34. Gringotts

On Monday evening Severus decided he would go to Gringotts the next day. He had a free period right after lunch on Tuesday and thought he should finally get it over with. Bobbie asked him if he wanted her to go with him. He looked at her and said quietly, "I would like that. I won't make you ride that cart but I would like you to be there when I open that lock box. Those boxes are in a room off the Main Hall."

Bobbie told Poppy that she would like to go with Severus for moral support when he was going to open Richelle's lockbox. Poppy understood and said, "You do that! He seemed to have taken her passing much harder than I would have ever anticipated. It will be good if you can be there for him."

"We should be back in about an hour. I don't have any appointments this afternoon, but I will help you with stocking those boxes over there when I'm back."

"What are you doing with Serina?" Poppy wanted to know.

"Ginny Weasley is babysitting her through lunch and the hour afterwards, since she also has a free period. We will be leaving right at lunch time and should be back way before Ginny has to go back to classes."

"Miss Weasley will like that. She is crazy about that little girl," Poppy said smiling while glancing into the corner where Serina was in her crib. "Like everybody else, I might add. It has been a long time since there has been a baby in the school." She waved at Bobbie and said, "I think I will go have lunch now and just in case it takes you longer I can take her from Miss Weasley and bring her back here."

Bobbie thanked Poppy and walked over to the crib and picked up her daughter and went with her to their quarters where Severus was already waiting with Ginny. The two had gotten into a conversation about the N.E.W.T.s, which were starting in about 4 weeks. Ginny seemed to be nervous about them and Severus told her, "I can't vouch for your other classes, but if you are as prepared as you are in Defence Against the Dark Arts, I think you can relax. I have never had a class that was up to the standards of yours. I think you will all do just fine. The DA definitely helped a lot."

"Thank you, Professor!" Ginny said and then started baby talk with Serina when she saw her.

Bobbie said to Ginny, "Well, you know where everything is. We will be back in about an hour to an hour and a half. If you want to take her outside for a little while, that will be fine."

"I think I will do that, thanks."

Then Severus and Bobbie put on their cloaks and went outside to walk to the Apparation zone to make the jump to Gringotts. When they arrived in front of the impressive building she looked at Severus and asked, "Ready?"

He took her hand and said, "As ready as I can be..."

They walked up the stairs and into the Main Hall. Again Bobbie couldn't believe the spectacular and imposing Hall and had to refrain from staring. They walked up to one of the Goblins and Severus produced the key for the lockbox and laid it on the counter.

"Professor Snape!" the Goblin said. Then he looked at Bobbie and said, with what Bobbie thought was a slightly derogatory grin, "Ah, and Dr Snape..."

Bobbie sighed and thought, looks like word has gotten out that I chickened out on riding that damn cart the last time.

Looking at the key the Goblin said, "Well, no cart ride today..."

Bobbie rolled her eyes at the remark while the Goblin grabbed the key and got down from his chair and said, "Follow me."

"I don't like those guys," Bobbie whispered to Severus while they were following the Goblin.

"Yes, they are a little strange, and their feeling is probably mutual," he whispered back.

"Strange? That is an understatement if I've ever heard one. They just rub me the wrong way. Like they say one thing and think something else. Very underhanded. I don't even have to touch them to know," she hissed quietly.

Severus chuckled and said, "That is a very accurate assessment. They are selling their gold items, like that bracelet I gave you, and still consider it theirs."

"Seriously? That is like having their cake and eating it too."

Severus looked at her with a raised eyebrow to which Bobbie said, "Never mind! It's a Muggle saying..."

They finally arrived in another hall, not quite as impressive as the Main Hall, where the Goblin came to a stop in front of a small lockbox and inserted the key into the key hole with a terse, "This is it Professor Snape." And then he just walked off.

Severus looked at the number on the box which matched the number on the key with a sigh. "Here it goes...," he whispered and turned the key. The box clicked open and all that was in there was a piece of parchment and another key. The parchment turned out to be the title to the estate of Prince Manor. When Severus looked at the key he noticed a brass keychain that was attached to it, and engraved on it was the name 'Richelle Fawley'.

"Fawley? Was that your grandmothers' maiden name?" Bobbie asked as she looked over Severus's shoulder, while balanced on her toes.

