A/N: I admit that the science involved in this chapter isn't possible in the real world, but in my defense it is called creative writing. :) Enjoy the long chapter.
Making Waves
As soon as his future self had shockingly Disapparated and left him alone with the toddler, the young man felt himself start to panic. How the hell was he supposed to care for a fifteen-month-old, or rather sixteen? He had never been around toddlers before, so he hadn't a clue what to do next. Should he feed it to prevent the brat from wailing like a banshee? Then came the question of what to feed it. Did a one-year-old still require its mother's milk or was it able to eat solid foods? He nervously glanced at the brat on his sofa. Swallowing slowly a moment later, he winced at his stupidity at the sight of the teeth peeking through the angry red gums. Solid food it was.
Honestly. This was truly a disaster in the making. How dare his future self leave the brat with him all alone!
When Snape noticed the toddler scooting closer to the edge of the sofa, he felt his heart start to race. It wasn't even going to be a minute before he killed the brat. He could see it now. Stooping forward at a quick pace, he scooped the child up from the edge and held him tightly against his chest. A moment later, he regretted this action immensely.
Horrendous cries tore from the toddler and filled the room. It reminded Snape of the sound of a wounded animal dying. He suppressed the urge to shudder at that thought. He'd had enough of death and somber thoughts for one day.
"Hush, brat," he scolded, sneering down at the wailing child in his arms. "You're fine." However, the child only cried louder. "That's enough," he growled, hoping that fear would quiet the toddler down like it did with the older brats he taught. It didn't, of course. In fact, the child's piercing cries went even higher. "Enough! Or I'll give you a reason to cry, you stupid brat!"
As the toddler's piercing cries increased with each passing moment, so did Snape's frustration. All he wanted was one moment of peace and quiet while he planned out his next course of action. Was that too much to ask for? He didn't think so. Yet there he was, holding the banshee from hell in his arms.
Completely at his wit's end now, he contemplated dumping the child off at the nearest orphanage. Surely they were better equipped than he was to handle the brat. However, all it took was one look before those thoughts quickly evaporated. He had her eyes. The damn brat had her eyes.
"Hush," Snape whispered a moment later, all traces of anger long since evaporated. Cradling the boy closer to him then, he ran a gentle hand down the boy's back as he had seen his older self do earlier. This small child in his arms was the last connection he had to his beautiful Lily. How could he ever want to give that up? With his mind having returned to his earlier conversation with his future self, he sighed quietly before he spoke again. "You're safe now." Safer than the boy would have been if he had been forced to live with the Dursleys for certain, he thought quietly to himself.
He had met Vernon Dursley only once, and that was one time too many in his opinion. It had occurred during the summer after he and Lily had left Hogwarts for their final time. The beefy snob had been invited to Lily's parents' vow renewal ceremony, which Snape had been forced to attend as well thanks to his mother being such good friends with the Evans family.
Throughout the entire event, Petunia and Dursley made snide remarks about how Snape and his mother had only been invited because Lily's parents pitied them. As if Snape hadn't heard that all his life. However, the thing that stuck out the most in his mind about Dursley, out of all the unpleasantness that followed the fat bastard, was the moment he walked in on Dursley backhanding Petunia behind the Evans's house. While he'd admit that he was gleeful about that horrible cow finally getting her comeuppance at the time, he later regretted that thought. No one deserved that.
"Dada?" a soft voice hesitantly said, drawing him out of his thoughts instantly.
Snape froze. Dada? He swallowed before he glanced down at the small child in his arms. He hadn't even noticed that the boy had stopped crying until then. His heart ached once more as those beautiful green eyes stared up at him. Snape was at a loss what to do next. Clearly the boy expected something from him, but he didn't know what. Swallowing back his guilt, he drew in a slow breath.
"Yes?" he whispered, knowing he had just sentenced himself to hell for it. He inhaled sharply when the boy nuzzled further into his chest a moment later. Breathing shakily, he cleared his throat. "You certainly tug on the heart strings, don't you, brat?" However, he soon noticed that the young child was already fast asleep. Snape breathed a sigh of relief. Now maybe he could think of his next action.
