22. The house on Spinners End

Severus and Bobbie did take the next day off - at least from brewing potions. After breakfast they went to Spinners End to have a look at Severus's house. It was just like Severus had described it. It was small, dark and dingy. Bobbie felt the hair on the back of her neck raise up. She could feel the darkness that surrounded the place and the residual unhappiness of its occupants.

This place would need a lot of work. The first thing she did was opening the shutters and windows. Severus helped her as soon as he saw what she was doing. Working around the curtains which had accumulated a lot of dust in them made Bobbie sneeze a few times. Severus looked at them a little closer and when he noticed that they had moth holes in them he took out his wand and spelled them off and straight into a garbage sack.

As soon as they were done Bobbie said, "Let's pack up everything that you want to take, like those books over there."

"I don't need those. I already took the ones I can use. All these are duplicates or outdated." He looked around the room and added, "There is really nothing here worth taking. Even the clothes are old and moth eaten, as are the towels and anything else fabric," he said after taking a closer look at the towels.

She went with her finger over an old threadbare armchair. "Some of the furniture can be re-covered with a different fabric."

"I don't want it...," Severus said quietly.

She turned around and saw him standing there like a little boy who had just been scolded. She walked to him and hugged him around the waist and then kissed him and said, "I understand. Everything has bad memories for you."

He had a slight smile on his face when he said, "You are the first good thing in here." He stroked her shoulders and said quietly, "I want it all gone."

"Okay, why don't we put it all outside on the curb and let the neighbors pick through it until the trash people are picking it up," Bobbie suggested.

"That may work on the North American continent but here you can't do that. If they know where it is coming from you get a fine. This is a Muggle neighborhood. I vaguely remember my parents talking, or better, shouting about something like that when I was a boy. It was after my father smashed a chair against the cabinet in a drunken stupor and it broke." Severus looked at a space to his right like he saw the whole thing again in his mind's eye, remembering the fight his parents had.

"What about shrinking everything and throwing it into a box? We can just take it to Hogwarts and pick through it here or throw it away."

Severus said, "I have a better idea."

He again took out his wand and with a few movements and a few spells the furniture was gone and right after that the old rugs that had been lying throughout the house.

"Where did it all go?" Bobbie asked.

"I vanished it," he replied.

"Wow! Who needs a trash can if you can do that...? I'm jealous!" she sniggered.

Then Bobbie asked him to spell all of the graying ceilings white. After that was done, whatever was there of the old wallpaper he magically stripped and then spelled the walls a light beige colour. Bobbie figured that a new owner would have his own ideas about what he wanted it to look like, so they just went for the basics. All they needed was for it to look clean. Window frames and sills and also the doors were spelled white and so were the baseboards. The old wooden floors were scrubbed with a Scouring Charm. This took a while because the charm usually was only used on smaller things like a cauldron or such.

The Scouring Charm also gave the old kitchen a better look right after Severus vanished all the old dishes, pots, pans and flatware. Some more Scouring Charms in the bathroom and the inside of the house looked very different.

Severus looked around and said, "I don't even recognize the place."

"You still have to put a 'Reparo' on two spots on the roof. I noticed two leaks before you did the ceilings. It also wouldn't hurt to do the outside of the house. The stucco would look great in beige and the shutters a forest green," Bobbie said.

Severus smiled at her and said, "Here it goes..." He waved his wand and the house changed.

"Good thing those overgrown bushes are there. If one of the neighbors would have seen that they would think 'what the hell just happened?'" Bobbie said with a chuckle.

"I have cast a 'Notice Me Not Charm' on the house first, to make sure nobody would pay attention," Severus said.

"Oh... right! I forgot that there is such a thing... Anyway, maybe those bushes could use some work, now that I think about it," Bobbie mused.

One more 'Notice Me Not Charm', this time on the bushes and then Bobbie gave Severus instructions on how tall the bushes should be and to give them a round shape. She stood there watching him while Severus worked his magic. He was done in 10 minutes.

