Chapter 28 – Family Affairs
Stony-faced, Severus gazed at Hermione's outstretched hand. For one very short moment it seemed as if he wanted to back out, but then, after some seconds that seemed to be endless, he took it. He had a firm grip, but he remained stony-faced and did not give away the slightest hint at a thought or feeling. Nevertheless, Hermione was very sure that her offer of friendship had surprised him. If she were honest, she'd have to admit that she surprised herself a little. But for some strange reason, she knew that she had done the right thing.
Severus was not someone who made friends easily, and she was quite sure that he would never overcome his spiteful, cynical and malign tendencies. On the other hand, she knew that he had this other side that she had seen during the salvation of Albus Severus Potter. It seemed as if he was unaware how much he would be prepared to sacrifice for those few people he cared for. Those walls he had erected around himself did block an outsider's view of him, but they also kept him from seeing himself comprehensively, with all the bad uand/u the good sides.
Hermione smiled about the overly profound thoughts that kept spinning inside her mind and said, "Okay, I guess it's time for you to go and scare the hell out of those fifth-years. Just imagine – one of them might actually get the idea to pursue Potions professionally!"
The corners of his mouth twitched while he let go of her hand. "Potions is not a subject for dunderheads!" he answered with a shrug.
The students Hermione had to advise were waiting for her on the fifth floor, so she gave him a short nod and left, adding, "Try not to be too hard on them, okay?"
"Nothing could be farther from my mind," was his dry answer, but for one second, his thin lips formed a grin.
Then Hermione left with one last look back. While she ascended the stairs, she reminded herself that it was always better to move on instead of getting stuck in a rut.
SsSsSsSs
Three weeks passed, and Hermione neither saw nor heard from Severus. The day before, Harry had told her that Severus had agreed to look after Albus and James because Ginny had felt something similar to contractions. However, it had been a false alarm and when the two of them had returned from St. Mungo's only half an hour later, Severus had stayed for dinner after making some fuss first. "And he didn't even make a face when it was slightly burnt. You know, I cooked it because Ginny's so exhausted all the time."
Hermione smiled while thinking of the conversation she had had with Harry. She was just imagining Severus valiantly eating burnt chicken while itching to make some snide remark when somebody knocked on the door. Though Hermione didn't look up, she noticed that her colleagues abruptly stopped talking. When she did look up, her surprise knew no bounds: Severus murmured some greeting, looked around for orientation and headed for her desk straightaway. Of all the places she had ever imagined seeing him, she would have never thought that he'd come to her workplace. But Severus crossed the room unerringly with his trademark elegance, either oblivious to the curious gazes of the people around him or ignoring them on purpose.
Hermione could not help but admire his suppleness. Even at Hogwarts, he had always managed to exude a certain supremacy and danger by his presence alone. "Severus," she greeted him when he had reached her desk, "I must admit that I am somewhat surprised to see you here." From the corner of her eye, she saw her colleagues stare at them unashamedly, pricking their ears to get every single word of the conversation.
"Well, the matter is of a professional nature. Is there a place where we can talk... undisturbed?"
"Certainly," she answered. "We can use the conference room. It is not occupied at the moment." She gestured for him to follow her, which he did, causing Hermione's colleagues to look disappointed.
She could not hold it against them: It was common knowledge that Severus Snape rarely made any public appearances, and if he did, he usually ran his errands as fast as possible, successfully avoiding any people who might want to talk to him. Within the wizarding community, he was one of the people at the top of the list of those most speculated and gossiped about — a fact that had only become worse after Rita Skeeter's article and the reactions to it.
As soon as they had closed the conference room doors behind them and taken a seat, he said, "I am here because I would like to get some legal affairs in order to be executed after my death."
"A last will and testament?" Hermione frowned. "This is not exactly my field of specialisation, Severus, but if that's what you want..."
He looked at her very openly and slowly added, "Of course, I could have called on someone who exclusively deals with inheritances, but I wanted to make sure that my affairs will be handled with utmost discretion."
"Oh, I understand," she replied while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. To create a distraction, she pulled out her wand, summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and looked at him expectantly.
"As I have no other living relatives, I would like to bequeath my house and all my worldly goods which lie in my Gringotts vault to Albus Severus. My laboratory notes about the development of new potions and healing agents shall go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
Hermione looked up in surprise. "You invented something?"
