Chapter Three
Snape and Bethany
November 3rd, 1980
It was three days before the school came into uproar. Three days that Sirius had stayed by Helen's bedside. Three days had passed before their spy came stumbling in, sleep-deprived and bitter, as always. Sirius was reading Bethany as story while Helen dozed in and out of consciousness when Severus Snape was half dragged into the room by Dumbledore, insisting he get checked over.
"Padfoot, don't," Remus' voice said as he handed Bethany off to him.
"Pa'foot go wair?" Bethany said in the two-year-old speak.
"To take care of something rotten," he said before stalking towards the man, who, despite himself, was limping. Before Sirius even got control of his senses he reared back and punched Snape in the jaw, sending their 'spy' sprawling to the floor. "You arrogant, slimy asshole!"
"Sirius Black that is enough!" Dumbledore thundered but for once he wasn't afraid of the aging man.
"Black," snarled Snape scrambling to his feet.
"What the fuck kind of spy do you think you are? I bet Voldemort—" (Snape winced, his hand twitching towards his left arm)—"Planned for you to fucking tell about the damn Ministry while he went after Helen."
Something flashed across Snape's face before anger settled there. "Mangy mutt, I've been brewing in his lab for the last bloody week. Even if I had known about the attack on Brookston I couldn't do a fucking thing about!"
"Severus!"
Neither of them paid any attention to Dumbledore, their wands drawn. "Helen is dying, you bastard! You should have done something!"
There it was again. Something that Sirius couldn't place. The coal black eyes flickered towards Remus, who was holding a frozen Bethany, her brown eyes staring at the group as if she understood everything being said.
"—right to look at her!" a fist hit Snape in the jaw and he stumbled back into Dumbledore. Sirius was raving mad. "—true to Voldemort!"
Severus flinched, a pain going through his left forearm, as it always did, when someone used that name. Dumbledore steadied him before turning to Black, who was still ranting and raving. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore rendered him incapable of speech.
"Fuck what you think, Black." gasped the dark-haired potions master. He had only turned spy since August when he caught wind of the threat to Helen and now he had begun seriously rethinking the plan. At least with the Dark Lord he was rewarded for good deeds and punished for bad. Here, with the bloody Marauders, it didn't matter Severus was always evil in their minds. "If there was anyone I'd turn over to the Dark Lord it'd be you."
"That is enough!"
The two men didn't even listen to him. "Rotting bastard!" Sirius launched himself at Severus.
Unable to ward him off due to the torture he had been put through, Severus tumbled to the ground. Black sent several bloody punches to his face before Severus managed to get one good kick off. It landed in Black's knee. He was clawing and attempting to fend the man off when he felt his air supply get cut off.
The bastard was choking him.
He clawed at Black's face, no so much terrified for his own life as refusing to loose it to Black. However in one movement Black was lifted off of him and he was gasping for air.
"Healer Carter, take him out of the room now!" Dumbledore's voice was deadly. Severus growled, rolling for his wand but the old man was beside him. Black was half dragged from the room as Dumbledore helped him to his feet. "Get into bed, Severus. I'll send Poppy over to look you over,"
He jerked his arm out of the old man's grip. "I don't need any help." He snarled.
"Beth?" a voice drifted through the tense moment between the Headmaster and his new spy.
There was something other than that twinkle in the infernal man's eyes. "Severus, please, he had quite a shock with Helen and—"
"When are you going to stop making excuses for him, Headmaster?" he growled. "When he kills me or someone else?" He limped over to the bed, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to make it out of the infirmary alone.
Poppy Pomfrey hustled over to him running scanning spells as Severus spotted a toddler walking to him. He sent Madame Pomfrey his most evil of glares as she healed minor cuts and fetched a few potions. There was a tugging at his robes as she set the tray down. He was about to kick whatever it was when he heard a tiny child's voice say:
"S'ape,"
Looking down Helen Thatcher's brat stared up at him with large eyes.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"S'ape," she said again as Pomfrey wrapped a bandage around his arm, which had sustained a minor cut. "Up!" she extended her arms.
"What do you want, you repugnant child?"
Pomfrey snorted. "She's two, Mr. Snape, she can't understand you."
"Up!"
She was smiling at him. "And it seems to me she wants you to hold her,"
His eyebrows arched, his lip forming a sneer. "Up!" the cheeky brat had the gall to insist.
