28. Some unexpected Help
Inside Gringotts he presented one of the Goblins with his key and after a hair raising ride to his vault he stuffed the 200 000 galleons into the leather bag and shrunk it so it would fit into one of his pockets. He then walked outside the building and Apparated straight to Malfoy Manor.
Severus used the heavy door knocker to make his arrival known. Abbe the house-elf opened the door and led him into the drawing room where both Lucius and Draco sat in front of a blazing fireplace each with a cup of coffee. Only Draco got up to greet him. Lucius drawled, "Well, the hero of the Wizarding World is lowering himself to come to my humble abode. You must be really desperate." He looked up at Severus from the comfort of his padded leather chair with a satisfied smirk.
"Father...!" Draco said with a slight warning in his voice.
"Good Morning to you too, Lucius. I don't want to waste your time so I am going to come right out with it. I was hoping you would do me a favor and look at a memory and see if you recognize the person in it."
Lucius sighed like it was a great inconvenience to him and then said with a short glance at his son, "Very well, Draco already filled me in and since it means so much to him I agreed to help you."
Lucius summoned the Pensieve with a wave of his wand and stuck his hand out to Severus for the vial with the memory. Severus handed it over and Lucius opened it and poured the contents into the stone basin. Before he looked at the memory he looked at Severus and again let out an annoyed sigh.
It only took a very short time before Lucius head came back out of the basin. Severus asked, "So, what do you think? I believe to have seen him during a Death Eater meeting."
"You are correct," Lucius said. "Unfortunately I am unable to recall his name. My head is a little foggy this morning."
Severus reached into the pocket of his trousers and came up with a few vials of Hangover Potion which he held out to Lucius. Lucius looked at them and let out a short, annoyed grunt. Nevertheless he took them and downed one of them right away. Then he continued, "I believe he was a financial supporter. He was a coward and was married to Bella's sister in law. I remember his last name had something to do with royalty, like King..., or Lord..., Earl..." Lucius shook his head. "None of these sound accurate though." He thought some more and then asked, "What else is there...?"
Both Severus and Draco came up with 'Queen', 'Duke', 'Monarch' but each time Lucius shook his head. Severus finally thought about his mother's side of the family and asked, "Prince?"
"That's it!" Lucius said pointing at Severus.
"Prince?" Severus asked again. "You are sure?"
"Positive!" Lucius said with a haughty look on his face.
Severus, who had been standing the whole time sat down in a nearby chair and said with disbelief in his voice, "It can't be...!"
Lucius got defensive and asked, "You don't believe me?"
"No..., no! That isn't what I am saying... I just cannot believe that my mother's family would do such a thing and take my wife for ransom," Severus said.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked.
"My mother was a Prince and was disowned when she married a Muggle," Severus answered.
"You are part Muggle...?" Lucius asked in disbelief. "All these years I thought the rumours were false. You always insisted in school that you were a pureblooded wizard and I believed you. I never imagined that a Half-blood would get sorted into Slytherin."
"I lied! And why wouldn't a Half-blood be in Slytherin? Voldemort was a Half-blood and a Slytherin," Severus said.
Draco grinned when he saw his father's sour face when Severus used the name Voldemort and pointed out his not so spotless heritage.
"In any case, I told you a few months ago when you came to my quarters that I am a Half-blood. That shows how well you are listening." Severus let out a deep breath and continued, "But this is all beside the point. I need to find my wife. What do you know about the manor where this person resides? I have made it a point not to keep up with this side of my family. Do you know where it is and does it have a round tower on the left side?"
"As a matter of fact I do," Lucius said with a smug face. "It is close to the coast in Aberdeenshire and it does have a tower."
It took everything out of Severus to ask Lucius the next question but he was desperate. He needed to get Bobbie away from that madman. "Would you go with me?"
"Why in Merlins name would I do that? You betray and lie to me for years and now you want me to help you?" Lucius asked with indignation.