His lips twisted in an amused smile. "Well I did not reinvent the wheel, but yes: I have been working on some new sleeping draughts, healing salves and the like. I have taken notes of everything I have thoroughly reviewed and locked them in one of the cabinets in my laboratory."
While he talked, Hermione had been scribbling furiously. The fact that he wanted to leave everything he owned to his godson did not surprise her in the least, even though this also meant that he did not consider ever having children of his own. The thought made her frown, but she said nothing. "In case you ... before Albus reaches the legal age..." She searched for the correct, tactful words.
With his trademark caustic smile, Severus supplied, "Bite the dust?"
The corners of her lips formed a grin against her will and she nodded. "Yes. Do you want him to inherit the house if he has not reached the age of majority when you die, or should it be administered by his legal guardian until his 17th birthday?"
"My house in Harry Potter's hands?" His face contorted as if he had a strong toothache, but Hermione knew him well enough to know that he did not mean it. "To be honest, I never thought about it that way, but now that you're asking... no, I want it to be Albus's, regardless of his age at the time."
"All right..." Hermione ran over her notes again and looked up, noticing that he observed her with an intense gaze. "You... well, you will have to tell me the number of your vault, of course. Don't worry," she added when he didn't answer straight away. "I have no intention of robbing you."
"Oh, you have already proven that you are capable of that, and mine isn't even particularly well warded, compared to the Lestranges'."
She wanted to reply, but one look at his face told her that he was pulling her leg. Instead of saying something, she thought how much nicer he was on those very rare occasions when he was in the mood to show his very subtle sense of humour and how much she liked to be with him, at those times. They talked about some further details of his will until Hermione finally said, "I will draw everything up according to your wishes and send you an owl when I'm ready. It will not take very long. All you have to do then is sign the papers."
He nodded and got up, and Hermione felt a pang of regret over the fact that he would leave. "May I ask you something?" she said, rising, too. He nodded and turned to face her. "Why now? I mean, did anything happen that makes you set up your last will and testament just now?"
"Well, my Healer did not tell me that I have six months left or anything. But I had a very weird dream a few nights ago with Sirius Black in it." He made a face as if the dream had mainly been about cockroaches and other vermin. Hermione understood immediately when she remembered how Sirius had made sure that Harry, his godson, inherited everything he owned.
Severus gave her a piercing look, then added, "I trust you to not even mention my will to anyone."
"Of course," she quickly assured him. They walked towards the door together. When they had reached it, she impulsively said, "It's my lunch break soon, so... if you don't have any other plans, I would be glad if we could have lunch together."
He remained silent, and it seemed as if he was thinking about an appropriate way to let her know that he did not want to spend any more time in her presence. "I think that this is not a good idea," he answered calmly.
She shrugged almost imperceptibly and tried not to show her disappointment.
"Your colleagues will pester you with questions already, and I think that there's been enough gossip about you."
When they walked through the door, her shoulder touched his upper arm, and without further explanations she understood that he had turned her down without giving her a brush-off. His physical nearness and the fact that he wanted to protect her from her colleagues' and the other Ministry workers' annoying curiosity made her blush, but she brushed her embarrassment aside and said, "I'll get in touch as soon as everything's ready. Good bye, Severus."
He gave her a short nod and the hint of a smile, then headed for the exit without another word.
SsSsSsSs
"Hermione?"
The familiar voice repeated her name two times before she opened her eyes and tried to get her bearings in the dark room. One glance at her wall clock's glowing numbers – one of her mother's gifts – told her that it was almost six a.m. It took quite a while until she realised that the voice was coming from the fireplace in the other room and she got up hurriedly.
"Harry! Something happened?" she asked even before she had reached the fireplace where her friend's head was bobbing in a display of green flames.
"Something's happened indeed," he replied with a broad smile. She understood immediately.
"The baby's here!" she exclaimed and squatted down in front of the fireplace. "Oh my god, when...?"
"This morning, about half past midnight," he answered with a laugh, and she could see the gleam in his eyes even through the blazing flames.
