Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.

A/N: Arg! I apologize this has taken so long to update but to make a very long confusing story short on my personal life- left job, went back to school, found two new jobs, found a boyfriend, found myself in another show, and am soon to be finding a nervous breakdown. Enjoy the updates while they last----summer is lookin' good! ;)

Read and review or mock. I would mock it at this point, seriously mock.

EllaTwain

P.P.T.H.

"Nurse Debra…"

"What do you want?"

"Why do you assume I want something? Can't I just come down and visit with my favorite nurse. Although- you better keep that on the down low- don't want the other ones to get jealous or anything…"

"Of course Doctor House. I'll say it again- what do you want Doctor House?"

"Fine, fine. What do you know about this new doctor coming in---Doctor…Doctor…"

"Doctor Snape?"

"Sure."

Nurse Debra sighed and laid down the mass of files she had been holding. Ironically, these were all to be delivered to House to be completed. At least he saved her the trip to his department. She knew she might as well tell him all she knew. He wouldn't let up otherwise and she was perfectly content to have a House-free day.

"What would you like to know?"

"Have you met her?"

"No. We have been communicating through e-mail. She is with her family in England at the moment. She has however on her vacation managed to re-evaluate and revise our current Clinic policies on about everything, write the newly instated policy for the Dialysis Clinic, hire four new nurses for the Dialysis Clinic and two new nurses for this Clinic, find money in an already tight budget to update from hard-files and boards to electronic ones with the software and a training seminar. I am officially worshipping the ground she walks on. She's smart Dr. House and I think your days of skipping Clinic duty are nearing to an end."

"You give her too much credit."

"You aren't going to give her enough. She has Dr. Cuddy eating out of the palm of her hand. I'd enjoy your Gameboy while you still can." Nurse Debra smirked.

"What do you know-you're just a nurse."

"And you're just a doctor---like her. She's younger than you and has managed to do far more at that age than you ever did---she's better than you. So- what do you know?" She replied pointedly.

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BACK AT THE SNAPE-GRANGER SUMMER HOME...

A meeting of the siblings had been called by Eileen and Henry. It was a rare thing these days they were all able to be under the same roof but with a little organization and strategic planning they managed the assembly. Leo, Remus, Theo, and Lillian waited as Eileen and Henry approached them with three items in their respective hands.

Eileen handed her brother the photograph, the letter, and the gift.

"Welcome, Eileen and Henry, to the club." He said.

"What club?" Eileen responded, confused by her oldest brother's words.

"Miranda has been present for every one of our graduations. She apparently arrives at Hogwarts by magical means, hides within the castle, watches the graduation from a safe distance and leaves the following: a letter, a snapshot of us graduating, and a gift of her choosing. Each letter and snapshot and gift is unique but always the same three things left on our House beds before we leave."

"How does she get in?"

"Well, we wondered the same thing once we all realized what she had been doing. At your graduation we were determined to catch her but never did and that's when we realized who had been aiding her."

Eileen looked at her brothers and sister in baited anticipation.

"The current Headmaster and Uncle Harry…we reckon that Headmaster McGongall and now, Headmaster Longbottom both send her the letter of the date and time so she will be able come to Hogwarts. We also believe they arrange for her to arrive by portkey or floo into Hogsmeade. Then, we can safely say that Uncle Harry has loaned her his Invisibility Cloak and she sneaks around the grounds a comfortable distance between the ceremony and others. We assume the Headmaster lets her in the House dorms to leave her gifts and arranges for her departure." Lillian explained.

"But this means she's been doing this since she was---" Henry began.

"Since she was 15 years old, right before her own graduation." Leo finished for Henry.

"Do Mum and Dad know?" Was Henry's next logical question.

"NO!" Remus and Theo all but shouted. "And they aren't to ever know. It would kill Mum and infuriate Dad if they did." Remus answered.

Eileen and Henry nodded in understanding.

"Did you ever ask Uncle Harry about it or even Headmaster Longbottom?" Eileen inquired.

"I asked Uncle Harry once- right after we discovered she had come to all of our graduations." Lillian responded.

"What did he say?"