"I fail to see any benefit we had when we were with Voldemort," Severus pointed out. "We were little more than slaves and if we didn't do what he wanted or by any chance made a mistake, we were severely punished. I also found it degrading having to kneel down in front of him and kiss the disgusting hem on his robes. No telling what filth he swept it through all day. It was despicable. I for one want to live the life I make for myself and not listen to and do the bidding of a madman. Not to mention the Dark Mark on our arms, being branded like cattle. You may want to think about that for a while Lucius. I have seen you after you came back from Azkaban. Is this really what you want for yourself?" Severus had almost talked himself into a rage by then and glared daggers at Lucius.
Lucius stood there looking at Severus with his jaw working like he was going to say something but nothing came. After a while he let out a deep breath and asked, "What do you need from me?"
"I can't very well just show up there and ask for my wife, even though I have the ransom with me. He wants me to drop the money tonight by Portkey. If he sees me approaching the house he won't even open the door or he may just kill me on sight. It would be very helpful if you would go to the door while I stay in the background. He knows you were one of Voldemorts closest henchmen and he will listen to you when you come with a proposal to reorganize another attempt to make pure-blooded Wizards the dominant race."
Lucius didn't say anything for a long time. Draco who had watched his father for a while finally ran out of patience and walked up beside him, grabbed one of his hair and pulled it out of his head. Lucius yelped, "Ouch, what are you doing?"
Draco said, "What I am doing is this, if you aren't helping with this plan, I will. I am pretty sure Uncle Severus has a vial or two of Polyjuice sitting around somewhere which are just waiting for a hair." Draco waved the hair in front of his father's face and continued, "Lucius Malfoy is going to Prince Manor whether it is the real one or not." Then he walked over to Severus and said, "Let's go!"
Lucius knew when he had lost an argument and said after taking a deep breath, "Very well! I would suggest we all go. It maybe even more believable if two former supporters of the Dark Lord are showing up."
Severus nodded and said, "Thank you! Both of you! I sincerely appreciate it."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You can thank me when the deed is done," Lucius said and called Abbe to let her know that they were going out for a while just in case Narcissa would look for them.
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The three men began by Apperating to Aberdeen and from there they flew by broom to a sheltered place right outside the gates of Prince Manor, where Severus took Harry's invisibility cloak out of his pocket and put it on. Both Draco and Lucius looked at him, astonishment written on their faces when his body disappeared and only his head was still visible and floating in the air.
Finally Draco asked, "Is that Harry's? As far as I know he is the only one who has one of those."
"It is!" Severus replied. "He let me borrow it for this occasion."
"That is quite a privilege," Draco said.
"It will make things easier than waiting around the corner until that madman is opening the door. This way I can stand right next to you," Severus said and then added, "Let's do this now. It is almost noon."
"Indeed," Lucius agreed. "Let's get this over with." He waited for Severus to put the hood of the invisibility cloak over his head and then used the heavy door knocker which was shaped like an eagles head with a ring held in its beak and knocked three times.
The door opened and a house-elf wearing a small pillow case and a collar stood in the doorway. Behind the elf they could hear a grumpy male voice asking, "Who is out there?"
Before the elf could say anything Lucius spoke up, "Mr Prince, my name is Lucius Malfoy and this is my son..."
"Mr Malfoy," Preston interrupted him with a respectful voice, as he stepped into view from behind the door. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit?"
"I have a proposition. I am trying to get another group of likeminded pure-blooded Wizards together. It would be a shame if we wouldn't finish what our Master started," Lucius said quietly with a secretive voice, pretending to look around like he was making sure that he hadn't been followed.
When the man didn't say anything right away Lucius continued, "May we come inside? This is not meant for other ears."
Preston Prince looked outside to make sure nobody else was there and then nodded and stepped back so his visitors could enter.
As soon as Severus had slipped inside next to Lucius he already had his wand in his hand and cursed the man with a Full Body-Bind. Preston fell backwards, as stiff as a board, with a startled look frozen on his face. Severus then got out of the invisibility cloak which was a little restrictive and put it back into his pocket. He felt an almost overwhelming urge to hurt the bastard, but he was so desperate to find Bobbie that he turned to go down the hall.