"Go away," he growled glaring at her.
The child glared right back at him tugging on his robes again. "Up, S'ape, peas,"
With a roll of his eyes and a hiss of irritation, he grabbed the back of the toddler's robes and lifted her onto the bed beside him. She clapped her hands happily.
"There, happy, now leave me alone."
Pomfrey snorted again.
"So lady-like," he ground out.
She made a face at him before forcing a smile and walking away.
"Where are you going? Take her!" he exclaimed feeling panic as the beastly child decided his lap was the perfect place to sit.
"She wants you, Mr. Snape. You are confined to the bed for the night."
He could swear he saw a smirk on her face as she went to tend to another patient. He let out a hiss of irritation as the child played with the rips on his robe.
"Go away," he said firmly to the child.
She just looked up at him. "S'ape urt," she said pointing at the bandage on his arm covering his wound.
Pomfrey wouldn't be able to heal it, his Lord made sure of that when he made it that deep. It still hurt like hell. He stared at the little girl.
"Will S'ape git bet'r?" she slurred out.
"Only if you leave me alone," He found Lupin's amused eyes on him. "Come take her, wolf." He lifted the girl by the back of her robes again, causing her to squeak.
"Actually, I promised to help James with something. You seem the best person to watch her." The werewolf grinned as he left.
He felt like cursing and not only verbally. He looked at the child in his hand before setting the two-year-old down on the bed again. Standing up he made to bring her back to the crib besides Thatcher's bed.
"IN BED, MR. SNAPE!" the sound of Pomfrey's voice nearly startled him out of his skin.
Grumbling he sat back down.
"All the way."
Severus swung his legs under the covers, the child sitting at the edge of the bed staring at him.
"S'ape 'n b-ed." The child enunciated the 'b' in bed so it came out 'buh-ed.'
"Yes, idiot child." He snapped.
The girl tilted her head to the side before scampering over beside him. "Beth 'n b-ed with S'ape," She said happily curling into his side.
He found himself staring at her in partial shock and disgust. Where was Dumbledore when he needed him? When had that man slipped out?
The girl yawned. "Nap." She said closing her eyes.
"NOT HERE!" he exclaimed so loudly the girl jerked away, fear alight in her eyes.
Horrible scenes of when he was true to the Dark Lord flashed through his mind at the sight of her terror-filled face. She wasn't crying. It seemed as if she was trying to judge what he would do. The girl blinked, not moving otherwise.
"I hate you, Dumbledore." He snarled before holding his arm out.
The girl stared at him for a moment before crawling forward. She hesitantly set her head on his chest, her tiny hand curling around his loose robes.
"Yes, idiot child, go to sleep."
Slowly the tension eased out of the two-year-old's body and he found himself staring at the sleeping child. Severus knew one thing, more than anything else.
He hated children.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
November 10th, 1980
Severus crumbled the piece of paper he had been scribbling notes on with a growing sense of anger building within him. Flexing his cramped fingers he turned onto a new sheet of paper. His hands ached from days of attempting to find a solution to the curse Rosier had placed on Helen Thatcher—the one preventing the mother from healing. He swiveled his head and cracked his neck, trying to ease the sore cramped muscles caused from sitting hunched over his journal, making copious notes on everything he had observed from the woman's inability to be healed.
Closing his eyes, he waited, trying to clear his thoughts. Still confined to the infirmary—despite his protests—Severus had spent the last seven days (after the initial healing) trying to find a way to save the woman who had been a captive of the Death-Eaters for three months. She had been the one woman, the one person who ever shown concern for his well-being. If it hadn't been for her, he would still be blindly following the Dark Lord without so much as a question to the sanity of it all.
His nerves were stretched to the limits and he hadn't slept in two days (unbeknownst to the bloody Mediwitch Poppy Pomfrey.) The raven-haired man stared at his scribbled notes, unable to tear his tired eyes away from the horrific truth of the matter.
He could not save her.
Severus continued to flip back and forth through his notes, as if they were flashing death sentences. They mocked him, taunted him for his arrogance. They laughed at him and ridiculed him for his presumption that he could save the woman on the bed next to him. It was practically screaming at him: 'You thought you were so brilliant, didn't you Severus? You are a fool! You do not have the skills it takes to save the one person you'd consider a friend. You've killed her because of your stupidity!'
