Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the characters but I have made them dance this time. No money made, no gratuities accepted except the reviews of my peers, for which I thank you.
I always answer my reviewers if they leave a name and I am always happy to chat with them over PM. Huge thanks and a great deal of gratitude as you are the reason I managed to get out of the mud and get going again.
If you have a flame to send, I suggest you do a spell check, the last couple look like they were written by a drunken kindergartener, sorry.
Another huge thanks to my BEsT betas Zarathustra46 and the Wicked Bunjhny who make this lot legible and grammatically sane.
oo0oo
Chapter 20 – Booties and Corpses
Snape was in the middle of demonstrating to a wayward sixth-year the correct method of dissecting a nightcrawler, something that should have been mastered in second year, when the huge stag patronus burst through the wall. It bowed and pranced, shaking its antlers nervously as it trumpeted the message only Severus could hear. The class stood in wide-eyed awe as the glowing creature towered over their professor, who curled his lips at its antics and languidly waved it off. Rearing, it spun on a back hoof, leaped through the wall and disappeared.
Severus snapped at his class to stop imitating flytraps and get on with it as he stroked his chin and glided over to his desk to make a note on the class parchment. Everyone had heard of patroni and all knew who the stag belonged to but no-one dared say a word as the black-clad bat of the dungeons strode amongst them, criticising and poking, directing their attention back to their brewing.
Although seemingly unaffected, Severus was busily turning over the message in his mind. If Miss Weasley, or rather Mrs Potter, had gone into labour this morning, then she would probably not deliver the Potter spawn until later that evening. He had one detention to oversee but Baker could easily be sent to Filch as the old Squib was just that, a very old man now, and he was always happy for the assistance. If Snape arrived at St Mungo's by six o'clock, then the waiting time for the wee one's imminent arrival would be cut down to something bearable and even better, he would not have to endure massed Weasleys and probably Malfoys for too long at all. He might even have time after classes for a cup of tea before having to leave for the apparition point. Besides, the way his last few outings had ended, it was probably not a good idea to bring any trouble to the maternity ward of St Mungo's, if he could help it.
At precisely six, Severus Snape arrived at St Mungo's with a silent apparition that scared the life out of the welcome witch. She stammered and pointed, Snape's glare making her lose any poise she might have gained since leaving school. Shaking his head, Severus flowed over to the lifts and rose to the fourth floor, taking the left hand corridor to the new wing. St Mungo's had been badly damaged in the war and a lot of the old hospital was still closed for repairs, even a year after the end of the conflict. The new wing, courtesy of Malfoy and Potter money, was large, clean and airy; not cramped and dingy like the old side. Some said the new wing was too new-fangled and reminded them of some Muggle office building. Since most of the elderly complainers had never been in a Muggle building in their lives, they were by and large ignored.
As a sop to their sensibilities, the old part of the hospital would be repaired and would hold various service departments such as: Apothocarists, Gerontology, and private rooms, whilst the lower half was to be converted into potions preparation rooms, pathology, and experimental magical treatment rooms. There was even talk of making part of the building into a treatment area for non-humans, offering services such as centaur birthing and werewolf accommodation for the full moon, but all that was just hearsay, and Potter tweaking the noses of the Pureblood community... he hoped.
The lack of Weasleys in the maternity section was rather disconcerting. Severus allowed his wand to drop into his hand as he ghosted up the hallway, rather annoyed that it was clean and modern with no shadows to hide in. The door he had been directed to had 'Potter' clearly printed on the corridor label, the idiots! Wand at the ready, he carefully pushed open the door and saw the foot of the bed as plain as day, and a visitor's chair in his direct line of sight. Even closer, if not about to stick up his nose was a wand point... and a messy mop of hair just behind it.
"I told you it would be Snape creeping about," Ginny said in disgust as she, her husband, and their visitor each held battle ready poses for a few seconds before huffing and straightening, wands vanishing into robes in an instant.
"Your name is clearly blazoned on the door! I, for one, am glad one of you has the sense God gave a very small rabbit," Severus huffed as he entered the room and stopped short. "Er, excuse me!" He whipped around, a faint flush staining his neck as Ginny laughed.
"Oh, for goodness sake, Sir, I'm only feeding her. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here," she said in carefully modulated tones.
"I am not accustomed to... to..."
Harry patted his professor's arm and sighed, hiding his knowing smirk. "The times are definitely changing, Sir, and all we can do is hang in there and hope that all tradition and old fashioned virtues are not..." He burst out laughing as Severus smacked him one on the arm. "Sorry, I couldn't resist, Severus."