When he was done Bobbie said, "Wow, Edward Scissorhands is nothing compared to you...!"

"Edward... who?" he asked.

"Never mind! It was an old Muggle movie from years ago," Bobbie replied.

He snorted, "You and Geronimo must have watched a lot of movies, since you are always coming up with some characters."

"Yeah, we did and some of them we even reenacted when we were kids, which was the fun part. One of our favorites was 'The Three Musketeers'. We made our own swords from wood." She laughed thinking about it. Then she looked at the house and said, "I think that is as good as it gets. If you want me to, I can call a Muggle realtor to let them know that this house is for sale. It is small but I think it would make a nice starter home for a young couple that doesn't have a lot of money yet."

"If you could do that I would be grateful. I should also let Arthur know to take it off the list of buildings with magical occupants," Severus said.

"Let's go back to Hogwarts. We can do all that tomorrow. Even though you did all the work I'm tired." She gave him a weak smile.

They made it back before dinner but they decided not to go to the Great Hall and instead had Millie bring them something to their quarters, where they had a quiet dinner together in front of the fireplace.

888

The small house on Spinners End sold within a week. Severus breathed a sigh of relief when Bobbie told him. She had been the one who had filled out all of the required paperwork and had finalized the sale. She had offered and Severus was more than happy to let her do it. He told her it would probably be better because she was more Muggle savvy than he was. Bobbie didn't say anything even though she had the suspicion that it was more about the fact that he hated the place and never wanted to see it again.

All through the week Severus had worked in the evenings in his lab brewing more of the potion against the Cruciatus insanity. He was well on his way to filling the backorders. There were still a few orders trickling in but nothing like the demand from when he had first announced his breakthrough.

Filling the orders for the Muskle-Gro took a little longer because it could also be used for re-growing muscles of people who had been laid up for any number of reasons and had a hard time getting back on their feet.

Bobbie helped him with the preparation but couldn't do anything during the brewing process. She did almost all of the shipping while Severus had classes and when she didn't have any patients or Poppy didn't need her. She had also started doing the paperwork, book keeping and sending out the bills by Owl Post.

Both of them were busy until way into each night. After a very busy week with little sleep Severus decided it was time to slow down. The last of the backorders would just have to wait. He was also concerned because of Bobbie. He wanted her to have the rest he felt she needed. It was the end of her fourth month of pregnancy and the day before, she had been asking him for a pain potion because of her back. He felt a little helpless and out of his league, so he finally went to Poppy one evening and asked her how to help his wife and make things more bearable for her.

Poppy smiled at him and said, "You are a very attentive husband and I know you will make a good father, Severus."

Severus smiled weakly, "I hope so..." There was a long pause but Poppy knew he wasn't done. She could see that his mind was working on something. Finally he said, "What if I turn out like mine? Look how afraid the students were of me, and I sometimes used to like it when they were terrified of me."

"'Were' and 'used to' are the operative words, Severus. Your students like you now. Yes, you are still strict but you are also fair and dependable. You were unhappy and miserable and I can't really blame you. When people are unhappy they do a lot of things they don't really mean to do. I am very proud of who you have become."

When Poppy saw his embarrassment she changed the subject and said, "In any case..., what you can do for Bobbie is give her some more rest. I am afraid that you have to slow down brewing these potions. I know you want to fill all these orders but Bobbie always wants to help you and she isn't going to slow down unless you do."

Severus said tiredly, "I know. I came to the same conclusion and tonight I made the decision to do just that. I was wondering though if I can do some things to make her feel better. She doesn't complain but I can see that her back and her feet hurt and yesterday she asked for a pain potion. She also looks so tired."

"Well, the rest will be good for her. You can also give her back rubs and foot and hand massages and relaxing baths infused with a soothing bath oil. Every pregnant woman appreciates these things." Poppy smiled at him. "She'll let you know when you're doing it right."