"I have no idea. It seems so," Severus answered. Then he had a closer look at the key and said, "This is a key for a vault."

"Oh great! So much for not having to use the rollercoaster...," Bobbie said with a pained expression.

Despite himself Severus had to chuckle. "Don't worry, my Love. I won't make you go with me."

"Good! Maybe this time they will let me stay in the Main Hall. I have seen some benches there. Or I can go outside and walk over to see George and Lee."

"I think you would have a much better time at George's, but..."

"If you want me to stay with you? It is no problem, Baby. If you need me I will wait for you."

He looked at her and said, "It isn't that. I can go to the vault myself. I'm just afraid somebody wants to snatch you again. Please be careful."

"Sev, I can't live in fear all my life. There is always something that can happen. I could cross the street in London and somebody might hit me with a car."

He reluctantly gave in and nodded. "I will pick you up at George's in a little while."

"Thank you!" She squeezed his hand and wanted to walk out of the lockbox hall when Severus grabbed her and kissed her.

She smiled at him with a wink and said, "Have fun on that rollercoaster."

Bobbie slowly strolled in the direction of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and did some window shopping on the way. Some of those magic things she saw there still stooped her and she had a permanent smile plastered on her face.

When she arrived she was spotted by George who said, "Well, look who is here? If it isn't my favorite Snape."

She laughed and said, "Well, you only have a 50/50 selection here. Well, there is Serina, but I doubt she will walk into the store any time soon."

"Yeah well, while Severus isn't a bad guy and all, I think I prefer the female kind."

"You know, I would bet Severus agrees with you in that regard," she joked.

George looked around and asked, "Where is he? You're out for a stroll by yourself? Where is that little girl of yours? Oh, wait..., it's a school day. He's probably hexing some poor and defenceless chap in his classroom."

"Nope! Ginny is babysitting Serina and Severus is over at Gringotts. It worked out perfectly because it just so happens that Ginny also had a free period right after lunch."

"Oops, there he is now...," George said pointing to the door.

Bobbie turned around and saw Severus marching inside. She said to him, "Well, that didn't take you long. I just got here about 5 minutes ago. Of course, I'll have to admit that I took my time and looked at all of the shop windows."

"So, he doesn't want you to go with him and count all of his money?" George joked and motioned at Severus.

"Well, it is more like I don't want to faint or barf my guts out on those damn carts in there," Bobbie admitted.

George laughed and said, "Ah, you're one of those. My guess is that didn't go down too well with the Goblins. They are very proud of that railway."

"No kidding! I was there only one time and already made a lasting impression. Despite that Goblin being only half my size he looked down on me like I was a house elf."

George and Severus both laughed at the way she rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't read too much into it," Severus said and then asked George, "So I hear your little brother is going to start working here in December?"

"Yes, Ronnie-Poo has agreed to partner with me."

"Ronnie-Poo...," Bobbie spluttered. "Don't let him hear that."

"Naah, he can handle it...!" George waved it off.

"Well, sorry I have to break this party up, but we've got to go back to the school and rescue your sister from our daughter. The free period is almost over," Severus said with a look at his watch.

"Well, it was great you stopped by. I better go and give Lee a hand in the backroom. Say hi to Ginny from her favorite big brother."

They said their goodbyes and Severus and Bobbie walked outside the store and Apparated back to Hogwarts. When they walked up to the castle they saw Ginny sitting with their daughter outside in the sun and the dogs lying next to them. She said, "I hope you don't mind that I let the dogs out too."

"No, that was good thinking. Thank you Miss Weasley," Bobbie said.

They extended the greetings from George and then Severus took the dogs back to their rooms while Ginny went to her classes and Bobbie took Serina with her to the infirmary.

888

When Severus and Bobbie met up again during dinner in the Great Hall Bobbie saw an owl coming in and dropping a rolled up parchment onto Severus's plate. He took it and unrolled it, just to roll it back up after he had glanced at it. When Bobbie looked at him with a questioning face he said, "I will tell you later."

She said, "Okay," and they went back to their meal.

When they were back in their quarters and Serina was securely tucked in her bed Severus took Bobbie's hand and pulled her to the sofa and motioned for her to sit down. He took the roll of parchment out of his pocket and said, "We didn't have time to talk about that vault in Gringotts. I also called Hermione to send me a copy of the Fawley family tree." He held up the rolled up parchment and said, "Here it is and my grandmother is on there."