Risking a glance over his shoulder, Severus huffed. "At least you are discrete, Miss Weasley... Mrs Potter."
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Severus, the name is 'Ginny', use it! Here, you have to Name the poor little scrap as principle Godfather! We thought you would be here earlier."
Severus caught the small bundle of humanity thrust at him and gently eased the blanket away from her face, almost snorting at the bush of messy reddish black hair that graced her head. The newborn yawned and made small sucking motions as she bunted the long finger caressing her cheek. "I did not think you would have finished the job so… expeditiously," he murmured so as not to disturb the sleeping baby in his arms.
"There were... complications... and it was not a natural birth," Potter supplied, coming to stand on Snape's left.
"Ah, my apologies for assuming... So, shall we get on with it? She needs to be Named within twenty-four hours, you know?"
"Well, we were just waiting for you to show up," Ginny snapped, easing her position. She was not exactly comfortable despite the many potions she had swallowed.
Severus sneered and carefully raised the finger that had been stroking the child's cheek to touch her forehead. "I name this child Lillian by Godfather's rights," he intoned, the magic curling around them both.
Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a naming crystal and tapped it with his wand. "I name this child Lillian Molly, by Godmother's rights," Hermione Malfoy's voice spoke from the clear depth of the crystal and Snape nodded at the choice.
The third crystal held Ron's voice rather than another woman and gave the child her family name of Potter. The accumulated magic swirled around the newly named baby then shot out to join her to her parents and finally back to seal her in a safe, familial shell.
"There, that is well done," Severus remarked softly and smiled when the small one seemed to sigh in contentment. "May you be as beautiful as your name sake and as brave as your parents... without their Gryfindork stupidity," he murmured into one tiny, pink shell of an ear, making Potter grin and Ginny huff.
"Give me my child back before you completely corrupt her," Harry chuckled and held his arms out to take the bundle Severus laid into them. "Do you really think she's as pretty as my Mum was?" he asked in wistful tones.
Ginny and Severus' eyes met over the bent black head, Ginny gnawing on her lip to stop the tears falling. Severus nodded once and placed a hand on Potter's shoulder as he stood behind him. "Harry, do you trust me?" he asked softly.
"You know I do, Sir, with my life, and that of my family," was the unequivocal response.
"Trust me now then, and relax," Severus told him, gripping the younger man's shoulder more tightly and laying the other hand on the back of his messy black hair. "Legilimens bifocala teltos."
Both men gasped, the magic tearing through concepts like 'personal space' as if they didn't exist, and joining the two men as one. Harry would have rubbed his eyes but then realised he had his hands full and looked down to see, for the first time, the face of his sleeping daughter. His mouth dropped open in awe, joy and terror, making him freeze as he explored the flawless skin, fuzzy down of rich auburn hair, and hands like Ginny's clenched under the tiny chin. Looking up quickly he saw Ginny with her mouth hanging open as she stared at the swirl of magic joining her ex-professor and her husband, both moving as one.
"Oh God, she's gorgeous!" Harry murmured in awed tones, barely able to catch his breath as the child twitched and stretched minutely.
"Un-unwrap her. She is indeed flawless," Ginny urged him, thunderstruck by the priceless gift their dour professor was giving them.
Harry worked quickly, caressing the small toes, making them curl much to his delight. He was careful not to disturb the shrivelled remains of the umbilical cord and was awed that the small knees and elbows had creases and dimples already. She was indeed the most perfect creation he had ever seen, more beautiful than a sunrise, more unique than a snow crystal, just perfect! The coolness of the air disturbed her and she began to squirm, as eyelids - complete with a tiny fringe of lashes - fluttered and opened showing the deep navy eyes of the newborn. They might stay blue or turn green, or they might turn brown, but at the moment they were just as they should be, enchanting! Harry's sight faltered, then cleared again as Harry turned, noting the tall, thin man behind him looking like he was about to drop dead. "Professor?"
"Make it quick, Potter, I can't hold the spell much longer," he muttered, strain showing in every line of his face.
Nodding, Harry put the shawl wrappings back around Lillian and handed her off to Ginny with a kiss that broke the spell Snape had cast. The older man staggered and managed a rather sprawled landing in the visitor's chair, arms and legs flopping limply, sweat standing out wetly on his forehead.
"Harry, get Severus a drink and give him that towel, would you? I think we broke him," Ginny ordered.
Her instructions broke the spell on both men and Harry hurried to do her bidding. Severus pulled himself together with a sneer. "It would take more than a couple of juvenile delinquents like you two to break me!" he retorted, but there was a breathless undernote in his voice.
