I ran out of time to write more today as I have to plot my original fic for next week. So 'Severus meets the Parents' will be in 2 parts. I honestly didn't think it would be this long!

The suburb of Hunters Hill was quiet and leafy, the sky clear and blue even in the depths of an Australian winter. The late afternoon air was warm compared to the deep chill of the cavernous Portkey Stations of London and wizarding Sydney.

The crack of apparition faded and Severus held his breath. But no one came running. No alarms or people screeched. Good… He breathed again and around him the scents of eucalyptus and myrtle hung heavy. Hermione had brought them to a small copse, set behind the municipal grey metal of a bus shelter.

She grabbed his hand and a tremor ran through her to him. He squeezed her fingers in return. She'd never have to face her parents alone again. Never.

He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed their tips. She blushed and he smirked at her. Two whole days in bed…and it still wasn't enough. His mouth slipped to her palm…

She slid him a chastising glare. "Their house is just over there." She pointed beyond the shelter to a low, red-brick bungalow set back behind wooden, electronic gates. "I syphoned as much of their savings as I could to their new names…and my mother, apparently, discovered a hidden talent for the stock market." A smile twitched across her lips. "They are very comfortable. Hence this place." She waved her hand in a general way. "It took me ages to find them because of it."

Then she grew quiet. Her lips pressed together and her body stiffened. Fear held her. How many times had her parents rejected her? Pushed her away, blamed her for doing the right thing? For saving their lives. Hermione was too conciliatory…but then they were her parents. Severus planned not to be. Oh, he'd show them how real magic could be.

He pulled Hermione forward as her feet seemed rooted to the earth. "Either we go across the road to that little house, or I strip you naked and have my wicked way with you, my wife." He lifted an eyebrow. "Well?"

She snorted a laugh. "That's hardly a fair choice, Severus."

He leered at her. "Who ever said life was fair?"

Hermione slapped his arm. "Enough, wicked man." She lifted her chin. "The sooner I see them, the sooner I can get home."

Her eyes tightened and the pain and worry practically ebbed from her. "You have me, now, Hermione. We will see them."

She linked her arm through his, her hold just that little bit too firm and slipped from the copse. Slanted sunlight cut along the street and they crossed the empty road in silence.

The electronic gate was locked against them. There was a little box mounted on a post. Was Hermione meant to buzz her away in? To ask to be allowed to visit. A shiny new car sat before the garage. The Grangers could hardly deny they were home. Would they try?

Severus waved his wand and the circuits on the gate fizzed, reacting –badly— to the sudden surge of magic. "What a shame," he murmured at Hermione's panicked look. "I thought it was a simple lock."

"No you didn't!"

He lifted an eyebrow, remained silent and started to walk up the concrete driveway. The house was still, only the rhythmic call of unknown birds filling the air. He climbed the few stone steps to the meshed front door and rapped on it.

Voices sounded within, male and female. Locks clicked and clunked and a tallish man, tanned, balding and possibly ten years Severus' senior stood in the open doorway. "Who are you? How did you—?" His blue gaze flicked to Hermione who was half-hiding behind Severus' back. "Oh. You broke in." His mouth thinned and he peered between them to the gently smoking wood and metal of his gate.

"We did not break in. There was…an unfortunate accident."

The male Granger blinked and Severus held back a dark smile. Yes, his voice often surprised those who didn't know him. That something so smooth and beautiful could emerge from his ugly old mug.

"May we come in?"

Granger stiffened. "We weren't expecting you." His eyes narrowed on Hermione. "Either of you."

"Now that is a lie, isn't it, Mr Granger?"

The man's mouth pressed together, just as his daughter's did. "Just who are you?"

Severus bowed his head in a polite greeting. "Professor Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." His smile was thin. "You may have heard of me."

Hermione squeezed his arm. "Please, Dad, can we come inside?"

Granger flinched. His hands balled into fists. Severus half-expected him to stamp his feet. He almost laughed. Oh he'd survived much more threatening men than David Granger. "Why did you bring this...this man?"

"I'm a wizard, Mr Granger."

Hermione's father shook his head. "No, not in my house. I will not have –your sort— here again."

Severus tilted his head, his expression purposefully smug. "I do believe that really is just too bad."