Draco carefully opened the door closest to the entrance and saw that it was a bathroom. He said, "Let's pull him into here just in case somebody else is in this house, and I will stay and keep an eye out in case they try to use the bathroom. You two go find Bobbie. Father will make a better argument than I can if you run into someone else."
Severus turned back to help pull the man into the bathroom and Draco sat down with his wand drawn on the chair in front of one of the washbasins. Severus and Lucius went back into the hallway and Draco closed the door behind them.
Severus walked silently along the marble hallway with Lucius following closely behind. They eventually came to a stairway that led to a lower level of the house. Since Bobbie had told Severus over the phone that she was held captive in the dungeons he didn't hesitate to use them. After that there came another flight of stairs which they also descended. They came to a hallway with a floor of rough hewn stones. There were several doors on either side. Since he had no idea behind which door Bobbie was held captive they decided to split up with Severus checking the doors on the left side and Lucius on the right.
They proceeded as quietly as they could, going from door to door. First they were trying to see if a door was unlocked and if it wasn't they were using 'Alohomora'. Most doors turned out to be unlocked, some were even open. Severus side had fewer doors and when he had checked them all he went to help Lucius. They finally came to a heavy steel door. It was locked. Lucius unlocked it with the spell and they walked inside. What little light the small window let in was hardly enough to illuminate all the way to the corners. They saw what they thought was a pile of blankets and rags in one corner and just when they decided there was nobody in the room and started to leave Lucius saw the pile move. He tapped Severus on his arm and whispered, "Severus, I think somebody is there."
Severus ran to the corner Lucius had motioned to and when he touched the pile of blankets Bobbie slowly picked up her head and looked up with puffy eyes. "S- Severus?" she whispered and then a tiny bit louder, "Severus!" Her eyes were filling with tears but she had a relieved smile on her face and she whispered, "I knew you would find me."
Severus couldn't believe his eyes at how bad of a condition she was in. Hate for the man who had done this to her entered his insides but he held it down for her sake. This was not the time. He knelt down in front of her and carefully pulled her into his arms. She was shivering and he asked quietly, "Are you okay?"
"C- cold..."
"Let's get you out of here." He carefully pulled her up off the floor and then picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the cell and to the stairs where she said, "P-please put me d-down. I c-can walk... Need to w-walk... get warm..."
He set her down and she suddenly noticed Lucius. Severus followed her eyes and said, "Lucius helped me to find you. Draco is here also."
Severus brushed her matted hair out of her face and stroked her cheek. With the light from the 'Lumos' he had cast on his wand he could see that her face was dirty and dried streaks from tears were running down her cheeks. A wave of compassion ran through him and it almost choked him. He said, "Let me help you. Your legs are shaky from sitting too long in that cold corner. I don't want you to fall."
She nodded thankfully and let him help her up the stairs.
Lucius was following behind. He had closely watched them from the time they had found her. All of a sudden something unimaginable happened inside him. He realized that he could remember what it was like to love somebody. He envied Severus but not in a bad way. He found himself being happy for him. Even though their marriage had been arranged he and Narcissa used to love each other. What had happened to that love? How could they go from that to the place they were now, where they were cheating on each other? He suddenly felt the urge to save what was left of his marriage and resolved to cut down on his drinking and be a good husband to his wife and maybe, hopefully they could get back to respect and love each other again.
He saw Severus helping his wife up the first set of stairs. Before she could tackle the next one Severus had her sit down on a step for a moment. Lucius noticed how patient Severus was and how he held her because she was cold. He watched them and then moved forward and put a warming charm on Bobbie's clothes. She gave Lucius a thankful smile and Severus thanked him with a nod.
They finally made it up the second flight of stairs when Severus said, "This is too slow. I need to get you to Hogwarts and into the infirmary." He again picked her up and carried her towards the exit of the house.
"No, let me down," Bobbie said. "We can't leave - not yet anyway."
Puzzled Severus sat her down on her feet again and she made her way to one of the doors and opened it. Severus asked, "Where are you going?"