"Ri-ght..." Ginny drawled, allowing him his opinion. "If you have any restorative potions in that robe of yours, I suggest you take some now, Sir. I would say magical exhaustion is just around your corner."
"Sir, do you need anything else? How can I ever thank you enough for..."
"Stop twittering, Potter, you sound like a fatuous groupie!" Snape snapped after downing a whole vial of Restorative Draught. "Consider it a Naming gift. After all, children are like ducklings, they do imprint on their parents, or is that the other way round?"
Both young parents chuckled, allowing him a snarky comment that held no malice. Snape sniffed, then sniffed again, and grinned widely.
"I think your little princess has deposited a present for you, too," he commented gleefully as Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Go on, clear out and let me fix this problem. Take each other home, won't you," she said with a chuckle as the faint smell began to gather potency.
Snape bowed slightly and carefully rose, the restorative draught now washing through him. It wasn't as good as a full night's sleep and a heavy meal but would suffice to carry him home, he hoped. Harry bent forward and dropped a kiss on Ginny's lips, ran a careful hand over to cup his daughter's cheek then moved over to take Severus' arm, whether to be guided or to hold the older man up was not entirely obvious as the two made their way out of the hospital room.
Once down stairs, Severus paused, Harry stopping with him. "I think I will walk a while," he murmured, trying to shake the younger man's hand off his sleeve. Snape had felt the intense love and longing that had flooded him from the younger man; the complete joy at beholding his child for the first time and the sheer blind panic the responsibility engendered. Then with typical Gryffindor courage, Potter had shouldered the burden without a hint of second thoughts and simply worshiped at the small, pink bootied feet. Harry was going to make a very good father, Severus thought.
"By all means, let us walk," Harry replied agreeably, heading in the direction of the breeze.
Severus sighed and turned him to the left. "Perhaps we should leave by the door instead of the window?" he suggested sarcastically and Harry laughed. Nothing could upset him just now, nothing! He had seen his daughter and she was gorgeous, perfect, beautiful!
"That spell, Legilimens bifocala teltos, where did you find it?"
Snape bridled slightly. "I didn't find it anywhere, I crafted it, you dolt! What, did you think I only played with potions or something?"
"Well, no. I knew you did Levicorpus and Sectumsempra, but this was a good spell, not destructive or dark."
"Oh, good Merlin save us! The Saviour of the Wizarding world still does not know that magic is not dark or light but is the intent of the caster that makes it so. Good God, man, I thought I saw you in school for the past seven years."
Arguing and wrangling amicably, the two men made their way out into Muggle London and the crisp autumn night. They did not even think when they transfigured their robes to Muggle clothes but did it automatically, as automatically as they slid their wands down into their hands unobtrusively. Such was the nature of battle-honed warriors. That automatic reflex was what probably saved their lives a few moments later when a green Killing curse came out of nowhere.
The faint rustle of robes and a shadow on a wall alerted the two men and both dived aside, Harry casting Protego and Snape sending a very Dark slicing curse in the direction of the shadowed alley from which the Killing Curse came. They were both moving, curses lined up behind their lips when their attacker gave a horrendous scream of agony, making them even more wary. A few seconds later a softly slurping sound was followed by a crack like the breaking of old wood, then a fresh corpse was tossed out of the pitch black alley mouth to bounce limply at their feet. There was a slight giggle, some foreign words, another rustle and then a faint shape, bigger than an owl, took off from the rooftop across the street.
Harry smelled something he did not recognise mixed with a faint hint of blood. He heard Snape muttering under his breath then both jumped again as a woman screamed, loud and long, footsteps running away rapidly. "Oh shit! Muggles!"
It was Harry's turn to giggle slightly hysterically as they each rose carefully from behind the rubbish bin they had used as cover, Snape guiding his charge around the mess as they both slid their wands away. The corpse on the footpath was shrivelled and desiccated, its neck obviously snapped rather spectacularly. Before comment could be made or a detailed inspection undertaken, lights came on in the houses around them, people calling out questions and answering although they knew nothing. Someone said they had called the police and another one said they had done so, too.
"We have to get out of here, quickly and quietly," Severus murmured, still managing to find the last of the shadows.
"We could Apparate..."
"Haven't got the energy," Severus cut him off quickly.
"I could Side-Along you, if you are willing."
"Best do it quickly if you are..." There was a second crack and the street was empty but for the Muggles thundering downstairs to burst into the street.
oo0oo