The words ripped at a soul he didn't know he had. They screamed and echoed through the haunted plains of his mind. He looked over at the woman with a half glare. After years of being forced to hide any thing that resembled emotion he was unable to show his true feelings at the situation. Sliding from his bed he knelt in front of the brunette's bed, taking her hand into his aching one.
She had been the first person who had ever been kind to him, despite her situation. He had stumbled upon her, beaten, near his potions lab about a month after she had been captured. Over the next ten weeks he had managed to help her and whether he liked it or not, Helen had started to melt the icy-cold regions of his hearts.
The spell that Rosier had cursed her with needed Rosier's magical signature to remove it. And Rosier was lying dead in the Ministry due to the well-aimed killing curse from an Auror; leaving no hope for the woman in front of him.
"I can't do it." He whispered, hating the sensation building in his gut. "I don't know how to fix it, Thatcher. I just don't know how to cancel the spell."
There was a gentle squeeze on his hand nearly caused him to recoil. Soft brown eyes were staring at him through a cloud of pain.
"I tried. I tried everything I could think of." He wouldn't apologize to her but at the same time he didn't want to loose her. "The spell won't come undone, Helen. It just won't work."
A shaking hand touched his face and once again he fought rearing back, startled. "It's all right," came the hoarse voice.
Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes, fighting back the brimming emotions. It wasn't Slytherin to show anything.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" a thunderous cry caused him to actually jerk back now.
Gruff hands grabbed him by the front of his robes and Severus found himself pinned against the cold wall staring straight into the enraged eyes of Sirius Black.
"Sirius no! Let him go!" Potter exclaimed.
"What were you doing to her? Isn't she suffering enough from your Death Eater friends?" snarled the man.
"Get your filthy hands off of me!" Severus twitched his wand, sending the man flying away from him.
"Son of a—" Black growled, getting ready to lunge at him when Potter stopped him.
"Let it alone, Padfoot. He wasn't doing anything." Potter tried to calm him down.
Severus set them a glare that would make most quake in their boots. "I don't need your fucking help, Potter." He snarled. He was half way out the door when a small voice caught his attention.
"S'ape?"
Not far from the entrance to the Infirmary stood the two-year-old child of Helen Thatcher, the brat who had—for some reason or another—latched onto him as a caregiver. The petite child was staring at him through large brown eyes as a black panther was clutched in her tiny hand. A panther that had a white stripe down its tale with glowing coal-black eyes.
The little girl took a step towards him. "S'ape, stay with me?"
Severus looked at her, feeling something indescribable burrow its way into his gut. There was a strangled noise coming from Black and the hazel blue eyes of Potter were boring into him. He kept his face emotionless, the only truth being in his obsidian eyes that he truly wanted to remain not only with Helen Thatcher but with her child.
"Peas?" the brunette child took another step towards him.
"Beth," croaked a voice that hadn't been heard in days.
The two-year-old turned around so sharply she promptly fell over. "Mama?" a small voice said as the girl struggled to her feet. "Mama,"
Severus watched her half waddle half run across the room, the panther wagging in her hand. Black lifted her up onto the bed next to her mother.
Bethany touched her face. "'Ou 'urt." She whispered to her mother.
Helen coughed while trying to smile. "I'm all right, Beth, honey."
"Mommy gonna git bet'r?"
Tears were shining in Helen's brown eyes as she weakly shook her head. "No, baby. Mommy's going to be gone for a long time." The little girl shook her head as Sirius took Helen's hand. "But I love you," she touched her two-year-old's face. "I love you so much." The two of them hugged for what seemed like a long time, Helen kissing her girl for the last time.
James slid up beside her bed. "Hey you," the woman on the bed closed her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. "I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner,"
"You didn't know." croaked the raw voice. He nodded tightly, obviously still blaming himself to some degree for not getting to the village in time. "I…I need to speak with Sirius, alone." Helen's speech was taking a lot out of her.
"Come here, Beth." James scooped the two-year-old up but she let a loud scream and a giant bang sent him flying.
The small girl was sprawled on the floor crying. Snape swooped in and gathered her in his arms instantly. "Can't even hold onto a blasted child, Potter?" he sneered as he silently checked the sobbing girl for injuries.
