Chapter 5
"Daddy"
No amount of spying, which had taught him to expect the unexpected, could have prepared Severus for what had just come out of Hermione's small mouth. For once, Severus had no idea what to say.
Hermione began to cry once more, pulling Severus out of his stupor. He instantly picked her up, whispering words of comfort into her ear and rocking from side to side.
It took about fifteen minutes to calm the child down and Severus set her down again.
"Miss Granger, does your father hit you often? What about your mother? Is it due to the fact that you're a witch? When did this start?" Severus began asking questions but Hermione didn't answer any of them.
"Don' wanna talk 'bout it 'Fessor, not now" Hermione said, her voice a bit hoarse from crying.
"Alright, we do not have to discuss this matter now, but we will be having a talk later, understood?" Severus said firmly and Hermione gave a small nod.
She finished undressing and Severus placed her into the bathtub opposite Harry.
The two toddlers looked at each other and Harry sent Hermione a sympathetic, yet understanding grin to which she responded with a smile of her own.
They smile lasted only for moment as they realised that they were in a bath. Together. Naked.
The two little faces turned a matching scarlet color as they quickly looked away and into the bath water.
"Oh please, Potter I thought you viewed her as just a friend? The way you're acting it would seem she is more your girlfriend, like I said earlier" Severus said as an attempt at distracting the little girl on the right side of the tub and maybe get her to smile again.
"Not my giwlfwiend!" Harry stated for the second time that day. Honestly, how many times was the man going to bring up this little fantasy he'd created?
"If you insist, Romeo" the man said while rubbing the baby shampoo into his wards' fine hair.
Harry glared at the potions master but obeyed when Snape told both of them to close their eyes so that he may rinse their heads off.
"I hope you know that your little glare has no effect on me whatsoever. Frankly, it looks more like a pout" Severus stated.
Harry couldn't take the taunts of this man anymore; he had to fight back somehow, but what could he do? The man was right in front of him and he was surrounded by water…
Light bulb.
The next thing Severus knew, his face and the front of his shirt were covered in water due to a certain little menace on the left side of tub.
Severus was about to lose it on poor Harry once again when a sweet little laugh stopped him in his tracks.
The laughter echoed through the room as both males turned to look at Hermione.
She wore a big gummy smile with a few teeth poking out and her face radiating with sweet innocence.
Harry looked at his professor and began to join in with cute laugh of his own.
Severus rolled his eyes and smirked at the tots.
Then he lightly splashed both children, which started a whole new round of giggles.
Severus shook his head, muttering "silly children" the smirk never leaving his face.
Once the bath was finished, Severus charmed his clothes dry but decided to dry and clothe the kids by hand, to bide himself more time to think how to handle this situation with Hermione.
When dressing Hermione, the potions professor summoned a small jar of healing salve and applied it to the bruised area.
Hermione threw him a grateful glance and Severus responded with a small nod.
He led the children to the living room which Harry has come to know as the 'big conversations' room.
He sat them on the sofa and took a seat in front of them on the coffee table.
Severus looked Hermione straight in the eyes, looking at a stranger rather than the irritating 'know-it-all'.
After all, these weren't the eyes of the quiet little girl Severus had known before, even when she was older; these eyes were darkened with hurt, helplessness, and doubt.
"Miss Granger, I know your upset and untrusting of me as of now; not that I've given you much reason to trust me in the past, but you need to tell me about your home life" Severus spoke softly but sternly to the distraught child.
Hermione nodded and took a shuddered breath, trying to hold in the tears that were building up in her eyes.
"Mommy didn' hit me, only Daddy, Mommy watch bu' didn' say nuffin'" Hermione said weakly and Severus silently encouraged her to go on.
"Daddy dwunk a whole wot; dey muggles an was scawed when I dids magic. Tol' me I was monster…" Hermione trailed off at this point and began to sob.
Both Harry and Severus felt like a knot in their stomachs as both of them also had a guardian who did not accept them for who they were at one point.
Severus picked Hermione up and began to pace back and forth rubbing comforting circles in her back, but Hermione continued to cry.
"I not monster" she mumbled over and over again into her professor's shoulder and every time Severus would reply with a "No you are not, I know you aren't."
The young girl eventually cried herself to sleep with tear tracks still visible on her face.
Severus wiped the tears away but looked up when he heard a small sniffle from the couch.
Harry knew what it was like to be abused and couldn't stand to know that his best friend, his sister, has been through that sort of pain.
Severus carefully picked Harry up as well and began to pace once more, this time whispering "Don't worry Potter, she's safe now. Nothing like this will ever happen to her again, I'll make sure of it."
He cleaned Harry's face of any tears like he did Hermione's and placed the children in their cribs.
However, when he put Hermione down, she woke up slightly and clung to Severus' shirt, whimpering slightly.
Severus sighed heavily and did the first thing he remembered his mother doing for him when he was upset; he began humming a sweet, hushed tune.
Both toddlers were oddly calmed by the soothing song that was sung that night by their potions professor-turned-guardian.
The last thing Hermione and Harry remembered before succumbing to sleep was the song - their whispered lullaby from Professor Snape.