Severus was holding a carefully wrapped up Edgar in his arms as he watched Octavia and Imogen run a few feet in front of him, squealing and laughing as they raced around in the November sun. Severus kept a vigilant watch on them, careful to make sure they stayed far away from anything remotely dangerous. Which was hard as Imogen seemed to delight in getting as close to danger as she could without actually actually being in trouble for it. The whomping willow was her current source of fascination, and Severus had to grab her hand and all but drag her from the tree to keep her from getting struck by the angry branches.
Octavia meanwhile was content to just skip merrily, stopping every now and then to ask a question about her whereabouts. What's this, what's that, why's this, what's that, how? Severus was finding himself with a slight headache, but he answered patiently, pleased that his girls were having such great fun. Even Edgar seemed to delight in the new surroundings, as he gurgled happily and seemed to be generally colic free that day. Hopefully it would last, or even better, be gone.
Eventually though, they had made their way all through the grounds, and Severus had shown his girls all that could be seen...the safe things anyways, not that Imogen didn't try her hardest to sneak into the forbidden forest...little adorable imp that she was. Simply exhausted he slumped against a tree in front of the great lake, and told the girls to play where he could see them. It wouldn't do for Imogen to decide and meet the giant squid, especially when the water was so cold by now.
"Is the old man tired already?"
Severus looked up from rocking Edgar slightly when he heard Draco's voice. The slytherin had a joking gleam in his eyes and Severus wondered what had gotten his godson out of his usual somber mood. "And why are you so happy?" He wondered, watching as his nieces looked at Draco cautiously.
"I called it off with Pansy." Draco said simply, giving the girls big hugs despite the fact that he didn't really know them. Severus was appreciative at the gesture, and thought to himself that Draco would make a great father one day, a thousand times better than Lucius ever dreamed of being.
"About time...you had nothing in common with that girl." Severus chided slightly, delighted that the girls took so easily to his godson. "And if you call me old again, I'll show you just how young you are by putting you over my knee." He warned, only half-joking.
"Yeah, yeah." Draco brushed him off, before kneeling on the grass in front of the girls who regarded him with excited eyes. "I'm Draco, I'm Severus's godson." He explained.
"Severus talks about you all the time!" Octavia pipped up, a grin on her face. "He says you're his child and that Lucius can sod off."
Severus blushed as the girl tattled, but Draco laughed heartily at the confession. "That does sound like something he'd say." He agreed. "But Severus looks tired, hmm? Why don't I make you up a big pile of leaves to jump in?"
"YES!" Octavia jumped up in joy and Imogen grinned widely as Draco used his wand to pile up a large quantity of leaves using a second-year summoning charm. Severus waited until his godson had finished making a five-foot pile of leaves, twenty minutes later as Imogen kept running through it, that he bothered to tell him there was simpler spell for that.
"You might have told me that ten minutes ago." Draco muttered, before picking up Imogen and Octavia and falling backward into the leaf pile. Draco resurfaced a few moments later, leaving the girls to giggle and wiggle their way out beneath the leaves.
"Dragonnn!" Octavia laughed, somehow recalling the nickname Severus used for Draco.
"What?" Draco asked, a smile on his face. It was a pleasant sight for Severus, it had been a long while since he had seen the 14 year old smile.
Octavia reached up on her tiptoes and looked solemnly into Draco's eyes before bopping him on the nose. "You're it!" She screeched, taking off with Immy on her heels.
Draco looked confused until he recalled the moments that Severus had played the muggle game with him in his childhood, and took off after the girl, hobbling his steps so that the girls believed they were much faster. They squealed in absolute delight, and Edgar cooed along as he watched the girl's run from Draco's outstretched hands.
"You're a dragon!" Octavia giggled, as Imogen daringly ducked between Draco's legs as he scurried about. "You're supposed to be quick!"
"Well, how's this then?" Draco asked, picking up his pace and scooping up Octavia with ease.
"Oh no! Now I'm it!" She yelled happily, running after Draco the moment he placed her back on the grass.
Severus leaned against the trees and held Edgar close as the infant fell asleep despite the noise around him. Severus stared down at the child, wondering at that black eyes that were behind the closed lids. Claudia had said, with much disdain in her voice in the delivery room, that the child looked almost exactly like him. Severus didn't much want the poor baby to take after him appearance wise as he was by no means an attractive man, but he supposed maybe his traits would be limited to the black eyes, and pale skin. He could only hope so.
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"I don't think you should really care at all what Pansy said about your hair." Ron told Hermione earnestly. "It's not like she isn't 'a complete cow' that you've been calling her for years."
"Still." Hermione sighed, and Ron wondered at how sensitive girls could be sometimes. "My hair really does look like straw." She frowned, and Ron wondered what he could say that wouldn't come off as flirtatious. For a slight moment he wished Harry was there and not in detention, yet at the same he kind of liked having Hermione to himself. It wasn't often that they spent alone time together. And it wasn't really until this year that Ron had started to realize that he liked the alone time, rare as it was.
"She's just jealous." Ron insisted. "The only way she can ever get a man is if her parents arrange it for her. You won't ever have to do that."