James was on his feet rubbing his head, hand on his wand when a hand reached out to Snape. Helen grabbed his forearm. "Watch out for her…like you did for me…please," begged the dying woman. "Watch out for my child,"
Snape took a step back, looking from the woman in the bed to the small child in his arms he swallowed hard. "Come, idiot child. Your mother needs a moment alone with a moron."
"Mommy?" sniffed the girl shifting to look at the woman.
"I love you, Beth. Go, it's okay. I'll still be here." assured the woman despite all the adults knowing the truth.
Snape left the room, ignoring James who had followed, leaving Helen and Sirius as alone as they could be in the hospital wing. The pain-filled brown eyes were on the tear-filled blue ones.
"I'm sorry, Helen." whispered Sirius, bowing his head. "I promised to protect you. I promised to keep you safe from him and I failed." Helen convulsed for a moment coughing before she stilled. "I'm so sorry."
"Shut up."
"What?" he looked up.
"You heard me." They passed a moment in silence before she spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me?" He blinked, staring at her. "Why did you set me up with Rodger if you liked me?"
Guilt and horror spread through him. She was using her last moments to confront him about this? "Helen,"
Her body was racked with coughs before she shook her head. The agony she was feeling clear but a determined look in her eyes. "I've loved you since the night you rescued me."
His heart sank in his chest. "What?" Had he really thrown away his chance for happiness with her because he had been afraid she wouldn't feel the same for him?
Sirius watched her eyes droop closed and suddenly her hand went limp. A loud alarm buzzed and he was shoved away from Helen's bed by Pomfrey. Numbly he watched the woman try to revive his love but, since it was considered a healing spell, Helen's body rejected it. James burst through the doors of the infirmary, Snape and Bethany hovering in the hall, watching.
"MAMA!" came the heart-wrenching scream from the two-year-old.
The sorrow-filled eyes of the Mediwitch turned and looked at him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Black." She looked at the body. "There's nothing more I could do."
"No…" he gasped. "NO!" James grabbed him before he could move. "No! She can't be dead! It's not—LET ME GO JAMES! She can't be dead!"
"Padfoot," tried James as he fought to hold onto his best friend, unsure of what he would do if the man broke free. "Padfoot she's gone."
"NO!" he cried before falling to his knees. "No…"
He felt tears trickle out of his hazel blue eyes as Sirius buried his face into James' shoulder. "I'm sorry, Padfoot I'm sorry."
The wheezing sob was strong. "Merlin, no. Please no, Prongs she can't be gone, she can't!" he looked up at his friend as if James could miraculously tell him that Helen wasn't dead. One look at him was enough. "Prongs…she…" once more the tears over took him, unable to control it.
Bethany looked up at Snape, tears falling down the child's cheeks. "Mommy gone?"
Snape glanced at her before nodding, once more stowing his emotions away. "Yes, idiot child. Your mother is gone."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
November 15th, 1980
It was pouring rain the day of her funeral.
Severus was carefully hidden in the shadows of the trees, just outside of sight for any mourners. There was a small crowd gathered, most of them were a part of the Order. In a brief observation, Black was barely holding it together, the Potters were supporting him, the rest of that damned group seemed lost. The Weasley husband and wife were split in half as sobbing wrecks (the blasted Mrs. Weasley) and stoic (her husband—the children were elsewhere.) The Longbottoms, like some of the Aurors in the group, obviously were emotionally upset but succeeding in understanding the finality of the situation. Tears and sobs like Black and the female Weasley would not bring Helen Thatcher back.
However, his attention was draw to the only child in the group. Bethany was sitting quite still on a chair, hugging a stuffed animal to her chest. Even at this distance, he knew it was the panther Helen had given her daughter in remembrance of his Animagus form.
Keeping his face completely stone, he continued to watch until no one remained. Throwing stealth and caution to the wind he crept forward, standing at the gravestone, ignoring the rain that was soaking him to the bone. He set a single flower on the ground, watching mud splatter on the white petals of the tiger lily.
Never would it be said that he was sentimental but it had been a flower she had given him a month after she had been rescued, showing him that even the most purest of things, a white flower, could have darkness within their depths.
"S'ape?"
He whirled around, his wand out instantly.
Bethany stood, drenched, staring at him. Her shoulder-length hair stuck to her face and the dress she wore was ruined. There was a hope and sadness within her brown eyes that once again moved something within him that he didn't know what there. It was almost as if she was wise beyond her years, staring at him as if she understood why he had waited until all the people had left.
