All characters still belong to JK.
A/N: Thanks to my lovely reviewers—Hermione09Weasley, notwritten, and Susie Derkins
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I tie the note around the owl's leg firmly, then set him out the window so he can carry it to Hogwarts, where Madame Pomfrey lives. Severus comes into the room as I'm closing the kitchen window, and settles Inanna into her high chair.
"Why don't you come with me to the job today?" He asks as he sits in his own chair and starts serving himself from the plate of toast already on the table.
I put the teacups down and sit across from him. "Are you sure you want Inanna and me tagging along while you work?"
"It's going to be a quick assignment. Two hours at the most. Some witch has a refrigerator full of boggarts and doesn't know what to do with it," he snorts contemptuously. "Frankly, Hermione, I wonder how some witches and wizards manage to tie their shoes in the morning. Maybe I can get rid of her garden gnomes while I'm at it."
"That would just be showing off," I grin. Severus has a sarcastic streak to him, and although it doesn't sound nice to admit it, I don't mind it very much. Especially because he doesn't direct it at me.
After breakfast I dress myself and the baby, put her in her sling against my hip, and the three of us set out to the witch's house.
I'm not tired this morning and it's one of those gorgeous days, deep blue sky with puffy white clouds, the air is crisp and cool, and being outside is absolute pleasure. Severus takes my hand as we cross the street and doesn't let go when we get to the other curb.
Sometimes when we're together like this, holding hands and strolling along, I can pretend like we're a normal family out for a normal walk. But we're not. We're famous. People know who we are. Actually, when I'm out alone, people rarely recognize me by sight. My name was in the paper more than my picture, and I have one of those nondescript faces, anyway. Of course, if someone asks me my name, like in a store or something, and I answer Hermione Snape, then of course they know me right away. But only if I say my name.
Not so with Severus. His appearance is very distinctive, and he was in all the papers, and he gained all that notoriety during the War and afterward, at his trial. When people see us together, they know who we are. And we've both been subject to stares and whispers, and sometimes outright hostility. But I think it's gotten better over time. After all, people do have other things to think about besides us.
This might sound very disloyal, but sometimes I worry when I'm out with him and Inanna that people are judging us. When we were first married, I didn't care, but sometimes I wonder what will happen when Inanna is old enough to notice that our family is different, that we keep very much to ourselves. I wonder what will happen when she learns what Severus did during the War. If Minerva McGonagall is still Headmistress, and if Inanna has powers, she'll surely be invited to go to Hogwarts. McGonagall would never neglect to invite the daughter of a former Headmaster, even a disgraced former Headmaster. That's just the type of lady she is. Then what? What will happen when her classmates realize whose daughter she is? Will Inanna be ostracized? Will Severus' past be held against her? She's such a friendly, happy baby now. She smiles at everybody and everybody smiles back at her. She thinks the world is a happy place. It will break my heart the day she finds out differently.
We're walking up the front walk now, right up to the witch's door. Part of me is nervous again, wondering what she'll think of me. She might be hiring my husband's services, but that won't necessarily stop her from judging us.
I didn't need to worry. She opens the door to Severus' knock looking harried and frazzled. She's carrying a baby on her hip and I can hear the screams and laughter of children in the background. I can't help but smile.
After she directs Severus to the kitchen, she herds the little troop of children to the back garden, and invites me to join her. And so we sit together on her back porch, talking, as our babies sit on a blanket and stare at each other. She's a Hogwarts graduate, too, but she's a few years older than me.
"I know so few people from your graduating class..." I muse. "No, wait. Wasn't Nymphadora Tonks in your year?"
The witch smiles. "She was! She was so nice. I didn't know her very well, different houses and all, and besides, we ran with different crowds. But I remember her being very kind...She died in the War, didn't she? She and that werewolf husband of hers? It was so sad, and they left behind a little boy, didn't they?"
"They did. His name is Teddy."
"Such a tragedy. But anyhow..." the witch stops talking and stares at me, alarmed. "Hermione! Are you okay? You're pale as a ghost!"
At that moment the yard whirls around me and everything looks very far away. My body seems to be moving, but I can't control it. Everything grows dim and I hear her scream for my husband...
The next thing I know, Severus is bending over me, and I can see stark fear in his eyes. I reach up for him, but I feel so weak. "What happened?" My voice sounds like a whisper.
"Apparently, you had some sort of a seizure," he says hoarsely as he passes his hand over my hair and face.
"Oh. Where's Inanna?"
"Inanna's fine," he answers irritably. "We are going directly to St. Mungo's."
My stomach clenches. I'm suddenly overwhelmed with fear. If I'm bad enough to frighten Severus, I must be badly off, indeed. But I can't accept it. I can't go to the hospital. I won't go.
"Just take me home," I plead. "I think I'm tired, that's all."
But Severus explodes. "Do you think I'm going to take you home after this? Just so you can skulk around and waste your time with that Dr. Zakar? You should have stopped seeing him weeks ago and seen a good healer. Then maybe now you wouldn't be having seizures in public."
The witch is trying not to look in our direction, but that's pretty hard to do because it's a very small garden. I'm embarrassed by his outburst. I know he's only acting this way because he's afraid for me, but I don't want her to think we have problems in our marriage, so I try to be calm and reasonable. "I sent a message to Madame Pomfrey this morning, asking her to recommend a healer for me. I'll contact one as soon as I get her recommendation."
"Too little, too late. We're not waiting around for any owl from Hogwarts. I'm taking you to a decent healer, and I'm taking you right now."
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