Hermione stopped in her tracks to look at him then, an emotion in her eyes that Ron didn't completely understand. "What do you mean?" She asked, starting up her walk again with her eyes downcast.
"Well you've got Krum wrapped up around your finger, don't you?" Ron snapped, unable to bite down the anger he felt toward a man he had once respected.
"Wrapped around my finger?" Hermione scoffed, her face flashing angrily in a way that suggested they were about to have another row. "I don't know what kind of girl you think I am, Ronald, but I am certainly not a 'scarlet woman.'" She sounded hurt, and Ron wanted nothing more than to tell her she was over reacting, that that was not what he had meant.
"Tag you're it!"
Ron startled when Snape's oldest? niece ran forward and slapped his knees lightly before running off in a hurry. He blinked and looked around and saw no Snape. Surely the potions professor wouldn't have let two small kids out on their own, regardless of how much a git he was, Ron doubted he would be so stupid or uncaring. He was starting to suspect that Snape really had left the girls alone, when he spotted Draco chasing after the younger girl a few feet away.
"So Draco's babysitting." Hermione said, looking unamused at the idea of Snape leaving two small girls in Draco's charge. "Ron- what are you doing?" She demanded, sounding exasperated as Ron quickly tied up his shoes.
"I was tagged- what do you think I'm doing?" He asked, raising a brow at her. "You're the muggle-born- you of all people should know the rules of the game." He mock scolded- taking flight after the girl who had stopped a few feet away to obviously wait for him to go in pursuit.
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Severus looked up as a different laugh entered into his proximity of hearing and he looked up to see the youngest Weasley male, so far, stomping after Octavia in such a forced clumsy manner that Octavia was in a laughing fit and could barely avoid capture. He cast his eyes around, and sure enough, there was Granger her eyes never leaving the redhead as she walked on toward them in a slow pace.
The Weasley boy really was an idiot, Severus had decided. How could he not see that the Granger girl clearly fancied him? But then again, how could a girl as smart as Granger not see Ron fancied her? Not that he much cared, but he was tired of losing bets to Minerva on the matter of when the two would get together.
Potter? Where was the Potter boy? Where was the center of the golden trio? It wasn't like the golden group to be separated if they could help it. Perhaps Potter was in detention, which was odd, as Severus hadn't been the one to deliver it.
Forgetting the matter, Severus turned his attention back to the play that was being had in front of him. For a brief moment in time, both Draco and Imogen had stopped when they noticed Weasley approaching, but Imogen had simply squealed at the prospect of having another captor to avoid. Draco's response was to stiffen momentarily, and glare, before ignoring Weasley as he ran on after Octavia.
"Hello, Professor."
Severus jumped out of his skin, inwardly, as Granger seemed to materialize right beside him. She stood and leaned against the tree, her eyes on Ron the whole time. How the hell had the girl managed to be so quiet? How had he let his guards down? It was not wise for a spy such as his self to get into the practice of imperceptiveness. He was about to mutter something along the lines of 'shouldn't you be in the library?' when Edgar opened up his eyes and cooed excitedly at the bushy-haired girl that he usually didn't show unless it involved seeing magic done.
"He's a tiny thing, isn't he?" Granger asked conversationally, as if she actually expected Severus to be anything but curt with her.
"Yes, that is generally what happens when ones own mother is a neglectful shrew." He barked, displacing his anger toward his sister to the young girl who jumped a bit at his harsh tone.
"I'm sorry." She spoke quickly, looking away from the child in his lap. Edgar didn't take kindly to that, as the moment she turned her face away he started to whimper.
"Ms. Granger, do be so kind as to turn your face around." He ordered, relieved when she obeyed, though he was shocked to see the tears in her eyes. He hadn't even been that harsh. But he didn't dwell on the matter as Edgar was complacent again, his black eyes locking onto the girl's brown eyes. He sighed heavily, torn between wanting to keep up his fierce facade and wanting to make Edgar happy. Even now the infant was looking hopefully up at Hermione, a desperate desire to be held showing on his face. "Sit, Granger." He demanded, keeping his voice low so the girls wouldn't hear the impersonal tone. She obeyed at once, and he sighed again. "Edgar would like you to hold him." He said dryly, ignoring the tickled face of the girl as he shifted Edgar into her arms. Instantly Granger smiled, while immediately Edgar squealed happily.
"I'd suggest that perhaps he had taken a liking to you because you resemble his mother." Snape drawled, mostly to himself. "But I take it he has no fond memories of the woman, and I am lead to believe that as insufferable as you are, you are no shrew."
Hermione looked torned between being insulted and being pleased at the back-handed compliment. "Perhaps we wear the same perfume?" She suggested knowingly. "Baby's this young rely a lot on smell..." There was that damn know-it-all ism coming through, although Snape really hadn't known such a fact. Nor had he realized that yes, indeed, Granger and his sister wore the same floral scent. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why that would please Edgar, until he realized Claudia had been the one feeding him and that Edgar likely associated the smell with food...the rare moments he was allowed it.