An hour later, Snape emerged from his bedroom, now dressed in his formidable black robes and a plan in mind. He glanced sideways towards the sleeping infant that was on his sofa. His fingers curled around the black wand that was in his deep robe pocket. It truly would be easier this way, he decided. As the gentle light from his spell enveloped the sleeping child, he glanced away guiltily, his hand uncurling from his wand soon after. Now there would be no more unfortunate interruptions.
Stooping down once again, he picked the toddler up and cradled him against his chest. He then murmured a soft spell, feeling the long airy black material of his robes surround the sleeping toddler and make a wraparound sling. Turning away, he headed for the door, only to stop a second later. Using the door to leave Hogwarts was clearly out on second thought. There were too many chances of being sighted leaving that way. He then glanced towards his fireplace. Would Albus be watching the Floo tonight, he wondered. The resounding answer of 'yes' echoed in his mind. The old man would likely be watching the Floo like a hawk just to see what Snape would do tonight after learning of . . . the deaths. He sighed, though, and glanced down at the small child a moment later. He would have to risk it.
After freezing the flames in the fireplace, he grabbed a bit of Floo powder from the opened jar on the mantelpiece and tossed the glittering powder into the flames. He cradled the young toddler closer to him, even though that wasn't truly necessary since the spell kept the child secure in the sling, as he calmly walked into the now emerald flames.
"St. Mungo's," he called out loudly before he vanished into the immense Floo Network.
Not long after, Snape gracefully stepped out of St. Mungo's fireplace in a whirl of black robes. He briefly glanced around the deserted lobby and caught his reflection in a nearby mirror. His hood had come up somehow during his journey and now masked his identity, and the loose material of his black robes had covered the young child as well. His lips upturned slightly at this realization. That would make things easier for him as well. Perhaps his luck would be changing from now on.
Snape then turned and headed for the nearest corridor. Since it was so late at night, St. Mungo's was mostly empty. So, he found navigating the deserted corridors and avoiding the few workers at the hospital to be a breeze. Sticking to the shadows, he made his way to the third floor where he knew she'd be working tonight.
Several minutes passed before he finally reached the room at the end of the third floor. He drew in an anxious breath as he slowly approached the opened doorway, still partially obscured in the shadows. Perhaps on second thought this was a horrible idea. He glanced in nonetheless and found her standing with her back to him facing a shelf full of potions that she appeared to be cataloging. He stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him.
"Narcissa?" he softly said a second later, his insides knotting horribly. This had to work. He didn't know what else to do.
"Severus!" the blonde witch cried, whirling around with a surprised look on her beautiful face. Her eyes then passed over him quickly before her brows furrowed. "What is it? Is Lucius all right?"
"I would not know, but I require your assistance with another matter tonight."
"Oh?"
He sighed before he pulled back the long material that covered the young sleeping toddler.
"A child?" she whispered before she glanced back at him with wide eyes.
"I . . . I have been tasked to watch over him, but I fear . . ." His voice trailed off momentarily. "I fear I haven't a clue what to do next." He watched the smile quickly spread across her face.
"Of course." She held her arms out.
Snape instinctively held the boy closer to him before he hesitantly removed his spell and handed the toddler over. He watched her cradle the one-year-old against her affectionately soon after.
"Oh, he's so sweet, Severus," she commented as she ran a finger against the boy's cheek. "I take it that He wants the usual then?"
"The usual?" Snape replied with a blink of surprise.
Narcissa smiled painfully. "I'm afraid you're not the first one that He's sent a child to visit me." She then gently rocked the toddler in her arms. "Typically, His orders are for me to fool the Aurors so that they would never discover the child's true identity. Is that His request this time?"
Snape stared at her, unable to speak. There had been other children taken by his future self?
"Or is it something else this time, Severus?"
He swallowed a moment later and glanced at the ground.