Severus smiled and said, "Thank you for your advice, Poppy."

Right before Severus left she called him back and said, "You are a Potion Master, maybe you can develop some salve to prevent those stretch marks a lot of women get during pregnancy."

Severus turned around and asked, "Stretch marks?"

Instead of giving him an answer because he would without a doubt get embarrassed again, she walked to her desk and picked up a small booklet and gave it to him and said, "Here, look it up. You would do the women population a huge favor. There are some products out there, but a lot of times not even those work."

Severus looked at the booklet and thumbed through it and thanked Poppy again before he left. He realized that he was about to become a father and he knew next to nothing about pregnancy. It wasn't that he wasn't interested it was just that the last few weeks had been so busy that he hadn't even had time to think a lot about it. He knew that it was better for Bobbie if she wouldn't tire herself out and lift a lot of heavy things. He had picked that up from Narcissa when she had been pregnant with Draco. Although he suspected that Narcissa had probably been milking the whole situation as much as she possibly could and had other people and the house elves running around for her. Bobbie wasn't the type who would do that, but he could see when she was tired or aching.

Thinking about house elves, he just mused to himself. Maybe he could train Winky and Millie to help with the shipping. It would take some of the work load off Bobbie.

When he came back to their quarters he saw her sitting on the sofa reading. When she saw him she said, "Since all the finished potions are on their way I think I will turn in early tonight."

"I think that is a great idea. I know you already took a shower this morning but I am still going to run you a bath and you can relax in the tub for a little while." He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Mmm, thank you Baby, that sounds wonderful," she said with a smile.

Severus made sure the water was a nice temperature and then he poured some bath oil in it and swished it around to mix it all up. He went back to Bobbie and pulled her up from the sofa and led her into the bathroom where he spelled her clothes off and helped her into the water. She sighed when she submerged herself into it. "Oh, that feels so good. It definitely hits the spot. Thank you, Baby."

Severus said, "I can't really take credit for that idea. I went to Poppy and asked her what I can do to make you feel better and help you. After all, you are doing all the work. All I really did was having the pleasure when we made that baby."

"Oh Severus, don't you know that it is the thought that counts? All Poppy did was to aim you in the right direction. And just so you know, you weren't the only one who had the pleasure."

Severus let Bobbie relax in the tub while he took a shower. When he was done he made her scoot a little forward and he went into the tub behind her, where he squeezed some more oil into the palm of his hand and then started massaging her shoulders.

"I think if I could purr like a cat I would do that right now," she moaned contentedly.

After a while he just leant her back against him and let her relax while he held her. They sat there for quite a while until he noticed that she had fallen asleep. He smiled and gently whispered in her ear, "Come, let me get you to bed."

She stirred in his arms and said sleepily, "I don' wan to..."

"You are going to turn into a prune sitting in that water for so long."

She yawned and said, "...kay."

She leant forward and let Severus get out and after he dried himself off he helped her out of the tub and wrapped her into a large towel and scooped her up and carried her to bed. He took the pin out of her hair and got in beside her, where he pulled her against him and she got comfortable in the crook of his arm with her head on his shoulder. He made sure she was all covered up and then they went asleep.

888

Severus got up early in the morning and since it was Sunday he picked up the little booklet Poppy had given him and went back to bed. As soon as Bobbie felt him next to her again she snuggled up once more and continued sleeping. Severus smiled and stroked her hair and then went through the booklet while she slept. When he came to the part about stretch marks he knew he didn't want her to go through that. It sounded painful to him that the skin sometimes stretched until it tears. He also didn't want her to have to deal with the scars. He knew how he felt about the ones he had all over his body.

Severus thought about the salves and potions that were already around and decided that one of them would work as a base. He would have to add some additional ingredients and decided on a few oils and shea butter, which he was also using in her lotion. Before Bobbie even woke up he had the whole salve worked out in his head. He would have to mask the not very attractive scent with some Lavender and Vanilla that she liked so much, and which he loved to smell on her as well.

