let myself hope for-" He cut himself off to kiss Rose, as if he couldn't stand it a moment longer.

Rose leaned against the instrument for support, allowing herself to submit.

When they resurfaced, both slightly flushed and out of breath, Severus continued to cling to her. He had been much more affectionate over the past week, like he was freed somehow, able to be more himself. His dark mark no longer shackled him to his past. He was married now to a kind, beautiful witch who loved him fiercely. He had a future that he was excited to venture through.

Severus led Rose over to the sofa, where they nestled beside each other. Severus unconsciously played with a strand of Rose's hair between his fingers. His playful air was dissolving. "We need to talk to Ephraim," Severus said in a low voice. This was a serious conversation that they had been putting off. Once Severus no longer lived in the castle, Ephraim would no longer have the same support he needed from his head of house and from Rose.

Once back at school, Ephraim resumed taking dreamless sleep potion, not wanting to be teased by the other boys in his dormitory. Rose had gotten him appointments with a psychologist she knew at St. Mungo's, but the sessions wouldn't start for another few weeks.

"You know where I stand," Rose said, pulling away slightly to look at Severus.

Severus stared at her for a long moment. "Yes," he said roughly.

"Severus," Rose pressed, "I feel as if we would be leaving him behind."

Severus's brows knit together. "I suppose we already said he could stay with us during holidays, might as well make it full time."

"Do you think he would mind not living at Hogwarts?" Rose asked.

"I don't think he gets any pleasure from sleeping in the Slytherin dormitory," Severus said. "I will get permission from the headmistress to have him come live with us." He considered Rose for a moment. "Additionally, I'm sure he would not mind being moments away from you."

"And you," Rose remarked.

Severus scowled. "Just to be plain," he said, "the boy is staying with us until he can successfully cope on his own."

Rose casted her eyes down.

"Rose," Severus said sternly.

Rose sighed. "Right," she mumbled.

Severus narrowed his eyes at her, feeling unconvinced. "You can tell him tomorrow."

"Don't you want to tell him too?" Rose asked. The way Severus said 'You can tell him' implied that he was not planning on being present for that conversation.

"I think it would be better coming from you."

Rose pressed her lips together. Severus did not see that he was more of a father to Ephraim than anyone had every been and Rose knew that Severus had grown to care for the boy. He looked out for Ephraim's wellbeing just as much as Rose did. He wouldn't have been willing to let the child stay with them if he didn't care. Rose wondered if Severus thought Ephraim would not want to live with 'him.' When in reality, it was all too clear the Ephraim respected and looked up to his professor greatly.

The next day Rose found Ephraim in the Great Hall after dinner. Severus was down in his office finishing up some work. Rose asked again if he would come talk to Ephraim with her, but he refused. Rose had become very comfortable with just making her way through Hogwarts on her own and everyone seemed just as used to seeing her around.

Ephraim immediately got up and hugged her. He loved having someone to seek him out, just him. He liked his peers to see that Rose was there for him.

Rose smiled down at him. "Hi sweetheart," she said before kissing the top of his head.

Ephraim grinned to himself. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you about something," Rose told him. She suddenly found herself feeling slightly nervous. What if Ephraim didn't want to live with them? Rose would be so disappointed to not have him in their new home.

"Okay," Ephraim said suddenly serious. He stood up a little straighter. "Should we go out of the hall?"

Rose nodded. They moved into the corridor for a bit of privacy.

"Is something wrong?" Ephraim asked her, picking up Rose's anxiousness.

"No," Rose said gently, "there's nothing wrong." She pressed her hand against Ephraim's cheek briefly, emulating something her mother did. "Professor Snape and I wanted to talk to you about something." Rose figured she should represent Severus's opinion even though he was not there.

"What is it?" Ephraim asked.

"Well," Rose began. "We told you that we were planning to move into Hogsmeade."

Ephraim nodded, keeping his face blank, a skill he had picked up from Professor Snape. He did not like the idea of being alone at night. It scared him, but he couldn't say as much.

"You said you would like to stay with us during school holidays," Rose continued. "But we were wondering if you would like to stay with us now. Of course, I won't blame you if you'd prefer to stay at Hogwarts with people your own age. And Hogwarts is incredible. Not that you wouldn't see it during the day. We just thought that you might-"

Ephraim flung himself into a hug with Rose, cutting off her rambling. She felt him nod against her chest. Rose smiled and held the boy closer.

The first week in the cottage took a bit of adjustment. Rose suddenly found herself a wife and a mother of sorts to a child only 14 years younger than herself; the same age distance between her and Severus. She felt like she 'was' a child just playing house.

Every evening, Severus would bring Ephraim home with him. Rose would finish up work as well and would cook dinner. Everyone was overly polite at first, not really knowing how to behave. Ephraim didn't talk much. Severus could see within Ephraim the deep-set fear of disappointing, as if he might say or do something that might end his welcome. Dinner time conversation was generic and boringly well-mannered.

Rose and Severus were still trying to fit into their new roles of husband and wife.

After dinner Ephraim would help clear up and then would sit at the table quietly to study. He would always decline Rose's offers to help him with his homework, not wanting to bother her in anyway. Rose and Severus would talk quietly about nothing of great importance or Rose would read while Severus graded papers, every now and then remarking about the poor quality of an essay in his hands.

Later in the evening, Severus would bid Ephraim goodnight and Rose would tuck him into bed. They had fixed a room up just for him. He had shelves for his books and Rose had hung a few posters on his walls in attempt to make the room look cozy. Morgan would curl at the foot of the bed. Rose would always leave a dim light on. She would kiss Ephraim's head and tell him to come get them if he needed anything.

Ephraim dreaded going to sleep, sometimes looking tearful anticipating the visions to come.

"We are just next door," Rose whispered. Sometimes Rose would just cave and stay next to Ephraim until he fell asleep, even though Severus told her that the boy was much too old for such things.

Without the dreamless sleep potion, Ephraim had nightmares almost every night at first. Sometimes his cries were loud enough to wake Rose and Severus in their bedroom. On those occasions, Rose would rush to him and hold him until he calmed down. Severus would always lag behind as to minimize the boy's embarrassment but would help Rose if she needed to strip the sheets when Ephraim was changing.

In other instances, Ephraim's dreams would come on more quietly. He would wake up tearful and sit in bed until he couldn't take it anymore. Then he would swallow his pride and tap on Rose's and Professor Snape's bedroom door. Rose would comfort Ephraim gently while Severus pretended to sleep through it all. Even though Ephraim knew Professor Snape was actually awake, he was grateful for his teacher's decorum.

Ephraim started every morning waiting for Rose and Professor Snape to be angry or frustrated with him. But that didn't happen. What did happen was quite the opposite.

Rose seemed to be even sweeter towards Ephraim than usually, giving him extra attention and hugs.

Even Professor Snape seemed to be trying to make him comfortable, he began insisting on helping Ephraim with his homework and even went as far as to praise him on his performance. And despite what he told Rose originally, he began encouraging her to sit with Ephraim at night until he fell asleep.

Everyday Severus and Ephraim would go to the school together. It became easier for them to convers. It was quite a different feeling for Severus to have a student whom he genuinely liked and who seemed to genuinely like him back. Ephraim, being muggle-born, still had so many questions about magic and the wizarding world. To Ephraim's amazement and delight, everything he wanted to know, Professor Snape seemed to know the answer.

Soon the evenings were not so quiet anymore. They were filled with animated conversations and laughter. Slowly, Ephraim's nightmares became less and less frequent. He felt safe and he felt at home. They all did.