"They have everyone's family tree at the Ministry?" Bobbie wanted to know.

"Only of the so called 'sacred 28 purebloods'. The Fawleys are one of them," Severus explained. Then he said, "Turns out I am distantly related to Sullivan Fawley, one of my former students."

"It's a small world...," Bobbie said.

"Indeed. Especially when it comes to the pureblood Wizarding families, who are marrying their first cousins if need be, just so they don't dilute their precious pure blood," Severus said with disgust. "Then again, the Fawley's, Weasley's, and a couple others aren't that stringent."

"It is no wonder they are having trouble conceiving children. It doesn't hurt to get some fresh blood in there once in a while."

Severus nodded and unrolled the parchment he was still holding. Then he pulled the vault key out of his pocket and said, "Didn't my grandmother say that Preston spent most of the family fortune?"

"She did!" Bobbie confirmed.

"Well, then I don't know why she would say that, because there is a large vault full of trinkets, jewellery, statues and gold."

"I didn't have the impression that she lied to me. Of course I never went through her flashback beside the necessities. If you want me to find out what is going on, I can recall her memories. She has passed on and it will stay between the two of us..."

Severus admitted, "I would like to know. What if there is some mix-up and it didn't belong to her? Not that I think those Goblins would make a mistake like that. But what if it is dirty money? I don't want it, if it is." Severus had gotten quieter and quieter.

Bobbie took his hand and said, "Why don't you give me a minute and I will find out."

She leant back against the sofa and Severus watched her closing her eyes and relaxing. It didn't take long at all when she opened her eyes again and said, "It is her inheritance from her side of the family. It was in some type of trust until she turned 40... Wow, 40...! That is a long time. In our world, and I am including Muggles, I have never heard of holding a trust until such a late age. It is usually in between 18 and 30."

"Magical people have a longer life span. It isn't unheard of that a trust goes to age of 40 or older," Severus pointed out.

"Right, I forgot." She thought about it a little longer and said, "Okay, that makes sense then. She never opened the trust because shortly after you left Hogwarts her husband - your grandfather - died and you went with Voldemort and Preston was throwing whatever money the Prince's had into Voldemort's cause. Your mother was gone too, so your grandmother kept the vault a secret. Her husband did know about it at one time but he had enough from his side of the family and he was also dead by the time Richelle turned 40."

"Ah, and Preston never knew...," Severus said and smiled. "She was a smart woman. If she would have said anything about the vault to Preston, he would have found a way to get it away from her and Voldemort would have had even more resources."

"So you can relax. The money is not dirty. It was just your grandmothers' dowry."

Severus again unrolled the parchment with the family tree and said, "She most likely used some of this vault to fix up the estate again in the last few months after all the neglect from Preston."

Severus's mood had by then turned a little subdued. He took a deep breath and let it out noisily. Then he got up and opened the top drawer on his desk and unceremoniously dumped the key and the parchment into it saying, "I will make a decision about that vault later. I have to go to the Ministry tomorrow and change the name on the title for the Manor, so I can get Kingsley off my back."

Bobbie who had gotten up by then went to him and stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers and said, "Kingsley isn't pressuring you. He is actually right. You are using the potion lab in the Manor and you need to make it official."

"I know. It just doesn't feel right without her being there," he said letting out a resigned sigh and then he added, "I think I'm going to bed." Bobbie watched him walk to the bedroom with his head hanging low.

888

The end of May came and with it Severus and Bobbie's first wedding anniversary. Severus had decided to take Bobbie out to the 'Blue Cypress' for a dinner inside the private room again. Since it was a Sunday he had secured it weeks in advance.

Since this was Severus's weekend to stay at Hogwarts they left from there. 'Aunt Minerva' had readily agreed to keep Serina for the night.

After they dropped her off in the Headmistresses office they got ready. Severus wore dress robes in midnight blue with silver trim. His hair pulled back in a low pony tail held together with a black leather string.