His mind made up he extracted himself slowly from under her and dressed. He had Winky bring him a cup of coffee and he made his way to the lab. He worked with meticulous precision and was so absorbed in it that he didn't hear Bobbie coming in and sitting down on the stool in the corner, where she liked to be while watching him.

When he was done and walked in her direction to go to the cabinet where he kept empty vials and tubs he suddenly noticed her. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"A while. I like watching you work," she said.

When she saw him take a box of six small empty tins out of the cabined and starting to fill them up she asked, "You need some help with that?"

"I am fine. It is only these six tins," he replied.

"What is that stuff? It smells nice," she asked.

"It is for you. Poppy said I should make something to prevent stretch marks," he said as casually as he could.

"Really? Wow, if that stuff works you would be the hero of every pregnant woman," she said and smiled.

"Poppy mentioned something similar," he said with amusement.

Bobbie slid off the stool and went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and stood on tiptoes and kissed him. "This is so thoughtful, Baby. Thank you very much."

"You are welcome, my Love. I hope it will work. Unfortunately you will be my guinea pig," he said with a smile.

"I don't mind. My money is on you that this stuff works," she said. "Have you ever thought about brewing potions full time? I know you like being a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but I think you like research and developing new potions even more."

"I have thought about it, but I can't afford my own lab. As long as I am a teacher I can use this lab. I don't even have a house anymore and the one I had wouldn't have been large enough for a lab anyway."

"You did get some money from that house and I'll bet your vault in Gringotts grew considerably with the money from the potion against the Cruciatus insanity and the Muskle-Gro. Not to mention what you will make when that cure against Lycanthropy is taking off. I could also sell the house in Arizona..."

"But you love that house...," Severus said, stunned that she would even think about something like that.

"I do but I am all about getting my priorities straight. And if I live over here I don't need it. We still have the one in Canada. I would rather go there and see my family..., our family...! Yes, it is gorgeous in the Arizona desert but I don't really need it. What I need is to be with you."

He looked at her and slowly shook his head and said, "I need to be with you too. I can't believe you are offering this. Nobody ever cared what I wanted."

She smiled at him and again kissed him and said, "Get used to it."

"I will never take you for granted, my Love." Severus said with conviction.

"Well, just think about it. I know Minerva would be sad to lose you as a teacher, but she would also be happy for you. And you could still brew the potions for Poppy for the price you spend for the ingredients, just like you do here, and the easier ones are done by Horace anyway."

He nodded while staring into space thinking about the possibility. This was what he had always dreamt about, his own lab, brewing his own potions, making lots of money, a loving wife, children, having the respect of the Wizarding World... Not necessarily in this order though. He knew that all the materialistic things would be of no value to him if he wouldn't have Bobbie by his side.

He abruptly came out of his dream world when he heard Bobbie say, "Come, let's have some breakfast. I am starving."

888

Severus took his free hour on Monday to go to Gringotts and exchange the Muggle money they had gotten for the house on Spinners End into Wizarding currency and deposit it inside his vault. Bobbie, who had her Muggle money exchanged by Albus when she first arrived, had never been to Gringotts, so she went with him to see what all the hype was about. She had heard from Hermione how she, Harry and Ron had broken into the place, which was supposed to be burglarproof. Bobbie had also never seen a Goblin in her entire life and thought it was about time to see what they were really like.

Bobbie had seen Gringotts many times from the outside and had always thought it was an impressive building, but it turned out to be nothing compared to the inside. The wealth of the huge Main Hall was almost overwhelming. All the marble and gold and two long counters made of expensive wood with Goblins sitting behind them. The hall was lit with huge crystal chandeliers. She didn't want to come across as being too amazed by the enormous place so she closed her mouth which had been open in astonishment.