"To see your grandmother. She is a good woman and she is being poisoned by your cousin," Bobbie replied and walked inside the room and sat down in the chair she had sat in the day before, during her short lived escape.
Severus tried following her but ran into the wards at the door and so did Lucius. Both were thrown back against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Lucius looked at Bobbie and then at Severus and asked, "What is going on?"
"My wife can walk through wards. It is one type of magic she has," Severus told him.
"That is..., that can come in handy. But how do you get her out of there if she doesn't want to leave?" Lucius asked.
"I don't!" Severus said, knowing Bobbie's flashbacks. "I trust her instincts implicitly. If she is saying that woman - my grandmother - in there is good, I know that she is," He walked up to the door and saw the woman lying in her bed. She appeared frail but looked straight at him. He asked, "Is there anybody else in this house?"
"No, only Preston, the elf and I," she said and then gave Severus a weak smile and continued. "I am sorry, you can't come in here my boy. I would like to see you. Preston has Quincy and me trapped. Only your lovely wife seems to have the power to overcome the wards."
"I will get help," Severus said and pulled out his mobile phone.
"You need to get your wife out of here. You need to see that she and that precious baby are okay," Richelle said to Severus. Then she looked at Bobbie and said, "You go to Severus. I could never live with myself if something would go wrong on my account."
Bobbie said, "I can wait until Severus is calling the Aurors."
"No! Please go. I will be fine until then," Richelle insisted.
Reluctantly Bobbie got up and as she walked outside the door she said, "I will make sure that they are helping you." She touched the woman's hand in parting and the flashback she saw told her that Richelle had spoken the truth when she had told the story about her family.
Severus waited for Bobbie to come to him. He looked at his watch and then dialed Harry's number. When Harry picked up he said, "You may want to dismiss the last class, especially since there are only 15 minutes left of it. We found Bobbie. She seems to be okay so far, but there are a few things you'll want to take care of. You need to send some Aurors to Prince Manor to pick up the culprit. You also need to see if you can get a hold of Bill Weasley or some other gifted Curse-Breaker. There are a lot of wards in this house, some of them I have never seen and there is a house elf walking around wearing a restriction collar, which is supposed to be illegal." Severus glanced inside the door of his bed-stricken grandmother and added, "There is also an old woman I would like to have transported to the infirmary in Hogwarts. Bobbie said she is being poisoned. I would like to see if I can help her."
While Severus talked to Harry Lucius joined Draco at his watch. They put Preston in magical shackles sitting against a wall in the hallway. Even though he was now able to talk, because he was out of the Full Body-Bind he decided to just sit there quietly and glare at everyone.
"Now, how do we get you to Hogwarts in a hurry?" Severus said to Bobbie after he ended his call with Harry. "We can't use the fireplace here because it isn't connected to the infirmary. I was hoping I wouldn't have to Apparate us back and then have to walk you through the snow from the Apparation point to the castle. You've had to endure enough cold."
"We can go to my house from here. The fireplace of Malfoy Manor is still connected to this one from the time when the meetings with the Dark Lord were held there. Your wife can rest in front of the warm fire in the drawing room until the Headmistress can connect the fireplace in the Manor to the one in the infirmary," Lucius said.
Severus was a little suspicious at the sudden turnaround in Lucius's demeanor, but Bobbie walked up to Lucius and took his hand and said, "Thank you Lucius. I really appreciate it."
Severus knew that Bobbie now saw from Lucius's flashback that he was sincere in his offer to help. Still he didn't want to give in too easily and asked, "Are you sure it isn't an inconvenience?"
"I insist!" Lucius said with an annoyed grin and added, "Let's just get the bloody hell out of here."
Severus caught Draco looking at him rolling his eyes in Lucius's direction and then winked and grinned at Severus. He knew his father was embarrassed to show a more agreeable side to his normally haughty disposition.
"Indeed, let's go," Severus agreed.
"I will stay and wait for Harry to make sure this guy," Draco pointed at Preston, "is staying put."