"I see," she said quietly. Her hand then gently rested on his arm. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked, his eyes gazing back at her.
"For saving this child." She exhaled softly and shook her head before she pressed a soft kiss to the boy's forehead. "I know of the orders you're expected to follow sometimes. Lucius has spoken about them after difficult nights." She then glanced back at him, holding his eyes. "I'm glad you didn't follow His orders this time. Children are precious things. We should value them, not kill them."
His breathing slowed next to nothing as he realized what she was saying. She had believed that he had disobeyed the Dark Lord and had saved a child marked for death. He stared at her, unable to speak again. He couldn't lie to her, but he couldn't tell her the truth either. However, as he tried to regain his composure, her earlier words swam in his mind. Fool the Aurors so that they would never discover the child's true identity.
"Narcissa?" he breathed, his heart beating faster now.
"Yes?"
"How do you fool the Aurors?"
She remained quiet for a few moments, likely figuring out how to word her answer tactfully he assumed. She drew in a deliberate clipped breath before she spoke. "When Aurors attempt to prove paternity, they take a sample of the child's blood and test it against the supposed father's. However, if you transfuse another man's blood with the child's and alter the specific material a child receives from his biological father and match it to the other man's, the Aurors' paternity test would believe that the other man is the father instead of the actual father." She smiled slightly more then. "It's a trick my mentor showed me actually. Something she learned from the Muggles, I believe."
He frowned as he realized that she was talking about genetic manipulation. Considering they were still living with what would be antiquated technology in the Muggle world, the concept of genetic manipulation would have been centuries away from implementation in the Wizarding world. But if Narcissa was right and some healer had learned it in the Muggle world and had adapted it to theirs—he couldn't imagine the ramifications.
"It wouldn't hurt him, Severus. I assure you," Narcissa stated quietly. She gently whispered in the toddler's ear then before she glanced back at him. "You'd be a good father for him, I'd imagine."
Snape quickly looked away, feeling a pang in his chest again. Him, a father? It was utter madness. At the sound of a slight gurgle a moment later, he turned his attention back to Narcissa and the child. Once more, his black found Lily's green eyes.
"See? Even he likes the idea," she teased with a soft laugh, motioning towards the smiling toddler in her arms.
Snape winced guiltily. "You woke him." He tried but failed to keep the dread out of his voice.
"Of course I did." Narcissa then fixed him with a hard look. "While you're hardly the first to do it when faced with a child suddenly, it's not proper of you to spell him asleep, Severus."
"How else was I supposed to calm him enough to sneak him in here?"
"You could have always sent me a message," she pointed out. "I would have come."
He scoffed in efforts to cover his instinctive wince at his own stupidity. "Oh yes, and then Lucius would wonder later why I called you away from work instead of coming directly to you." He then forced an uncomfortable smile to his face. "I'd much rather not be the reason for any marital issues you have."
She laughed warmly, though. "I assure you, Severus, Lucius does not turn jealous that easily. Surely a man of your intellect could assume if that were the case, then I would no longer be employed here since I work quite closely with numerous men on a daily basis."
He merely inclined his head a moment later and did his best to ignore the unintentional sting of her words. Lucius may not have turned jealous that easily, but Snape surely did. He truly didn't know how Lucius could manage not keeping her locked away for only his eyes to see.
"I suppose if you'd rather, though, I could contact an orphanage and place the boy there," Narcissa said suddenly after the deafening silence had went on for several minutes.
"No!" Snape yelled out, nearly snatching the young child from her instinctively. He caught her knowing smile immediately and sighed. She always knew how to play him just right. He supposed, however, that was part of the appeal for Lucius. Someone to match wits with the blonde wizard.
"You came here to ask me for help," she pointed out.
"I did," he agreed reluctantly.
"So, why not be a father to him?"
"Because blood doesn't make a father, Narcissa," he replied bitterly, briefly recalling a childhood memory.