Severus led her to a counter and a small gnarly looking 'man' in an expensive suit looked up from a book he was writing in, a book that was almost as large as the Goblin himself. When he saw Severus he said, "Professor Snape, how can I help you?"

Severus laid the Muggle money onto the polished counter top and said, "I would like to exchange this into Galleons and then store it in my vault."

"Ah yes, the vault..." The Goblin said. "We were going to owl you about that shortly."

"Is there anything wrong with my vault?" Severus asked.

"Other than it is getting too small for your deposits, no there is nothing wrong with it. I would suggest renting a larger one or we will have to charge you for another small one. A larger vault would be cheaper than two small ones."

"Certainly! I would like to make arrangements for transfer then."

"Would the Professor like to take over Madam Lestrange's vault? It has been empty for a while and we could give it to you for a discount. The locks have been changed after it had been tempered with before the war."

"The Lestrange vault is a very large walk-in vault. Do I really need it?" Severus asked.

"It is either that or a smaller one for the same amount and a medium size would only be a little less. We haven't been able to rent it to anyone since the break-in. People are superstitious and afraid something bad will happen if they are taking the vault of a dead person, especially if that person was Madam Lestrange."

"Well, since Gringotts has been around for hundreds of years I suspect that all of the vaults once belonged to people who have since died," Severus said.

"Precisely, it is just that no one wants to take the vault if they know it once belonged to a notorious Death Eater," the Goblin said. "There is nothing wrong with the vault. Mr Bill Weasley went over it with the highest precision."

"Well, I don't believe in superstition and neither does my wife. I will take it," Severus said looking at Bobbie who nodded in affirmation.

"Very well!" the goblin said and went through his enormous book and finally found the page he was looking for and made some notes. After he was done with it he turned the book around for Severus and said, "I need you to sign here," pointing at a spot on the page.

Severus said, "Before I sign this I would like to inspect the vault."

"Very well!" the Goblin said again. He reached underneath the counter and came up with the largest key ring Bobbie had ever seen, with what seemed to be hundreds of keys hanging from it. He walked through a door that opened in the counter and said, "Follow me!"

Severus and Bobbie followed the Goblin to a door at the end of the enormous hall and stepped into a cavernous room which was hewn out of the rock. It was so large that it was impossible to see the bottom. The Goblin walked them to a small cart on rails where he got in and Severus followed. Bobby followed the rail with her eyes and shook her head.

"No, I can't do this Severus. I have always been afraid of roller coasters and this is even worse," she said.

Severus had a questioning look on his face and asked, "You are afraid of this, but you'll jump out of an airplane and ride a motorcycle on a dirt road?"

She shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do this..."

The Goblin breathed in a long breath of annoyance and got out of the cart and said, "We do have people who are afraid once in a while... Please follow me," he said to Bobbie and he led her to a small waiting room with a few old mismatched chairs scattered around.

She smiled at Severus weakly and then nodded a 'Thank you' to the Goblin and entered the room and sat down on one of the chairs.

She looked around the shabby room and saw that there was no furniture other than the old wooden chairs, which turned out to be very uncomfortable. She figured that this was the punishment people got when they didn't want to follow the rules and use the railway that the Goblins were obviously very proud of. There was nothing to read and no pictures to look at, so she just sat there and stared at the stained dingy walls trying to find patterns in the stains.

Eventually Severus and the Goblin returned and rescued her from her boredom. They went back to the Main Hall and Severus signed the rent for his new vault. The Goblin said that all of his valuables from his old vault would be transferred to the new one by the next day.

When they walked outside Bobbie said, "I am sorry about being such a baby with that ride in the cart. I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of that Goblin."

He squeezed her hand he had been holding and said, "Don't worry about it."

888

Severus did brew a few potions two nights during the week and they were able to send out all of the backorders from the first rush of orders that had come in right after people had found out about the cure for the Cruciatus insanity. This time Winky and Millie were able to help. There were still new orders coming in from apothecaries that were either outside the country or had been waiting for the reviews, to see if the potion was really holding up to what it promised.