"Thank you Draco!" Severus said and then took out his mobile phone once more and again dialed Harry. "Harry, are you still at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, I dismissed the class. I'm at Minerva's right now to let her know that I had to leave."
"Perfect! Would you mind letting me talk to her for a minute?"
"No problem, here she is..."
Severus waited until Minerva said tentatively, "Severus?" and then he asked her to connect the fireplace in the infirmary to Malfoy Manor. First she was a little reluctant to do so but when Severus had told her that Bobbie 'knew' that it was okay, she readily agreed to it.
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When Severus and Bobbie came out of the fireplace in the infirmary Poppy was already waiting and had a bed in the private room in the back of the infirmary ready for her.
Bobbie was so exhausted and tired that she didn't even put up a fight when Poppy and Severus made her soak in the tub for a while. Bobbie was able to wash the rest of herself but was too exhausted to hold her arms up long enough to wash her matted hair and then brush the knots out. Severus did it for her while Poppy brought a night gown for her and also poured a dose of Pepperup down her throat.
Even though Lucius had told Abbe to bring a stack of folded up blankets and Severus had tucked them all around her during their short stay in Malfoy Manor, Bobbie finally got over the rest of the chill in the warm bath. Severus dried and clothed her in the nightgown and then carried her to bed where he tucked her into warmed blankets. She was asleep before her head touched the pillow.
Poppy scanned Bobbie for injuries and also to find out if the baby was well. "She is a strong woman, Severus. Everything seems to be fine considering what she just went through. Being cold for so long and not having a bed to sleep in has exhausted her but she needs to build up her strength with rest, just like she did after she gave you those energy transfers after Voldemort's snake bit you."
"Don't remind me... I still cannot believe she did that."
Poppy smiled when Severus lovingly brushed a strand of hair out of Bobbie's sleeping face and then said, "You should also get some rest. You didn't get much of it in the last few days. I also heard that you and Harry didn't sleep at all last night."
"I will go and take a shower but I will be back to stay with her. I don't want to leave her. I just got her back."
Poppy squeezed his forearm and said, "I understand." Then she pointed to an overstuffed chair in the corner and said with a smile, "I know for a fact that this chair is pretty comfortable."
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Severus went to his quarters and showered and made it back within 20 minutes. He went to get the chair Poppy had mentioned but then thought better of it and left it where it was. Bobbie was lying on her side so he took off his boots and climbed onto the bed behind her and scooted up to her until she was molded against him. He put his arm over her and laid his hand onto her belly. He took in a long breath of the scent of her hair and skin before he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
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Around 10 o'clock the next morning Poppy opened the door to the private room and she found Severus and Bobbie still molded together and asleep. She smiled at the picture of peace and contentment.
Severus woke up from a tiny noise Poppy made when she sat two vials of potion on the nightstand. He saw Poppy and asked quietly, "What time is it?"
"Around 10," she answered.
"Shit, I've missed my first class," he hissed and sat up. Bobbie stirred from the commotion.
"Don't worry about it, Severus," Poppy whispered so she wouldn't wake Bobbie and pushed him back down. "We didn't wake you because we knew you needed your sleep. Minerva looked in on your class. It was the 7th years and she said everything is fine. Everybody read about your rescue mission in the Daily Prophet this morning so the students figured you wouldn't show up and neither would Harry Potter to teach them. They made due with the advanced students, the lot who had been in the DA is teaching the others. Minerva said they were very disciplined."
"Good, my next class is after lunch. I think I will make it by then."
"You can take the day off Severus. Mr Potter has Ron Weasley lined up to teach the rest of the day."
Then he abruptly changed the subject and asked, "Before I forget, has an old woman been brought here yet?"
"Yes, Bill Weasley dropped her off in the early morning hours. She is sleeping. I gave her a dreamless sleep potion. Harry said she was poisoned so I checked her for that. It was nothing that the bezoar potion you brewed couldn't fix. She will be fine, but we may need to give her some of your Muskle-Gro. She has been bedridden for so long that her muscles have atrophied."