Hermione pressed her hand to her mouth and tried to decide which one of the many questions that kept whirling through her mind ought to be asked first, but even before she had a chance to say anything, Harry blurted out, "Hermione, she's just so beautiful... her tiny fingers and little feet... her soft hair. She's the most beautiful little girl in the world." His pride and love for his newborn daughter poured from every syllable, and Hermione was happy about his and Ginny's bliss with all of her heart. "How's Ginny?" she asked throatily.
"She has fallen asleep just now, she and Lily. The birth wasn't as exhausting as Al's, but of course she's completely knackered. The Healer could not determine yet when they will be able to go home, but since everything is all right, it shouldn't take long."
"Oh, I'm so happy for you, Harry," Hermione said while beaming at her friend."Can I come and visit today after work, or is it too early?"
"Of course you can," he answered with a grin. "Your goddaughter can hardly wait to be in your arms!" Harry told her some more details about Lily, then he said that he'd try to get some sleep, too, and disappeared. When the green flames had abated, Hermione was sure that she would hardly be able to concentrate on her work that day.
SsSsSsSs
In the evening, upon stepping into Ginny's room at St. Mungo's, she was even more nervous than she had been after James's and Al's births. "Hey," she said calmly while approaching the bed and kissing Ginny on the cheek.
"It's nice of you to come over, Hermione," Ginny answered happily and took the flowers Hermione gave her. Ginny was pale and had deep shadows under her eyes, but nevertheless, she emanated a glow that could not be dampened by any measure of exhaustion.
Hermione hugged and kissed Harry, then slowly approached the cot with the tiny sleeping baby inside. When she observed the little face, an "Ohhh," escaped her. Very carefully, she extended her arm and touched the baby's rosy cheek with her index finger. Lily stirred a little. "May I take her?" she asked, her eyes never leaving her goddaughter.
Harry stood next to her, took Lily out of her cot very slowly and placed her in Hermione's arms. Lily made some little sounds of protest, but fell asleep again when Hermione started softly swaying her. "She's so sweet," Hermione whispered and smiled when the distinctive baby smell reached her nostrils. She loved James and Albus, but in that moment – while she was holding Lily for the first time, knowing that, as her godmother, she would share the responsibility for this little creature's well-being – she knew that she would have a very special, deep relationship with Lily Potter.
SsSsSsSs
On the third day following Lily's birth, Hermione met Severus at St. Mungo's. She was sitting in the corridor with Lily on her lap. Harry and Ginny needed some time alone with James and Albus because they wanted to explain to them, not for the first time, that they had to be very careful with the baby.
James was crying because he had inadvertently hurt Lily and feared that it would be his fault if she never stopped crying again. In fact, she had calmed down rather quickly in her mother's arms. James and Al were very excited about the birth of their little sister, but just like any small children, they did not really realise why they could not touch and handle a baby just like they wanted to.
Therefore, Hermione was sitting in the corridor, softly rocking little Lily, while Ginny comforted her eldest son, letting him know that she knew very well that hurting the baby had not been his intention. Hermione was softly singing and gazing down at the baby, completely lost in thought, when she suddenly noticed someone standing next to her. She turned her head and saw Severus, observing her.
He approached her silently, looked at the baby and then back at her. "Atrocious," he commented dryly.
"Pardon?" was her irritated reply.
"Your singing," he explained and gave her one of his trademark mocking smiles.
"Well, my goddaughter seems to like it, though," came her sharp remark.
"Must be the lack of alternatives," he answered and sat down next to her.
They remained silent for a moment and looked down on the sleeping child. "I guess I know now how you feel about Al," she said quietly. "It's quite odd. You're not a parent, but still you feel responsible in an indescribable way. I know that I want to do everything to make sure Lily is all right and has everything she needs. I want to play a part in her life that exceeds that of a mere friend of her parents or an aunt." He didn't answer. Of course, his silence could have been an affirmation as well as denial, but somehow she knew that he felt just the same where Albus was concerned. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked and turned around so he could have taken the baby. But he did not move and instead answered in the same calm voice, "Maybe later." They stayed there for quite a while, not saying anything. Then he turned to her with a smile she had never seen on him before and said, "So... Godmother."
She nodded solemnly. "Godfather," she replied and smiled back and felt that, in this moment, they seemed to have a connection on some mysterious level.