A charm slicked the floor under Granger's feet and with a gentle shove, Severus sent him sliding across the bright, wooden floor. He didn't stop till he hit a large, grey leather couch that took up a full corner of the room. Where he fell backwards over it in a surprised lump. Severus escorted a shocked Hermione into the front room and closed the door behind him.

"Severus, this is not helping!" Hermione hissed at him, colour sharp in her cheeks and panic in her eyes. "They'll never—"

He placed a light finger across her lips to quiet her. "They are never going to listen. Leave this to me. I promise, no harm will come to them. But they have to be made aware of your sacrifice." Anger roiled in his gut, but he pushed it down. He would show them.

She pushed his finger away. "And you won't hurt them?"

Gods, she looked so young and scared in that moment, he simply wanted to take her in his arms and shield her from the world. He almost snorted. They still had that bridge to cross. How to explain to two concrete-headed muggles that their daughter was the soul-mate to a wizard almost twice her age.

"They are still your parents, Hermione."

"Wendell?"

The long stretch of glass doors to the rear of the bungalow creaked open and a small, darker version of Hermione crossed into the open kitchen.

Hermione froze and a cut of pain crossed her face. The damnable muggles were still using their aliases. Which meant they hadn't touched the Therapie of Myalo he'd brewed that Easter.

The female Granger stilled in the wide space that stood between the front room and the kitchen. "Who…? What?" She frowned as she glared at Hermione. "Why are you here?"

"Hello, Mum." Hermione forced a smile as her mother scowled. "I sent an owl. I said I'd be coming the Tuesday after school finished."

"An owl," her mother muttered. "Who ever decided that an amazingly untrainable bird such as an owl would be good replacement for a decent postal service?"

"Beatrice Goody in 1237. Almost three to four hundred years before your Royal Mail, I believe." Severus gave her a dark, patronising smile. "And open to every witch and wizard, not just the special few."

Mrs Granger huffed a breath. "Who are you?"

"He's the Headmaster of that bloody school!" Mr Granger declared, righting himself and gingerly putting his feet on the floor. He gritted his teeth. "I didn't ask you in, now please leave."

Severus ignored him. "Why have you not taken the potion Hermione asked me to brew for you?"

Beside him, Hermione gasped. "You haven't taken it? But the headaches. The nerve pain. The nausea. All of it would go."

"As if we'd trust our health to a bottle of herbs and coloured water!" Mr Granger stood free of the couch, but visibly quailed as Severus gave a malicious glance to his feet. "I threw it away."

"You couldn't." Hermione's voice was laced with anger. "I put a charm on it. It's still on the second shelf of your bathroom cabinet. And can only be emptied away into your mouths."

Pride swelled in Severus' chest for his clever little wife. "Now, you want us to be here as little as I personally want to be here." He frowned at the stiff-backed couple who stood side-by-side in the archway to their kitchen. "I will convince you that your daughter acted in you best interests, you will voluntarily take the potion I brewed for you, then we will leave." His smile was sharp. "Is there anything there that you don't understand? Should I explain in words with less syllables?"

"How dare—"

With a wave of his wand, he silenced both of them. Another spell froze them in place.

"Severus…?" Hermione bit her lip, her fingers clutching at his arm. "Should you…?"

He guided Hermione to a deep leather chair and urged her to sit. He squatted down before her, taking her hands in his. "Hermione, I am going to show them the consequences of your…lack of action. It will not harm them. But they will see sense." He twitched a smile. "Do you trust me?"

She stroked his cheek, her eyes warm with love, seemingly uncaring that her frozen parents looked on. "With everything. Since Prague…"

He couldn't stop the matching smile that broke from him. "Prague was an…adventure. And one day, we will make it real." He straightened and willed down the love for his wife, pushing it behind shield after shield. Locking it away. Protecting it from what he must now see. What alternate past he would now push into the Grangers' thick skulls.

The smile he fixed on the errant pair was dark and cold. He drew out his wand and found pleasure in their wide, panicked eyes. "Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs Granger. I am Severus Snape and I am a Death Eater."

It was time to introduce them to a world where Lord Voldemort won.

Part two next week. Then I there's only the epilogue to go. :)

I've written 8k of fanfic this weekend... *flail*