Severus nodded deeply in thought. He eventually would have to come to terms with the fact that he had a grandmother and if he wanted to allow her into his life... But for now she was taken care of and he didn't have to teach any classes today. He sighed with relief and Poppy suddenly said, "Seeing you two in that bed reminds me of when Bobbie was sleeping next to you after that monster Tom Riddle almost killed you with the Cruciatus."
"I don't remember that...," Severus said.
"You wouldn't because I thought it was better to wake her and have her leave before you woke up. You were a different person back then and would have been embarrassed to get caught in a compromising position like that." Poppy winked. "Your arms were wrapped all around her and she had a hard time extracting herself from you."
"Don't make me regret brewing that potion for you, so you are able to remember everything before Albus obliviated you," he said good-naturedly.
Poppy chuckled quietly. "I am glad you did, my boy. It was interesting seeing you two becoming acquainted. I believed Albus being a little barmy, thinking he could get you two to cooperate with one another in whatever scheme he had in mind at the time. Turns out he was right." Poppy smiled mischievously and added, "I think you already loved her then, even though you would have never admitted it."
"Probably not...," he said while staring out of the window. Eventually he whispered more to himself than to Poppy, "I think I loved her from the first time I saw her."
Poppy smiled, "You changed Severus and I think I like those changes. You never in a million years would have said anything like that before."
"You'd better not tell anybody or I'll still have to kill you," he said with a grin.
Poppy chuckled quietly and patted his shoulder. "Go back to sleep. I will check on you around noon time. You both lost a lot of sleep. If Bobbie wakes up give her those two potions I set on the nightstand."
He nodded and laid his head back down and watched Poppy leave the room, closing the door quietly. He again molded himself against Bobbie. Unfortunately all of a sudden sleep was the furthest from his mind. The talk about his love for her, her scent and the closeness let an almost unbearable hunger for her well up inside him. Instinctively he slowly pushed his growing desire against her which made things only worse. Merlin, get a hold of yourself, he scolded himself. His breathing had become ragged and he knew he needed to get away from her or he would wake her with his arousal.
Just when he was getting ready to get up Bobbie asked quietly, "Where are you going?"
"I..., I was going to use the lavatory...," he said.
"Liar, come back here!" she said with a smile.
"You were awake?" he asked and then said, "I can't stay here. You need rest."
"I need you more," Bobbie insisted.
"We can't do that here. Poppy is right outside that door," Severus argued.
She grabbed his hand and kept him from getting up. "That makes it so much more exciting."
His heart was beating like mad. He wanted her desperately and when Bobbie lightly stroked the object of her desire he gave up and finally cast a silencing charm on the door and lay back down and pulled her against him. He couldn't remember a time when he needed her more. He again pushed himself against her. Even though they had limited options for lovemaking with her advanced pregnancy he still thought she was the most desirable woman in the world for him.
He stroked up her thigh and then stopped at her junction and slid a finger inside her. She moaned with pleasure and pressed herself closer to the bulge in his trousers and whispered, "Please Severus, I need to feel you inside me." It just about drove him insane. He opened his trousers and pushed her panties down and slowly entered her. He felt her squeeze him and heard her moaning in pleasure.
He slowly moved on her, all the while keeping an eye on the door. She had been right, the risk of getting caught at any moment made it exciting, so exciting that he realized that he wasn't able to hold off much longer. Then he heard Bobbie pant in her pleasure and knew he didn't have to. When they reached the top they were as quiet as they possibly could be. Severus clung to her during his mind-blowing release and he knew from Bobbies muffled moans that she had been right there with him.
The time after was spent with caresses and kisses. Eventually both of them used the washroom to get cleaned up and Severus cast a cleaning spell on the sheets to erase all traces of what had happened. He also gave Bobbie the two potions she was supposed to take.
They both went back to bed and napped until Poppy looked in on them shortly after noon. Bobbie talked her into letting her go to their quarters after she promised that she would take it easy and get a lot of rest. Poppy told her she needed to take extra care of the baby because of her ordeal.