"You're right. It does not. However, think of what you've done, Severus. You've taken this boy from his parents. Granted, they are likely dead now, but the fact still remains that the boy may still have family of some kind. Family that the Aurors would grant custody to. And then we both know what would happen. The Dark Lord would learn of your disobedience and punish you as a result."
He stared at her, feeling his insides knot once more.
"So, the question you have to ask yourself is this, 'Do I want to risk the Dark Lord learning of my disobedience?"
"It's not so simple."
"But it is. If you give the child up, then you will never know if your sacrifice was in vain or not. You will never know until that moment before you are brought in before the Dark Lord if He knows what you did. It will hang over you like a dark cloud. Every day you'll have to look over your shoulder and struggle with that little voice of doubt."
He swallowed. He knew that voice all too well nowadays.
"Or you can raise the child as your own flesh and blood," Narcissa stated.
"Perhaps you've forgotten that I reside at Hogwarts. I—"
"Could easily learn that a random tryst you had with some courtesan from Hogsmeade or London had resulted in a pregnancy. You'd hardly be the first man in that castle to have that occur," she drawled. When he didn't say anything, her smile widened. "So, what say you, Severus? Shall I call the orphanage or are you ready to become a father?"
With his eyes downcast since he didn't have the heart to look at Narcissa and the child, he sighed. A random tryst? That was the excuse he'd give for suddenly gaining a child? He supposed it could work. If only one didn't take into the fact that he hadn't had so much of a tryst in his life. Would it be plausible? He considered that for a moment. Most would believe it certainly. However, the bigger question remained if his two puppet masters would believe such a story.
Snape thought for another moment on this. The Dark Lord had always told him that there would be another, one worthier of his attentions than Lily. So, that led to the answer of yes. However, he knew that he would then be forced, if Dumbledore and his future self were right and the Dark Lord would return, to perform certain undesirable acts in the future.
Then there was Dumbledore, the old man who looked like the kind gentle grandfather everyone knew and loved, but who really was just another type of sick monster like the Dark Lord. Would Dumbledore believe the story? Snape closed his eyes soon after. The old man would certainly be suspicious, especially if he had been watching the Floo tonight and noticed the second signature with him. Dumbledore would likely even step up his random probing of Snape's mind afterwards just to learn the truth. However, with all the practice the young wizard had received lately from masking his true thoughts and memories from Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, he was now able to sense when someone was trying to probe his mind and could quickly misdirect them instead. So, he could perhaps convince Dumbledore through a series of planned misdirects. It could work, he supposed.
He glanced towards the young boy, finding Lily's eyes staring at him curiously again. His future self had given the boy to him so the child would have a better life this time. That led to the idea that his future self was fairly confident that he could care for a child. Somehow. He sighed again as time continued to stretch on slowly.
He could not move past the word 'father.' It was beyond absurd. Him, father to Lily's son? Utter madness. And yet, a part of him secretly found that idea oddly appealing. After all, had he not lost his temper that day by the lake during their fifth year, he believed that the boy would have truly been his. That she would have continued to resist Potter's attempts and been with only him, Snape, instead.
"Severus?" Narcissa said, cutting in through his thoughts once more.
All it took was a simple 'yes' and then all would be semi-right with the world again. He still wouldn't have his beautiful Lily, but at least her son would have a better life than he ever would have had with the Dursleys. He could teach himself how to be a father, to have the necessary patience required for such a task. He could do this. He could tell the boy all about his mother, how wonderful and kind she was. Hell, with time, he was certain that he could learn to love the child as his own.
But then there was the fact that he'd be removing all of James from the boy. Lily, unfortunately, had made her choice in the end, and it hadn't been Snape. Would she be upset about his selfishly replacing James with himself? He winced inwardly, knowing that answer.
"Severus?" Narcissa repeated, this time her hand resting on his arm.
"It won't harm him?" he asked quietly, feeling slightly sick to his stomach as he contemplated it.
"He might feel perhaps a bit of a sting at first, but that is all."
"The Aurors would never know?"
"Not unless they did further testing in the Muggle world," she answered honestly. "But even then, they would still need something to test against."