Bobbie had gone to Madam Maulkin the week before and had picked a black sequined dress that hugged her nice figure perfectly. It was held up by straps made out of thin silver chains and had a very low back almost down to her behind. She wore a little bit of makeup and had braided her hair in a loose, long braid down her back and had worked in a sequined black satin ribbon. Bobbie had also bought the matching clutch purse which held the gift she had bought for Severus. She rounded up her appearance with the shiny black sandals she had worn for Severus's first birthday they had celebrated together. She smiled when she thought about how that had turned out.

When she walked out of the bathroom Severus took her hand and said reverently, "You look breathtaking, my Love."

"Thank you, Baby," she said and walked up to him and kissed him. "And you are so very handsome."

When Bobbie walked by him to the coat closet to retrieve her cloak Severus noticed the low back and gasped when he didn't see a bra. He asked, "You're not going to wear a bra?"

"No, this dress would look funny if I would wear one," she said.

"I... I don't know if... if I like that," he said.

"I bought it because I thought you would," Bobbie said with a pang of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I love it. I just don't want other men to like it. Men like Lucius who will undress you with their eyes."

"Lucius has changed. He and Narcissa have found each other again."

"But there will be others...," Severus said. "I don't want to share you."

"But you don't have to, Baby. I am all yours. Let them look and let them be envious of you. There are plenty of women who are envious of me, because I have this wonderful, sensuous, good looking, graceful and successful, sexy husband. And I will be proud to show you off."

Severus's eyes looked all the way down to her soul and he said, "I am proud of you. I can't believe you are mine. I am just so protective of you because I don't ever want to lose you." He gently cradled her face and kissed her and then he added, "And now let us celebrate the day which was the happiest day of my life."

"...of our life!" Bobbie insisted.

"Please tell me you are wearing panties, "Severus said when he helped her into her cloak.

"I am wearing panties," she said with a knowing smile.

888

Bobbie and Severus had a great evening. Bobbie had nursed Serina just before they had dropped her off with Minerva, so she decided to have a glass of wine. "By tomorrow the alcohol will have worked its way out of my body. Minerva will give Serina a bottle if she gets hungry. It doesn't hurt to do it once in a while anyway. I intend to stop nursing in a couple of months, so it's better to get her used to some other food."

They had a delicious dinner and then started a conversation about the time they had met and how much they were drawn to each other from the beginning, and how it almost ended before it really began because Severus threw her out when he found out about her being Nevari and knowing all of his sins.

Severus concluded, "I can't believe I almost lost the best thing that ever came into my life." He squeezed her hand he had been holding for most of the evening.

When there was a knock on the door Severus opened it and a boy with a bouquet of white roses walked inside. Severus took them from him and paid him with a generous tip. Then he gave the roses to Bobbie who thanked him with a radiant smile which turned into a mischievous one when she pulled out one of the roses and stroked the blossom of it down his cheek and asked, "Remember that?"

He gasped and said with a husky voice, "I will never forget...!"

She then leant into him and whispered into his ear, "I lied! I'm not wearing any panties."

When Severus heard this, a hot wave flushed through him and he was almost instantly hard. He swallowed before he said under his breath, "Gods, you are maddening...!" He took her hand and pressed it to his crotch for a moment. "How can I walk out of the restaurant like this? How do you expect me to be like this until we get home? Merlin, I want you right now and we still need to pay for our meal," Severus said in frustration.

Bobbie said with a husky voice, "I think you look absolutely delicious, Baby." Then she got up and walked outside the room to find the waitress. When she did she said, "Sorry, but we just were notified of a small emergency and have to leave in a hurry. I will get our cloaks. If you could just get our check ready?"

"That is no problem at all. You and Professor Snape are here all the time. We can just add it to the bill next time."

"Thank you Ma'am. We appreciate it," Bobbie said and retrieved their cloaks.

She went back to the room where Severus still sat and gave him his cloak. "Here this will help."

He shook his head and said with a voice laced with desire, "You are driving me out of my mind."

"Are you complaining?" Bobbie asked mischievously.

"Not really, but I would prefer to be in my own four walls when you do that." He shrugged into his cloak and looked down on himself to make sure there were no outward signs of his state and then they left. Once outside he wrapped her into his arms pressing his hardness into her and said, "Get ready!"