"He shook his head. Smiled a little and told me that he had tried to do more and give Miranda more than his Cloak but she had refused it. She told him after Leo's graduation the Cloak was enough and far more than a man she barely knew owed her. He said after that their correspondence was minimal and reserved for only usage of the Cloak." Lillian spoke, her voice tinted with the same sadness as she had heard in her Uncle's that day.

"Do you think we should talk to Miranda about it? I don't know…thank her?"

"No. I think if Miranda wanted to talk about it she would. I think this is meant simply to be between the chosen sibling or siblings and herself. She hasn't been a part of our lives and I guess this is what she figures she can do to try with us." Leo said, adamant that the youngest twin set not get any ideas to bring the topic up with her.

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I listened at the doorway, unseen by the siblings. So, they had finally figured out my little secret. There was much more they would ever know to the whole story and as far as I knew the fewer people that were aware of that -all the better for me!

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::FLASHBACK::

Headmaster Neville Longbottom had come to enjoy his conversations with the young woman currently in his office. She seemed at ease in the place full of his own oddities he had collected over the years. She walked around the room till she came to a familiar item---the Sorting Hat. Neville chose this moment to speak.

"Gryffindor. You would have been a Gryffindor and might I say a superb Gryffindor at that."

"Gryffindor, hmmmm. Not Ravenclaw or Slytherin or even Hufflepuff?" She mused the Headmaster.

He shook his head in matched amusement and yet determined certainty. "Gryffindor is the house of the brave and courageous and those never faint of heart. You, Miranda Jane Snape, have braved the strangest of worlds in a most unforgiving way and have triumphed. I do believe and can with full conviction say that you would have been destined for greatness as a Gryffindor. Maybe for even greater things than your own parents…" He gave a short odd chuckle. "This is why you could never be magical. You would do us all in." He laughed.

"I wonder Headmaster if you say this because you feared my father so much…" She laughed back, never truly bothered where the conversation had led.

"I might." He supposed. "But then again, in the end, your father was the least of my fears---frightening though he remains. I wonder when you will stop being frightened of him too. You are too strong and will-full Miranda to be scared of your own father at this time in your life. You are successful I take it in the non-magical realm and you do great and noble deeds. What is there to fear of a man who has done nothing more and nothing less?"

Miranda gave a long thought to Headmaster Longbottom's words. "Headmaster, it isn't my Father I fear. You are quite right- what do I have to fear of the man? I do not fear my Father; I fear becoming like him. I have heard my whole life over I have his eyes and his temperament. I fear becoming that man. I fear becoming a person who would abandon their child because their child was nothing more than different."

"Is that what you think they did Miranda?" Neville asked, shocked and dismayed by Miranda's deduction of her parents' actions.

She gave a small smile and non-committal shrug. "Headmaster, what else is a seven year old little girl meant to think when she is sent across the world to a large Muggle city, alone? My conclusion has only come after years of experience and thinking about the short disastrous times I was with 'them'. My father will not look at me. My mother does and she gives the appearance that I am a hopeless cause. My brothers and sisters seem thoroughly confused about my existence and life." She was silent again but spoke before he could. "No Headmaster, I will not become my Father. It may be the reason I am determined to have nothing to do with magic. If this is what magic begets…" She said making a sweeping motion with her hands. "Then leave me to the Muggles. I am happy there."

With no words of good-bye, Miranda turned and headed towards the passageway and then to Hogsmeade where her portkey awaited her. Neville turned to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, who had watched the whole interaction with silent observance. "And Headmaster Dumbledore what do you think?" Neville asked of the beloved old man.

The man in the portrait sighed and one might have seen his eyes glisten with tears. "There is magic in her Neville. Not the kind that you or I am under or see here in the school. But there is great magic and that is the most powerful magic of all."

"You speak of love. It is your biggest catchphrase, Sir."

The portrait laughed. "I do harp on it, don't I? Yes, I speak of love. When I knew that Severus would live and that he would indeed fall in love again; when I knew that Hermione was such a girl to deserve and be gifted with such a love and return it; and when I knew they would have a daughter like Miranda---I knew, I knew that the love would be in her. Her capacity, Miranda's capacity to love because of her life and what she has done, is greater than the magic of Harry Potter himself."

"That is a large assertion, Sir, even for you."