He nodded slowly. "And if they used spells to determine paternity?"
"The spell would recognize you, Severus. Just as it would if potions were used to determine it."
His eyes slowly wandered back to the boy. "This . . . alteration that you'd be doing, would it affect his physical features?" Merlin help him if the boy's green eyes changed from Lily's to his.
"Well, he's still young enough where that could happen. He is, after all, a growing boy. I admit, though, that I'm not as good as my mentor is at manipulating specific areas. So, it'd be more of a blending instead of a full replacement."
A blend of him and James Potter? He shook his head and frowned. It would be one way where he could learn to live with himself for doing this, he supposed.
He exhaled loudly with his mind made up now. "What do you need from me, Narcissa?"
She smiled warmly and motioned towards a nearby chair. "Sit." She then handed the small boy to him before she headed towards a silver cabinet and opened a drawer.
He watched her remove a tray of medical instruments and then return to him. His stomach lurched when he saw the syringe. Muggle medicine was something he disliked immensely like the rest of the Wizarding world. He made a face as she wrapped a tourniquet around his forearm near his wrist.
"Relax for me," she instructed, grabbing the young toddler from him.
"I take it that if magic could be used, that it would be?" he commented dryly.
"It would," she agreed, nodding slowly. "However, in this case, I need to transfuse your blood with his, and it is much faster to do a direct transfusion."
His frown deepened. However, she had already turned away from him and set the child on a nearby counter.
"I'll speed the process up as soon as I have the lines in your artery and in his vein, of course," she explained a moment later, as she quickly poked the tiny needle into the toddler's arm.
At the sound of no crying from the small child, Snape's eyes narrowed on her as she moved to him. How had she done that? He had been convinced that the banshee from hell would have made a reappearance after such a thing. He caught her soft responding laugh instantly.
"I never said that I couldn't numb the area beforehand, Severus."
He then felt a gentle tingle in his wrist before she slid a needle into him. He could feel the pressure from it, but there was no pain thankfully. At the sight of his blood rapidly filling the clear tube and heading towards the small child, he glanced away and looked at the shelf full of potions. However, the sound of paper flapping in the air caused him to turn back. His brows furrowed when a piece of parchment floated down into Narcissa's outstretched hand.
"The birth certificate," she explained when she caught his confused look.
"Oh." He nodded sharply and then glanced away again. That made sense. Most parents, after all, had a copy of their child's birth certificate somewhere. He'd certainly need it if the Aurors came by.
"Do you have a name in mind for him?"
He blinked and slowly turned back. A name? He then thought for a moment. What was the child's name anyway? He knew there had been a birth announcement for the child in Daily Prophet. He had seen it after returning from a raid one night pinned to the top of the Dark Lord's board with a large circle around it. But Snape hadn't paid attention to the name, only the birthdate and Lily's name. The moment he had seen that the child was born at the end of July, he had grown very nervous. It had been that night when he had begged the Dark Lord on his knees to spare Lily for him.
He swallowed back his emotions as they once again bubbled up inside him. However, his mind didn't listen. A memory quickly flashed behind his eyes, taking control of him.
Dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and overly large shirt, the teenage Snape lay beneath a large willow tree next to Lily, who was staring up at the sky with a sad smile. The two friends would point every now and then and comment on a cloud's appearance before they'd giggle and laugh loudly.
"Sev?" Lily said in her usual gentle voice, surrounding the young boy in warmth instantly.
"Yeah?" He turned his head slightly to glance at her.
"Thank you for bringing me out here today."
He only nodded and looked back up at the clouds.
"Do you think Grandpa Harrison is looking down on us now?" she asked quietly.
The young boy shrugged slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "I suppose." He then lowered his voice and murmured, "If you believe in that sort of thing."
She was quiet for a while then, which made him nervous and worry that he had said the wrong thing. He peeked through his long hair at her and bit his bottom lip.
"Lily?" he whispered, his insides knotting horribly. He slowly rolled over when still she didn't say anything. When she launched herself towards him a moment later, he coughed and stiffened.