"S'ape, come?" she held out her hand, the other arm holding the panther to her chest.
A glare settled on his face. "Get away from me, you stupid girl!" he snarled prowling towards her devilishly. "I am not one to be friends with now leave me be!"
A panicked frightened look entered Bethany's eyes as she stumbled backwards, falling down. For a moment, Severus' mind flashed to Helen. The same brown orbs filled with fear and tears were staring at him. For the second time in his life, someone had burrowed their way beneath his hard shell and touched something not even he knew he had beneath.
"Come here, idiot child." he knelt down, opening his arms in a gesture he was unfamiliar with. The girl stared at him before getting up and running into his embrace. "I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear. It was the first apology he had given since his bastard of a father had finally drunk himself to death.
"BETHANY?" cried out a female voice.
A red-headed woman stopped short at the sight of Severus Snape hugging the two-year-old child. The man straightened up and lifted the small girl into his arms. The black eyes landed on her and she saw something within their depths that never existed before.
"You seem to have lost something." said the man frigidly.
She didn't move to take Bethany from him. Shaking her head she walked forward and held the umbrella over them. Both of them were soaked but neither seemed to care. "She ran away suddenly. We weren't sure why," Lily Potter said, leaving the implication that Bethany had run because she had seen him hanging in the air.
A stony silence passed between them.
Licking her lips nervously, Lily stared at the man who had barely turned spy three months ago. The man who had told Voldemort of the prophecy that pertained to her son. She found herself speaking before she even realized what she was saying. "We're going back to Headquarters. I'm sure Bethany would like it if you accompanied us."
He tried to hand over the child, declining when the girl said one word: "Peas."
There was a moment of thought before Severus shifted Bethany in his arms. "Very well," He said before following her.
Dumbledore stood waiting them. "James took Sirius back to get rest." informed the old man. "Ah, Severus, I was wondering if you would show up." The infernal twinkle sparked within his blue eyes. "I see now why Bethany ran off."
The raven-haired man glared at Dumbledore. "Get her out of these wet clothes before she catches cold." He grumbled ignoring the glee in the old coot's face as he activated the portkey that would take them outside the Order's Headquarters. Severus had joined Dumbledore not because of a reformed view but because of Helen Thatcher and now he would remain because of the little girl who was growing quite comfortable in his arms.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Christmas 1980
Severus watched Bethany as she hugged the new stuffed animal Lupin had sent. He hadn't been summoned by the Dark Lord since the week after Helen's funeral and he knew that something was going to happen soon. Before the attack on Helen's village he had been kept at the Fortress for nearly two weeks, brewing potions, both defensive and offensive for an attack that could happen at any time. Long ago, when he first started turning from the Dark Lord he requested not to be placed in the battle-fields. After three days of torture the Lord agreed, finding the way Severus 'tortured' to be too weak.
The toddler began playing with the tiny horse on wheels sent by the Potters. She slammed it so hard forward that it hit the leg of the table and one of the wheels broke off. Her eyes widened and her head tilted to the side, as if baffled by the change in the toy. Bethany looked at him as if expecting him to do something.
"Well," he said.
Awkwardly the child got to her feet and walked over to it. Picking it up, she waddled to him, holding both pieces out. "Pleas?" she said with her best pleading face.
He fought a smirk as he took the toy from her. "What does this teach you?"
"No s'amming toys." She said firmly with a frown.
The wards to the house stretched as someone entered. He tensed. Even though Grimmaud Place was keyed to Black, Severus could sense the wards as if it was his. In a way the house itself liked him more than Black.
"Correct." He said tersely.
The bright eyes of the two-year-old widened and grew glassy, the look on her face was the picture of sadness. "Snape mad?"
He looked at her sharply, realizing his voice portrayed his concern and nervousness at someone entering the house more than he realized. "No, idiot child." He said quietly holding out his arm to offer his lap to her, a gesture that he became used to after a month of looking after Bethany Thatcher.
The brown-haired girl blinked, staring; distrust shining in her eyes before she scrambled onto his lap. She settled down as he brought his arms around her both to keep her from falling and to examine the broken toy.
"You'd think they would know better than to send something that could break," he muttered.
"'Otter make a boo-boo?" she asked looking up at him.