Albus laughed. "It is and I only dwell in a portrait. Nonetheless, little escapes me and or has in a long time. This is not the last of Miranda Snape and her gifts. No Neville, I do think the young woman that just left definitely has her part in the grand history of our world. It will, as all things, take time."

"Headmaster, I hope you are right."

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LIBRARY

Severus Snape sat and gazed at his wife of many many years.

They had been dubbed by The Daily Prophet 'The Git and The Girl.' It didn't matter if they had saved the entire bloody wizarding world and he had been exonerated of past crimes and she had been responsible for helping The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die…their union was looked on with disdain, disgust, and displeasure by most of the wizarding community. Not that Snape actually cared what the former dunderheads he taught thought of him but he could not wish that upon the woman he loved. He had done everything within his power to push the irritating and yet alluring know-it-all away from him. He treated her worse than those ridiculous house elves she was always fighting for and she never moved. She remained stalwart and true in her love for him.

It all began four years after the War. Severus had retired from teaching, finally through with working with students who had no appreciation for the skill and art of potion making. It was a complete waste of his time. He returned to the dilapidated 'family' home on Spinner's End. He began to 'work from home' as he had heard the Muggles call it. He was contracted with privately owned businesses in need of his potions and several other contracts from various departments in the Ministry. His days were spent in his 'dungeon' working and very little else. He became a horrible recluse; sharing communication with Minerva and Harry- assuring them he was still alive and had not resorted to any 'drastic means' to end his miserable existence as at times he desired.

On a very ordinary and dreary Monday he was disturbed from his work by a small overly-hyper tawny owl. The owl was a Ministry-issue messenger and he could only begin to wonder what the Ministry wanted from him now. He took the parchment and sent the owl away with no treat of gratitude, as per usual.

Dear Severus Snape,

It is with great honor and esteem that we write you. Recently, a graduate of the The Queen's Concordance Witchcraft and Wizarding University in Dublin, has requested an internship with you. We are quite certain you will be as excited as we are to obtain such a worthy candidate to work under you. This witch has graduated top of her class and wishes to pursue a career in potions with the Ministry upon completion of her internship. She has specifically requested to work under you and feels that you will be the best instructor to prepare her for her bright future.

We have taken care of her lodgings and personal respects; as you will only be responsible for her continuing education. This program is a year and half in length. You may expect Miss Hermione Granger on the fifth of October at 10:30 am.

Thank-you for your time and willingness to aid the Ministry.

Sincerely,

Rolanda Reiners

Head of Educational Ministerial Internship Placement

P.S. On a personal note: Severus you will take in Hermione as your intern whether you like it or not. We are quite aware of several 'other' dealings of your personal business. We are more than willing to overlook them and allow you to continue on- as long as Miss Granger's internship is to her satisfaction and ours. We have high hopes for her in the Ministry and she will only agree to our contract if you are her Potions Master. Is this to be understood? The Ministry may be 'forwardly' against blackmail but as your former student and former Slytherin house member- I am not.

Three cauldrons exploded that day and twelve people were Obliverated. It was not a good day for Severus Snape. He was bound to take her or else lose valuable clientele. He knew enough of Ms. Reiners to know she would do everything within her power to get what she wanted. After all, he had taught her no less.

On October 5th, Hermione Granger arrived at Spinner's End promptly at 10:30 am. Ushered in by his house elf Ronky, he met the 'Insufferable-Know-It-All' in his private office. Severus was not naïve enough to believe that in the nearly four years since he had seen his former pupil and fellow-saviour of the world she had not changed. He imagined she would have grown into a taller, bushier, and bossier version of her younger herself and nothing more.

Both were surprised that day.

Hermione Granger was taller, older, with a hair cut suitable for a woman of her age and attractiveness. She wasn't fit nor round, but an agreeable figure from lack of proper nutrition and running to the hundreds of classes she had taken. Her hair, voice, and general nature were tamer and more reserved. Her eyes were brighter as most are in the light of a promising Ministry future. To say he found the young woman before him appealing would be a correct assumption. However this feeling was followed by amount guilt and feeling a bit pervy for looking at a former pupil as he had- especially a pupil he had rather disliked.