Bobbie took a deep breath of air and the next thing she knew they were in the cottage. Severus had no desire to walk all the way from the Apparation zone with this painfully throbbing erection in his pants, so before Bobbie could ask why they had Apparated into the cottage he took some Floo powder, threw it into the fireplace, shouted "Hogwarts, Snape quarters" and pulled her into the fireplace. As soon as they arrived they tore each other's clothes off. They barely made it to the sofa in front of the fireplace when Severus entered her. They were so far gone that they climaxed after only a few strokes.

They both panted and then burst out into laughs. Severus said, "I can't believe we did this."

"I know! I haven't had this much fun in a long time, and I haven't even given you your gift," Bobbie said. She got up and fetched her purse and pulled out a small box.

"You got me a gift?" Severus asked.

"Well, I saw this when I went to buy this poor dress that we dropped so unceremoniously on the floor over there," she said with a laugh. "I thought it was perfect."

When Severus unwrapped it he found a wrist watch. While he took it out of its box Bobbie said, "You keep saying that you need to get another watch because your pocket watch keeps messing up. Since you never did I thought I'd do it for you. It also has the moon phase on it, now that you don't need it anymore because most of the werewolves are cured by healers and you don't have to. Talking about perfect timing," she snorted.

"It is a beautiful watch, and since I don't have that damnable Dark Mark anymore I can finally wear a wrist watch." He smiled at her and said, "Thank you, my Love. It is perfect."

Then Severus got up and first directed their clothes onto the hooks in their closet with a wave of his hand and then walked to the table where the bouquet of roses had appeared before they had gotten home. He pulled one of them out and walked up to Bobbie and traced a line with the blossom from her throat, in between her breasts, down her belly and to her core and said with his black eyes never leaving hers, "Now I would like to have a less urgent version of our earlier endeavor."

She smiled at him and he took her hand and led her to their bed, where they did just that.

888

The next morning right before they were getting ready to go to the Great Hall Severus got an owl post from the head healer of St Mungo's:

Dear Professor Snape,

I am happy to report that we successfully cured the first of the children - an eleven year old girl last night. Your calculations were spot-on with her body weight and she woke without any problems. Her parents have told me to extend their utmost thanks to you.

In addition we have healed two teenagers who are in perfect condition as well.

Sincerely, Siobhan O'Malley

Severus smiled and then gave the letter to Bobbie. She read it and said, "Yay, things are definitely looking up for the werewolves. I am so proud of you." Then she thought about it for a moment and said, "Wait..., last night? While we were celebrating our anniversary? I am surprised you didn't want to sit in on that. You know we could have celebrated on another day..."

"They assured me that they had it under control. Oliver Thomson said it best. He said that I can't be there every time they cure a person inflicted with the disease. Things have spread to other countries. I can't be everywhere..."

"True!" She said and then walked up to Severus, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest and said, "And I wouldn't want to have missed last night for anything."

He pulled her chin up and said quietly, "I love you!" Then he took a deep breath and said, "We better go. Everyone will be in the Great Hall for breakfast already, wondering where we are."

"Yes, we need to fetch our daughter from 'Aunt Minerva', before she decides to keep her."

When they arrived they walked up to Minerva who had the pram next to her but was holding Serina in her arms. When she saw them coming she said, "This little munchkin was an angel and she loves animals."

"Let me guess, she played with a cat?" Severus asked with a wink.

"She sure did and she is trying to talk up a storm," Minerva said while Serina tried getting a hold of Minerva's hat.

"Bobbie and I are talking to her as much as we can and she is trying to imitate what we say," Severus said proudly and stretched his arms out to Serina who put hers up towards him. Minerva handed her over and Severus had to get his hair out of the way because that was her next target. He said, "I hear you were a good girl..."

Serina went, "Da -da-da-da."

"Oh my, she is trying to say 'Daddy'," Bobbie whispered.

Severus softly pressed his daughter to him and whispered to her, "My beautiful little girl. Are you trying to say Daddy? Say it again. Say Daddy."

"Da-da," came the answer and Serina was rewarded with a kiss on her cheek before he walked up to Bobbie trying to give Serina to her saying, "Unfortunately Daddy isn't the one who can feed you."

Before he could hand her over Minerva said, "She is fine. I gave her another bottle just a while ago. She seems to like it."

"We'll. Looks like we are staying here then, instead of running off for nursing," Bobbie said and Severus put Serina into her pram so they could have their breakfast.