I forgot to put this in my first chapter, so here goes. I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling, the almighty goddess that she, is owns it all. I just enjoy messing with her characters that are so much fun to play with.
Upon reaching the great hall, Bellatrix still in the lead, and Severus and Lucius still messing around behind the girls, the four reached a group of seats enough to hold all of their party.
Elizabeth, ever the easy one, fought Narcissa as she tried to put the child in the high chair that appeared.
"Why is she being so difficult today? She's normally better than this." Narcissa dodged the little hands that tried to push on her face.
Severus laughed and took his daughter from her godmother. "She hates her high chair. If you put her in it, she'll attempt getting out. She's almost fallen out a couple times, so I avoid it as much as I can." He shrugged. "I just roll with the punches now. It was a waste of energy trying to make her behave the way I want, so I just make sure she knows right from wrong the best I can. I don't really have experience with this, as you know I don't have any siblings." With that, he loaded his plate, all the while pinning Elizabeth down with his legs.
"Mate," Lucius began. "I wouldn't be able to put up with half the crap you do as a father. Now, the godfather thing? I rock at that, if I do say so myself, but I wouldn't have the patience to put up with this rugrat 24/7."
Severus just rolled his eyes as he fished out the baby food and a baby spoon from the diaper bag. For a while, there was silence from the four, minus Bellatrix using her cutlery as drumsticks, drumming on the table, her plate, her goblet, Narcissa, and the fruit bowl. Elizabeth giggled every time Bellatrix tapped the table with her knife and fork, most times making Severus miss his daughter's mouth, almost getting mashed carrots in her hair.
"Damn it Bella! Knock it off!" Severus exclaimed after yet another failed attempt at feeding his daughter.
"Why Severus? I'm making her laugh and making wonderful music." Bella sniggered at the death look in the boy's eyes. Narcissa gently touched her sister's arm and laid her hand on the silverware, slowly lowering them to the table. Severus sighed and stuck a spoonful of carrots in his daughter's mouth, wiping off the little that she spit out. Eventually the four Slytherins finished dinner and began the trek down to the dungeons. Rounding the corner, they ran into the Marauders, who turned around slowly to face them.
"Well, well, well," James began. "Look what the cat dragged in. A greasy slime ball and his midget double. Not to mention a lunatic and a transsexual.
"Though, you," He gestured to Narcissa. "Aren't bad lookin'. Wanna make some magic?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning a slap across the face from the very girl he was hitting on.
"Shove off Potter. Go back to the Griffendorks you call friends and try to hook up with them. But leave the purebloods alone. You and your filthy blood traitors can find stupidity somewhere else."
She pushed right past her cousin Sirius, without so much a backward glance. The others followed, stunned at the sudden display that had just played out in the hallway. Narcissa got angry sometimes, but never enough to physically harm someone. Severus didn't think he would allow Elizabeth to be around her godmother when she was so upset. He feared she would grow so angry at the child for a stupid reason and smack her like she had Potter.
They all waved goodbye at the Snapes as they walked into their apartment. Severus dropped the diaper bag on the floor and pushed it under the table that stood right inside the door before putting Elizabeth in her playpen. He knew she disliked it, and he understood. It was like a prison to a baby, but Severus had found it extremely useful. Like now, as he went into the bathroom to a run a bath for Elizabeth, he thought without the playpen she would be everywhere and in everything.
After shutting off the taps, Severus gathered the bath toys he stored under the sink. Depositing them in the bathtub, he went to retrieve his pouting offspring from the mesh prison.
Elizabeth raised her arms to be picked up and was pleased when she was. She hated the playpen and when she was stuck inside it during her father's classes, it was torture. But now she was happy to be rid of it for now, and was happy in her father's arms.
Severus laid her down on the changing table in the bathroom, all the while thinking, 'why do I have two changing tables?' Shaking his head, he finished the task quickly and placed Elizabeth in the shallow bathtub, surrounded by rubber ducks and sea serpents that really moved in the water. She giggled, splashing the water, soaking Severus in the process.
Severus quickly mopped up the water that landed on the floor and began to scrub his daughter's hair with her baby shampoo while kneeling on the towel.
"Dada," Elizabeth waved her soapy hands in the arm, one hand holding her favorite toy- the plastic squid Lucius had gotten her in Hogsmeade a few weeks back. "Me want out."
"Not yet, love. I'm almost done."