Hermione, herself had assumed the years and time spent in reclusion in a dungeon would do horrible things to her former Potions teacher. She had continued to picture him over the past months as grotesque hunchback disfigured in face and form. During her years at Hogwarts he was a tall, lanky, greasy-haired man with an abnormally large nose and dreadful teeth. (Being the child of dentists it was a regular point of contention for herself. Her own teeth were corrected by her fourth year.) He was pale and thin but his eyes…well, his eyes had been a secret fascination of hers. They were black and eerily reflective. They, like the man, were a mystery to her that could not be solved by reading any book.

Severus Snape was not a monster by any means. He had recovered from his battle in the War and from the years of teaching. He no longer wore the intimidating dark robes of a professor and had gained a healthy amount of weight. His nose was still crooked and his teeth still yellow but he was not as sallow either. How this occurred baffled Hermione. His once long greasy black hair was cut short and peppered with white strands. She deduced he had cut his hair for business reasons. He never seemed to care about his appearance at Hogwarts. Now, she was a young woman looking at an older, brilliant, valiant man with the same eyes that had led her to slight crush on the professor.

Moments of silence followed and Severus explained to Hermione in tactless terms the condition of her 'internship.' In her former life, before her disastrous break-up with Ronald, awful falling out with Harry and then Ginny and then the whole Weasley family, she would have argued and dissented. Hermione had learned through painful experiences to keep her mouth shut. She got along far better this way. (She would slip on occasion but of late without a boyfriend, best friend, or anyone to berate and talk to- it was pointless.)

The next nine months were the worst of her life and Severus'. It was awkward at best and doomed in the worst state. It was a day to day life of tolerating one another. Hermione was learning at his side, that couldn't be denied. Professor Snape was exact, acute and detailed when it came to potions and Hermione absorbed all he said and did. To Severus' surprise she did not argue and she kept her questions to a minimum. He was ill-eased with the new development with the girl who had her hand perpetually stuck-up in the air during his classes. What had happened?

He would later discover through a random conversation with Minerva the dramatic break-up of her and the Weasley boy and the fight between her and the infamous golden Trio and Weasley clan. The girl had been ostracized and was as much of recluse as himself. Minerva was quite worried about her and asked Severus to at least make sure she was well.

It was in month thirteen of the internship that everything changed. It was the 19th of October and the work load for his business was almost out-of-hand even with Hermione's aid. Both had been putting in ungodly hours to finish orders and create new ones. The dungeon ranked of the smells of unfinished, finished and botched potions. Miss Granger had even resorted to sleeping on his uncomfortable beaten couch rather than trudging home.

That one night, October 19th, things changed forever; as they were in the habit of doing. Tempers were flaring and the calm reserve Hermione had taken-on was dwindling and almost gone.

The final end to both of their patience exploded along with the fifth attempt at a new very valuable potion for a Department in the Ministry.

"YOU NARCISSITIC GIT! HOW DARE YOU SAY THIS IS MY FAULT?!? I'M NOT THE ONE WHO INSISTED THERE BE DRAGON'S BLOOD IN IT---THAT WAS YOUR BLOODY IDEAL!" Hermione screamed, throwing her fists about.

"WELL, IF I HADN'T HAD SOME AGGRAVATING KNOW-IT-ALL CONSTANTLY PESTERING ME TO ADD SOMETHING ELSE TO THE POTION… THEN IT WOULD'T HAVE BLOODY WELL EXPLODED!" Severus shot back, giving her his most evil glare.

With that the two stood in the tension, red-faced and irate. The seconds turned into minutes and then Hermione Granger began to laugh. She laughed with an exasperated sigh as she looked at Severus Snape.

Severus was certain the girl was mad and had taken complete leave of her senses. Why in the world was she laughing?

With all the courageous audacity of a true Gryffindor, Hermione closed the distance between her and Severus and with her hands took his face, drew it to hers and began to kiss him.

Severus was shocked and repulsed and had grabbed her shoulders with his own free hands ready to push the girl away. But as she kissed him, he realized this wasn't the kiss of a girl. This wasn't a curious crush that would be satisfied with the meeting of the lips very softly and quickly. This was the kiss of a woman who longed for a deeper connection with the man she was kissing. Instead of pushing her way, Severus took her shoulders and pulled her closer, deepening the quickly maddening kiss between the two of them. She opened her mouth in complete surrender to his kiss and let his tongue explore her mouth. She moaned in excitement and returned with her own 'exploration.'