Despite himself, Severus snorted. She still hadn't gotten quite used to the 'p' sound in Potter and a few other things and often left it out. Even he had to admit that Potter becoming Otter was the most amusing.
"Nothing I can't fix." He said waving his hand.
For little spells he slowly had trained himself not to use a wand. The wheel fixed itself back on. He pulled out his wand to cast an unbreakable charm on the toy before handing it back to Bethany.
"There you go, idiot child." The name had been an insult for the first two weeks but slowly it had grown into a term of affection.
She took the toy and then looked up at him. "Snape." He looked at her. "Se-ver-uz." She sounded out his first name, startling him.
"Who taught you that?" he asked softly.
"Molwee,"
Severus wasn't sure whether to be irritated at Mrs. Weasley or to be impressed. Bethany stopped speaking to people after the rainy day at Helen's funeral and slowly she began to start talking to Severus and then to Black, much to his distain. But if the red-haired bimbo had gotten her not only to speak but to teach a word to her then maybe that beastly family was some good being here for Christmas.
There was a knock on the door and before he even answered it opened. Potter stood on the other side of it. "'Ames!" Bethany let out a squeal and slid off of Severus's lap, walking over to the man. Potter hid his amazement at her talking. Two weeks ago she would have only smiled at him.
Severus sneered at the man as he lifted the little girl up and gave her a kiss on the cheek causing the girl to giggle. "Hi there, Beth, how are you doing?"
"Toy broke." She said pointing at the toy she had left in Severus lap. "Bu Snape fix it."
"He did?" Potter's smile darkened as he looked at Severus. "We didn't have time to put an unbreakable charm on it."
He didn't answer. Merely set the toy on the floor and swept from the room, his robes billowing behind him. Bethany watched him go, her brown eyes too-knowledgeable for her age. The brown-haired girl looked up at him. "Sev-er-uz mad?"
James blinked. "You've been learning new words,"
"You ma him mad?" she asked curiously.
James shrugged setting her down. "How was your Christmas, tyke?" He avoided her question.
Bethany stared at him for several moments before smiling and walking to a pile of toys. She held up one of her toys, a stuffed-animal, a bear to be exact. "Lu-in,"
He smiled as she went through the presents one by one. The one that surprised him the most was the one from Snape. It was a necklace that hung around the child's neck with a ring on it, one that he recognized as Helen's. One she had lost in the raid that had cost her, her freedom for three months, the one which had impregnated her with the very child who now wore it. How had Bethany got the ring? Everyone thought it had been lost…not that it really mattered after they got Helen back…but how did the two-year-old get it? Who—
"You sad?"
James jerked out of his thoughts and looked down at her. She was holding the bear in her hand and staring at him.
"No, Bethany. Just thinking."
"Tinking?" she said holding her arms out.
He lifted her onto his lap. "Beth, there is something I have to tell you,"
She studied his solemn face for a moment before sighing. "No ride?"
A fond smile spread across his lips. Whenever he and Padfoot had come to visit Bethany they had changed into their animagus form and allowed her to ride on their backs. Sighing he set her on the ground and sent a locking charm to the door. Glee entered the girl's eyes and he changed. She clapped her hands happily, standing on the armchair and running her fingers through his hair.
"Ongs,"
There was a knock on the door and instantly James changed back, the locking charm disappearing. "Come in,"
Sirius poked his head in. "Hey Prongs," he said with a smile. "Hey little one," Bethany extended her arms out and he lifted her arm into a hug. "I saw the bat retreating. Where did Lily go?"
"She and Harry are visiting with Molly and Ron. Lily feels bad that she can't do more to help with all the children Molly's got,"
Sirius looked at James' position on the floor and smirked. "Giving her a ride?"
He smiled sitting back on his heels. "I was going to…" he transfigured the tiny horse into a larger one and set Bethany on it. "I wanted to talk to you,"
Sirius grinned as he helped Bethany balance on the now mobile wooden horse. "Should I be jealous the little tyke came first?" James snorted before sighing. "What is it James?"
"Dumbledore found a family to take her in."
A tense silence passed between the two men, the only noise being Bethany laughing as the horse danced around the room.
Even though Helen Thatcher's child had been living in Grimmaud Place with rotating guardians they all thought that Bethany would end up with one of them. They hadn't even considered the possibility that Bethany would be placed outside of the Marauders or at least outside of the Order.