"Dada! Me cold!"
Severus stuck his hand in the water and as his daughter had complained, the water had indeed grown cold. He pulled out his wand and with a quick non-verbal spell, the water warmed to the original temperature. Elizabeth, now content and clearly not wanting to leave the tub anymore, continued to play 'killer squid', a game Lucius had taught her. The squid toy moved and swatted at the other toys in the tub and knocked them under the water, only to move back around and hold it under for a few seconds before floating away.
Elizabeth laughed every time the squid 'killed' another toy, her laughter filling the small bathroom like bells. When the child laughed, you could only smile or laugh along, though in most causes it was both. She had that effect on people, one her mother Miranda had as well. It was the reason Severus had hooked up with her. Even in their short 6 month fling, she brought light in into his life, only to try to snatch it away by insisting their daughter be given away at the moment of her birth.
Severus finished the bath and plucked his child out of the tub and wrapped her in a fluffy white towel. Walking into the bedroom, he laid her on the changing table and diapered her. Putting her in a onesie and drying her hair with a quick none-verbal drying charm, Severus brought her out into the living room and let her play with the toys Albus and the rest of the staff had given her for an early birthday present.
Elizabeth scribbled in her coloring book for a while before she crawled over to her blanket that was hung over the edge of the seat of the couch. Severus watched as Elizabeth pulled her blanket over herself by accident and expected to hear crying from the mass within as she hated anything over her head. Instead he heard giggling as Elizabeth's head emerged, her arms flapping while tangled in the blanket.
There it was, that contagious laughter. Severus laughed along with his daughter, the deep baritone mixing perfectly with the high pitched tone from the floor. Elizabeth pulled herself to her feet, and attempted to climb up the couch to be on her father's lap, but almost fell on her backside. Severus, still chuckling, lifted his daughter up onto his lap and kept a hand on her back to ensure she didn't tumble backward and fall off the couch.
Elizabeth having sat for a while in one spot decided it was time to move and crawled into the crook of her father's arm, snuggling into his side. Severus looked at the child burrowed into his side and smiled. The person he held now was his own personal beacon in his realm of darkness. It was a world where fathers hated their sons and wives and grandchildren. A world where bullies teased teenage fathers for being teenage fathers. A world where things didn't seem to go right, not once and seemed to take a lifetime to fix the mistakes. Yes, if he could, Severus vowed to keep Elizabeth away from his personal hell, even though he knew one day she would go to Hogwarts and endure the same thing he was. The bullies, the pressure from parents to do well, the homesickness, and the excitement of magic. It was a mix of emotions knowing that in a decade his daughter would be standing in front of the school being sorted in a Hogwarts House.
Severus shook his head and decided not to think about her going to Hogwarts until she was about nine or ten. Then he could panic. But now he was going to enjoy watching her grow up happy and content with her life. Just today, when Albus gave her a chocolate frog as he pasted the four Slytherins in the hall, Severus thought she would burst from the joy of getting a piece of candy. Albus hand tickled her chin, and held her for a moment before telling Severus,
"When this little angel comes and gracing these halls, it will be a blessed day to all. Though, she's so full of energy and life, so I think she will become a handful in years to come."
Severus smiled as he remembered the moment. He knew now Albus regretted asking Severus to give her up. Whenever Albus saw Elizabeth he had to give her something or hold her. Once he babysat her for the weekend so Severus could study for his end of year exams. Yes, the child had grown on the headmaster and Severus knew it, whether the headmaster knew it or not.
Severus looked down again and found his daughter nodding off in his arms. Her hand was clenching his school robes, the materiel bunched up in her fist. He stood with her gathered in his arms and carried her into his room, laying her in her crib. He tucked her in with the emerald green blanket his mother made for her and blew out the candles nearest her before leaving the room and relaxing in the living room.
A longer chapter this time. For all the families affected by Hurricane Irene, I give my full support. Tomorrow, Massachusetts (Where I live) is going to be pounded with 40 to 60 mile an hour winds and 2" to 5" of rain resulting in power outages state wide. For those in Springfield, they just can't seem to catch a break. Earlier this summer, they were cursed with tornados, and now Irene is going to be tearing right through their neighborhoods. I count myself lucky as Methuen isn't right on the coast (its 20 mins away from Boston) so we won't get it as bad. Again, everyone who has been affected, or loved ones who have been hurt or killed, EVERY ONE in Methuen is praying for you