"You do." Snape sneered. Was that why he found the girl so intolerable? By all means, if she hadn't been in Gryffindor, she would have likely been one of his favorites. "Perhaps you'd do well to switch scents."
She looked abashed, but nodded, and Severus hoped he could take that as confirmation that she was in fact going to switch scents. "Sir?" She asked hesitantly. "I think he is hungry?" She asked, her voice sounding ashamed.
Wondering what would cause some chagrin in her voice, he turned his head, noticing Edgar trying to latch onto her womanly parts. He felt himself stiffen before reaching into the bag at his side and pulling out a pre-made bottle. Casting a quick warming spell on the thing, he shoved it at Hermione who then knowledgeably began to feed the infant. For a few moments he watched her, making sure she knew what she was doing, before turning to watch the girls play.
"Hello, little thing." Granger purred, tickling Egar under his chin and sending him into a gurgling fit as if he was actively trying to communicate with the girl. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing?"
Severus bit back a sigh of annoyance at the girls incessant babbling. Although he had done plenty of it on his own, he hadn't been annoying people with it in public. But was it really that annoying? Weren't babies supposed to be talked to? And Granger wasn't even using that annoying high-pitched tone people were keen on using when they spoke to young children, she was using her normal voice, albeit softer. Perhaps, he could misplace his anger later on someone else who wasn't being useful to him at the moment. Pansy, perhaps? Afterall, she was fair game now that she wouldn't whine to Draco about how unfair he was being. Yes, that sounded like a good course of action. He could scarcely stomach the bully, as she reminded him a lot of James Potter. At least Draco had been tempering out, and withdrawing more into himself. It had been awhile since Draco had intentionally went after someone with the intentions of harassing them. Then again, he had been spending an awful lot of time alone...he'd have to speak to Draco about that. Afterall, hadn't he started to withdraw around the same time? Wrapping himself up in dark magic and surrounding himself with death eaters? But Draco...Draco didn't seem to be edgy or depressed anymore. And he seemed almost happy? Was it a girl? That stood to reason. If he had still had Lily, he wouldn't have gone the way he had. But who was this girl? He'd have to talk to Draco soon.
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Draco had felt greatly uncomfortable at Weasley's appearance, but soon he had found himself distracted from his distaste by Octavia who seemed to commandeer attention easily with her spark. And Imogen called for constant attention, lest she would decide to run away full-speed toward all manners of danger.
How lucky the girls were. With Severus they were free to be themselves and away from pressure and Draco felt a brief surge of envy at that until it dissipated into happiness for them. If he couldn't have a fun parent, at least the girls and Edgar could. And didn't he already have Severus? Sure, in title, he was only Godfather. But hadn't he become much more? Draco was never so happy as he was when he was with his godfather. The only thing that rivalled it was time spend alone with Astoria. He'd have to remind Severus to be kinder to her, now that they were dating. He'd have to tell him first, that they were dating, he remembered. He knew exactly how that would go. There would be light-natured teasing, and a serious talk about being a gentleman and there would be no hint whatsoever of any awkwardness. What was better yet, was the fact that Severus seemed to really enjoy Astoria. Draco couldn't recall a time where he had ever given the girl so much as a scolding. Which was odd to Draco, as he had assumed the forever-laughing, always perky, girl would drive him to the edge. He'd have to ask about that, carefully of course. Because if he even accidentally steered the conversation toward the muggle-born girl that had died from his childhood, Severus would kick him out of his office and refuse to talk to him for a week or more.
Panting heavily, and sweating heavily as he ran around after the girls, he smirked at the thought of his fathers face if he could see him right now. He'd be irate and demand Draco never behave so uncouthly again. Lucius was impossible, acting as if Malfoy's never sweated or had so much as a bodily function. He loved his father and mother to death, but often times they were so rigid and uptight. Draco wondered if they could ever unwind and be the kind of parents that would just laugh and wrestle with their kids. Even Severus was capable of letting his guard down, albeit for a few select people.
"Toss her over!" Weasley demanded, holding his arms open as if he really expected Draco to toss Imogen like a ball. He gave him a sharp look, prepared to launch off of on a tirade about responsibility when Imogen nodded excitedly.
Draco hesitated for a moment, recalling having seen Severus toss Octavia straight into the air without any hesitation. Surely he wouldn't get cross if he threw her the short distance between himself and Weasley. Glaring at Weasley he gave in, and tossed the girl over into Weasley's arms. He gave an audible sigh of relief when he managed to catch her easily.
"Do you want a turn, Octavia?" He asked the older girl, who was off a few feet picking the various flowers that Hagrid hadn't bothered to pick.
"No!" Octavia assured, turning away from the fun to grab a handful of dandelions.
"If you change your mind just let us know." Weasley grinned, before lifting Imogen higher. "Catch." He called out, seconds before tossing Imogen at him.
Draco managed to catch the girl easily, although he would have appreciated more warning before the girl was casually thrown. Just because Weasley had six more siblings, didn't mean every child was replaceable. But he didn't want to alarm the girls, and send them into fits because he knew that Severus would blame both him and Weasley regardless of who had started it.