Soon it was Friday and Severus got everything ready that he would need to cure the last two werewolves in Azkaban. They would do it in the dungeons again but they had to lock and ward the entrance to the room with the cages against any wayward students. The castle was helping out once more and sealed off the room so the only way to get there was either through a tunnel from the outside or through Severus's private lab.

Since the full moon was on a Monday Severus's classes would be cancelled for Tuesday morning so he could get some sleep. They also hired a Mediwizard from St Mungo's to take Poppy's place in the morning and Minerva, who wasn't a teacher anymore since she became the Headmistress would simply excuse herself and be unavailable. Bobbie who made her own hours would schedule them for the afternoon if something should come up.

888

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day and Severus and Bobbie took the dogs for a long walk around the lake after breakfast. They were throwing sticks for them and Benton and Bella had a great time running around and were actually tired by the time they came back. Severus had wanted to turn around a few times because of Bobbie's pregnancy but she had insisted that she was fine and so they had kept going.

Severus ran another bath for her when they came back. As the tub was starting to fill with the water the temperature she liked, he added some soothing bath oil. Bobbie finished undressing and he helped her into the shallow water. Instead of letting go of his hand she held on to him and said while smiling at him, "Thank you Baby, you know there is enough room for both of us."

He kissed her hand and said, "I will be there momentarily." He took off his clothes and got into the tub behind her and settled her in between his legs.

He wrapped her into his arms and she snuggled up against him with her head on his shoulder. She let out a deep relaxing breath and murmured, "Hmm, this is heaven. I could get used to this."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said and kissed her on the temple.

She turned her face up to him and he bent down and kissed her on the lips. When she responded to his kiss and moaned he felt a familiar tingle in his loins and he groaned and deepened the kiss.

When she felt his erection push against her she drew in a sharp breath and said against his lips, "I want you." She turned in his arms and he slid down into the tub some more. She was laying on him with her belly and rubbed herself against him a few times.

He closed his eyes and moaned in ecstasy. The slickness of the water and the bath oil amplified the feeling. She kissed his chest and traced his scars with her tongue before going to his nipples and kissing and sucking him there and all the while his erect member was so deliciously trapped and squeezed between them.

She finally pushed herself up and straddled him. Severus put his hands onto her knees and ran them up her thighs until he arrived at her junction and slid a thumb over her throbbing core and drew a moan from her lips. She bent her head back in her desire while he caressed her. Finally she sucked in a strangled breath and removed his hand and slowly lowered herself onto his magnificent shaft. They had been turned on so much by then that it only took a few strokes for them to dissolve into an unequalled climax while the warm water slowly enveloped them.

After the enjoyment of the afterglow Severus suddenly chuckled and said, "I think we ruined the bath water."

Bobbie sniggered and agreed, "I believe you are right. Who knows, maybe we are up to something here. We could have produced the perfect youth potion."

"Always the optimist...," he said with a smile and got out of the water and then helped her. He led her to the shower and they both rinsed off before making their way to the sofa in front of the fireplace for a short nap.

Severus had actually had it in mind that Bobbie should lie down and rest for a while but she wanted him to be with her. He remembered reading in the small book about pregnancy that Poppy had given him, that a woman could sometimes feel needy or clingy. Even though he had work to do he didn't mind indulging her. He loved her more than he ever thought he was capable of and if he was honest with himself he loved that she needed him and wanted him around. He had been lonely for most of his life and had always dreamed of having somebody who wanted him, just him and not because of his potion skills, or because they needed someone to do their homework, or to make fun of, or because he was good at spying, or for whatever reason. He finally had somebody who loved him and only him.

He lay down on the sofa and she snuggled comfortably into the crook of his arm with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He smiled when he saw her serene face, her eyes closed and a content smile on her lips. They only wore their dressing gowns, so he pulled a blanket over them and they were asleep in no time.