Sirius seemed to find his voice as Bethany stopped the horse in front of him, staring up at him with a tilted head. "Who?"
"The McGees,"
He stared at James startled. "McGee? As in Alexandria and Jacob McGee?"
"Yeah," Bethany climbed off the horse and fell backwards. James' hand shot out and broke the toddler's fall. "Easy now," She looked at him and grinned. "Apparently they aren't able to have children,"
"I thought they were Light supporters, not declared." Sirius ground out as Bethany grabbed her yellow-shape cube. She held it out to Sirius who began to play with her, pretending to mistakenly put the star in the square and so on. "Why would they give her to them?"
James leaned against the armchair, watching them. "Albus thinks that Beth will be the safest with them," Sirius let out a growl. "They have a solid home in the states…Lily and I have our hands full with Harry right now, the Longbottoms have Neville, Fenwick offered but I don't trust him, Vance doesn't want the responsibility, and there is no way Molly can handles another two-year-old on top of the twins and Ronald and the kid that is due soon…well she could but Albus wouldn't ask that. Albus had to turn to our supporters rather than fighters," Bethany laughed happily as she fit the star correctly into the cube. "Besides, don't you think she's had enough of the war follow her? She deserves a real home with a solid family."
There was a loud guttural noise issuing from Sirius' throat causing Bethany to look up at him. "When will she leave?"
The raven-haired man shrugged as the child watched them curiously. "Albus wants them to spend more time with her; he's supposed to be keeping Snivelus busy." Bethany's eyes narrowed, as if she knew who they were talking about. "Not that it really matters, there is no way anyone would let a child live with a Death Eater."
"Can you imagine her living with Snivelus?" Sirius shuttered.
A hardened look came into the hazel eyes behind the wire-rimmed glasses. "I would rather die than let a child in his hands permanently." He started laughing, but it was a bitter and sour laugh. "I can still remember the look on your face when you walked into the infirmary and Beth was curled up next to Snape."
Comprehension lit in Bethany's brown eyes and she snarled at him, causing both men to look at her. "Snape good, Snape lik me," Her defensiveness caught them off guard. "I lik him,"
Sirius broke the silence by laughing. "Good one, tyke." He ruffled her hair but she jerked away falling on her back. James went to help her but she sat up, looking at each of them.
She struggled to her feet and the Marauders watched in fascination as she pounded on the closed door. "S'ape!" she called. "S'APE!"
The two looked at each other before they heard the unlocking charm from the other side of the door. Bethany fell backwards again as the door open and she was sitting when Snape was revealed on the other side of the door.
"S'ape!" Bethany reached her arms out and much to James and Sirius' consternation the man swept the toddler into his arms.
"What did you do?" the voice was low and silky but even the two Marauders, who weren't afraid of him, knew that voice was deadly.
"Nothing, Snivelus," snapped Sirius getting to his feet.
His upper lip curled in disgust as James stood up, spelling the toy to return to normal. "Which would be why she was calling my name," he said sarcastically. "Almost in tears,"
"Actually she was calling for sape, perhaps that some new type of food….hopefully none you've prepared or else it might have snot in it," Potter's patience seemed to have worn thin.
Severus felt his ire built in him so much that his magic pressed into the air. He hated this man more than anything else in the world. His fingers itched for his wand, wanting to put the bastard in his place once and for all. However the moment he decided which curse would be the best to use on Potter a tiny hand touched his face, causing him to jerk back startled.
Bethany's large eyes were staring at him like large brown orbs of comprehension, understanding, and child-like affection. "Snape good….Sev-er-uz good," She insisted.
The room was silent for a moment before Severus spoke. "Weasley wants the animals in the kitchen," and with that he turned on his heel walking back towards the kitchen, all the while cursing in his head. "Take her," without a word he handed Bethany to the first person he saw. He half raced half sped to the Floo connection and went away to Spinner's End, the one house that his asshole of a father hadn't infected with their lies. He had some anger to work off and the Dark Lord wasn't calling him.
Bethany stared at the person who she had been deposited to. Tears were welling in her eyes as the auburn-haired woman hushed her. "Easy there, Beth…easy," the toddler sniffed staring at her. The woman smiled. "Hi there Bethany, my name is Alexandria…"