Neither had any concept of the amount of time they spent locked in their first 'snog' but needless to say, Hermione Granger's life changed forever that night. Kicking and screaming, she drug Severus Snape's life into change, too. Their courtship was mutually private, short, weird and wonderful. Potions were finished quicker, work done with greater urgency and of course, much more time was spent snogging.

Well, not just snogging.

The couple's favorite activity was to sit in the den with a warm fire and for Hermione to lie in Severus arms as he read. She never cared what he read, just the closeness of him, her head on his lean chest and the sound of his voice was perfection. He enjoyed her sweet smell, the softness of her hair and how comfortable she felt with him. He hadn't had that since his teenage years when he and Lily were close. They weren't bothered by the outside world and they left it alone. If life could have stayed like that Severus might have believed it was unreal.

But nothing stays the same for long. One night after a quite dinner together and an unusual randy display of affection on his front stoop, an old classmate and student had witnessed the event and made an 'anonymous' call to The Prophet. The wizarding world was in a complete media storm over the apparent coupling of a beloved heroine and despised double-agent.

Hermione was completely berated by her former friends and adjunct family. (Her own parents had passed away in a terrible Muggle car accident when she was in her third year at the University.) The Ministry also had words for both of them but Hermione extended her negotiated contract when finished with her internship and discounted Severus' potion prices to the Ministry. Nothing more was said on that end. She was determined not to let Severus have any reason or excuse to leave this relationship. She gave him no means of escape even if by stupid heroic bravery. He was stuck with her- plain and simple.

Then after several short months, Hermione Granger became Mrs. Severus Snape, wife of her former Potions Professor. By then Harry Potter and his Weasley wife had come around and began welcoming the couple in their home. (As if Severus would actually ever go to such a plan on his own accord, although haven been invited numerous times in the past…) The Weasley boy had married the Luny-girl and was content to see his ex-girlfriend and current-friend happy. Draco and his Muggle wife, Delia, had attended in honor of the groom. As it happened, Hermione and Delia got along well enough that Hermione agreed to let her stand-up on her side. Narcissa was in attendance but offered no congratulations. Minerva was there and smiled and vaguely threatened Severus if he hurt her favorite student. In the end, they were wed and began married life.

Three months after their marriage, Hermione discovered their family would be growing. Severus had never discussed a family- that is the want or need of one- with his wife. There was a part of him that wanted children and happiness that he had seen several of his peers assume but another part felt he deserved nothing of the kind. Generally speaking he never really cared for children when he taught them- what should make this different? Hermione, Draco, and even the Boy-Wonder assured him when it was his child it was a different story completely. And no matter, a child had been created and there was no turning back.

Leonartes Hugh Snape was born and Severus realized he could be a father. He could love someone else as much as he loved his wife. Then came a short while late the twins: Remus Albright and Theodore Phillip Snape.

But after his first three boys he was rather excited when his daughter had been born. Miranda Jane Snape took his breath away. Everyone commented on her capture of all the best traits of her parents- especially how she had Severus' eyes. When he held her, he fell in love all over again.

You are never supposed to have favorites but from the first time he held her- Miranda was secretly his. She was going to be his daughter and protégée and greatest creation. She was the perfect 'potion' and that is what he called her. He and Hermione's magic bottled in a beautiful enchanting little girl. Three women he loved: first, Lily and then Hermione and now, Miranda.

After Miranda were Lillian Rosaline and the surprise packages of Eileen Saraah and Henry Thomas. He loved the rest of his children but Miranda held such a place in his once deadened and broken heart.

He should have known better. He was never good enough to get such a wonderful life without a cost. The cost was that the light of his eyes would never become what he hoped- would never be able to live as they lived. His 'little potion' was not magical in the least. She was in the crudest terms a Squib.

Everyone had tried to be understanding, well almost everyone, but they would never understand his own guilt and his wife's heart break. Never.

His focus came back as his wife was apparently speaking to him.

"Are you alright?" Her concerned voice asked.

He gave his small classic side-smile and nodded. No, he wasn't alright and he wondered if he ever really would be again.

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