Severus wanted to use the Floo to get her there but Bobbie said she needed to walk. "I have done nothing other than sitting in the corner of that dungeon for days. I need to get a little bit of exercise."
He looked at Poppy and she nodded, "I think it is a good idea. Taking it easy doesn't mean she has to be in bed all day but I don't want her to do anything strenuous."
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When they arrived in their rooms the dogs went nuts. They were so excited to have her back that Severus had to literally fight them off so they could even get into the door. They finally made it to the sofa where Severus tucked some blankets around Bobbie and then he sat down on the chair next to her to read the Daily Prophet Poppy had stuck underneath his arm before they had left the infirmary.
"Anything interesting in there?" Bobbie asked.
"It looks like our Miss Granger has used her influence with Rita Skeeter again. There is no overinflated storytelling, only the basics; that you had been abducted by Preston Prince who had been known as a supporter of Voldemort -pardon me, You-Know-Who. Looks like some people are still afraid to say the name."
"Well, it has been that way for over a decade and it is probably still ingrained in people's brains. Anything else? They didn't even say that you rescued me?"
"They said that Mr Prince is in custody and that Lucius, Draco and I had been instrumental in the rescue."
"Instrumental? Really? Even though you guys did it all alone...?"
"They can't tell the whole truth to the general public. Harry would be in trouble because he knew about me taking matters into my own hands. He also lent me his invisibility cloak. They can't have people going off and doing their own thing without notifying the Aurors."
Bobbie thought about it and said, "Yes, I can see that. It wouldn't be a good thing." Then she reached out and put her hand on Severus knee and said, "At least the people who matter know what a courageous man you are."
He smiled at her and said, "You don't have to do that, you know?"
"Do what?"
"You are trying to make me feel better."
"I am only stating the truth. Look at what you have accomplished? You were a spy. Nobody I know could have done that. You invented the potion against Lycanthropy and the Cruciatus induced insanity. And then you go off and rescue me from this madman who held me captive. You should be proud of yourself. I sure am and you are definitely my hero."
Severus folded up the newspaper and scooted off his chair and sat down on the floor in front of the sofa right next to Bobbie. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her gently and then said quietly, "I am a lucky man to have somebody like you."
"And I am a lucky girl having somebody like you," she whispered. "I have never felt more safe than I do with you."
"To tell you the truth, I have thought many times that you would be a lot safer with someone who doesn't have all these enemies. I am just too selfish to let you go. I would walk away if you wished me to, but as long as you want me..."
"Don't even go there...," she said and gently put her fingers over his mouth."Please, Severus... I don't ever want you to leave."
He again kissed her and then said, "I know it is a little early but let us go to bed. I want to feel you next to me. That bed has been so empty the last few nights."
"Yes, let's do that. This will be far superior to the cell in those dungeons."
Severus got up from the floor and scooped her up and carried her to bed. While he did he said, "I am so sorry I didn't find you sooner."
"Please Baby, it is not your fault and I am sure you did everything you could possibly do."
He gently set her down on the bed and spelled her clothes off and her baggy sleep shirt on. "What, no love-making?" she asked.
"You heard Poppy, nothing strenuous and we have already broken all of the rules this morning in the infirmary," he said with a mischievous grin.
"Okay!" she said with a playful pout.
Severus dressed in his pajamas and then pulled her close with her back to him, which was the way they slept lately because of her baby belly. Bobbie turned her head and he kissed her. Just as he was about to fall asleep she asked, "Speaking of the infirmary... what are you doing about your grandmother? I know she wants to meet you."
"I will think about that tomorrow. I will have to teach my classes first."
"Do you mind if I see her in the morning?" she asked.
"No, you know her better than I do. I have never formally met her."
"Would you like to come visit during your break at noon? We could have lunch with her in the infirmary," Bobbie suggested. "She has been lonely for a very long time. Your cousin Preston basically only went to see her so he could slowly poison her. The only thing she was able to do was lay in that bed with Quincy, the house elf as her only company."
"I think that would work... now sleep. You need rest."
She snuggled deeper into Severus's arms and let herself drift off to sleep.