"I miss him, Sev," she cried, burying her head into his neck as she hugged him fiercely.
He swallowed again, feeling even more uncomfortable. "I know," he replied hoarsely, hesitantly returning her hug. "Maybe he could tell me about him. Your grandfather, I mean?"
Her face brightened before she told her best friend all sorts of stories about her late grandpa.
Pulling himself out of his memory, he blinked and drew in a slow breath. He met Narcissa's eyes, knowing that the witch had likely repeated herself while he had been lost in the past.
"Harrison," he said roughly, his throat oddly having run dry. "Harrison Avery Snape."
"It's a beautiful name, Severus. I take it he's not named after our mutual Avery, though?"
"He's not." Snape left it at that. He then drew in a sharp breath as Narcissa removed the tube from his wrist a moment later. He winced at the sight of blood gushing out of him not long after before she murmured a healing charm and sealed the wound. He wordlessly took the offered Blood Replenishing potion from her and drank it, feeling slightly less queasy and lightheaded not long after.
She silently drew her wand and murmured another spell. The tip of her wand turned blue briefly before she moved it gradually over the toddler. A soft hum filled the room as she worked on the child.
Unable to wait any longer, Snape cleared his throat and spoke. "I take it we won't be here all night, correct?" He noticed her sharp look directed at him and merely raised an eyebrow in reply.
"Why? Do you have more pressing matters than this to attend to?" Narcissa replied harshly.
"No, but it is nearly three in the morning," he stated with a frown. When she laughed soon after, he felt a surge of annoyance. "What?"
"Far be it from me to inform you of this now, but young children rarely care about the time. So you better get used to late nights, Severus, because you'll be having a lot of them from now on."
"It's not the fact that it's late that is bothersome," he grumbled, glancing around the room suspiciously. At any moment someone could walk in and see him with the boy, and then it'd be all over.
"We're alone," Narcissa reiterated once she realized what he was worried about.
"For now," he remarked quietly.
Several minutes passed by before she once again pocketed her wand and stood up straight. She gently handed the young child over to Snape and gave him a quick look. "It's finished." She then grabbed a quill, dipped it into the inkwell, and completed the birth certificate.
He watched her write 'Harrison Avery Snape' with a flourish before she paused at the line that asked for the date of birth. He felt the pit in his stomach grow exponentially. There was no way he could leave the boy's birthdate be July 31. The boy would then be thrust back into that ridiculous prophecy crap and hunted like an animal for the rest of his life. No, that would have to change as well. A part of him wanted to tell her to change it to January 30, but that was seven months difference.
"June 30," Snape finally said several minutes later. He watched her add that date and then closed his eyes. The boy was now safer than he had been just two seconds ago. When he heard Narcissa snap her fingers a moment later, he reopened his eyes and watched a large barn owl fly in through the opened window. As the owl rested on the desk, Narcissa quickly signed the document and made a copy. With a soft smile, she later ripped sections of the original followed by burning the edges to give it a more frayed and aged look. Once she was satisfied with her work, she rolled the original up, wrote a quick note, and attached both gently to the owl's leg with a thin piece of twine.
"Ministry of Magic," she calmly instructed before she pointed towards the opened window. Without another word, the barn owl took flight and flew towards its destination. "There we are." She then turned towards Snape. "It'll be filed first thing in the morning if I know my Ministry contact at all."
"There won't be any problems?"
"No." She shrugged. "I explained that it unfortunately had been lost due to the incompetence of a new staff member last year and that we just recently found it and need it filed as soon as possible. All things that are entirely plausible around here unfortunately." She then smiled warmly at him again. "Welcome to fatherhood, Severus."
He returned a thin smile and glanced down at the little boy in his arms. He gulped when his eyes met Lily's again. What had he just gotten himself into this time?
"There's no reason to be alarmed. I'll give you the abridged version of good parenting before I send you on your way. I promise." She gained his full attention then as he listened very closely for the next fifteen minutes, doing his best to commit all the info to memory for later use.
However, the moment he heard a knock at the door, everything he had just learned went straight out the window and nervousness took over again. He held the small boy closer against him in a protective manner, noticing Narcissa's amused smile instantly as she turned to the opening door.
A curly blond haired witch in lime green robes, a healer he realized quickly, walked into the room not long after. The woman's icy blue eyes briefly passed over him and the toddler in a cold manner before she sharply turned her head away from them.
"I apologize for interrupting, Narcissa," the witch stated indifferently. "However, I require your presence downstairs." The woman then forced a thin curt smile. "So, if you're quite finished here, perhaps you could assist me with the numerous casualties that will be arriving shortly. Unless you'd rather continue your quaint little chat with one another?" she said tersely.
"No, Syra. We're finished here," Narcissa replied respectfully. "I was merely casting a Paternal Charm on this young man's child for him."
Snape watched the woman's eyebrow raise slightly before she glanced at him.
"Oh?" Syra then sharply laughed before she looked away. "And? Were you successful?"
"I think so," Narcissa answered, feigning unsureness.
Syra sighed quietly. "What color did the haze turn?"
"A bit pink, I suppose," Narcissa easily lied.
"Oh goodness gracious!" the older woman exclaimed in clear exasperation. She then drew her own wand and pointed it at the toddler. With a flick of her wand, she cast her spell and a gentle haze surrounded him and the boy. When a green haze settled around both, she ended her spell instantly and slipped her wand back under her sleeve. "Congratulations. You're yet another young person who has thrown his life away just for five minutes of bliss between the sheets," she stated bluntly before she whirled around. "You have five minutes, Narcissa. Not one more." The older witch then promptly left.
"I apologize for her," Narcissa said with a sigh. "She—well, she is much rather used to long nights in a lab, I'm afraid, than dealing with people."
He nodded somewhat, knowing that he was the same way unfortunately.
"I should get going. If you require anything else, though, please don't hesitate to owl me, Severus. I'd be more than happy to help."
"Of course," he replied, inclining his head politely towards her.
As she turned to head towards the door, he realized that he couldn't allow her to leave just like that. Not with her knowing that he had a child that didn't truly belong to him. If it was all true and the Dark Lord had truly been defeated tonight, the Aurors would quickly start to round up all the suspected Death Eaters and their known associates and interrogate them. He couldn't run the risk of losing the boy now. Not after losing Lily tonight.
With Harrison resting on the counter beside him, Snape stood and silently moved behind her. His fingers curled around his wand as he cast a nonverbal spell towards her. As soon as her knees buckled and she pitched towards the floor, he stepped up and grabbed her from behind. She was limp now in his arms, her head lulled to the side. Gently, he placed her upright against a nearby wall.
"Obliviate," he murmured, removing all trace of the past few hours from her mind. Once he was satisfied that she wouldn't be able to recall or have anyone able to recover said memories and thoughts, he cast another spell, an Unforgivable this time. "Imperio," he mouthed before he spoke firmly. "You will go downstairs and assist Syra, acting as if nothing happened once I end this spell. You will smile but ignore any mention of a man and child in your office tonight. You will not be curious and attempt to figure out who it was because you will not care. Is this understood?"
"Yes," Narcissa replied blankly, her eyes unfocused.
He then ended his spell and quickly scooped up young Harrison before he silently Disapparated both of them far from St. Mungo's. The two reappeared on the outskirts of a large town a moment later. Snape drew in a sharp breath, his lungs filling with the familiar dirty air instantly. While it was hardly ideal in his mind, this was the only other place he could go now, since Narcissa would be unable to help with the boy when he needed it.
As he continued towards the small cottage up ahead, he found himself dreading his current actions even more. How could he even consider coming here? He quickly pushed those thoughts away, though, and walked up the dirt path towards the front door. There was a light on inside, he noted dryly as he continued. There went the idea of nobody being home. Drawing in a slow breath then in order to calm himself, he raised his free hand and knocked against the battered black door. Here went nothing.