A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Finals week here, and I have about 5 papers due this week. Since I don't have a lot of free time to work on stories, I thought I could at least quickly edit and post this. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Hope Reawakened

-7-

"Did Daddy go away again?"

Hermione smiled down at her son and smoothed her hand over his hair. "No, sweetheart. He's still here. He'll be down in a little while."

The boy's eyes lit up as he paused on the last step of the staircase. "Is he going to stay with us, Mum?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Yes!" Brendan shouted as he jumped off of the stairs. After running into the kitchen, he hopped onto a chair at the table. "I can't wait to tell Teddy!"

His mother froze at the statement. Swallowing uncertainly, she rested one hand on the back of a chair. "Erm, Brendan… about Teddy—"

"His mum and dad aren't coming back, are they?" he interrupted quietly.

"No, baby," she replied, stroking the back of his head. "They can't."

"Thought so," the child murmured. "That's why their pictures talk to him. They wouldn't if they could come back."

With a small smile on her face, Hermione bent down to kiss the top of his head. "I still can't believe how smart you are."

Patting his shoulder, she walked further into the kitchen and opened up a cupboard to fetch three small plates.

"Hey, Mum. I was wondering… since I have both my parents, and Teddy doesn't have any… can I share you and Dad with him?"

A soft laugh escaped her as she looked over her shoulder. "Well, you see, he does have a grandmother who takes care of him, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny –"

"But I have Granma Molly and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, too, and Granpa Thur."

Hermione grinned as she did every time she heard her son talk about Arthur Weasley. She had spent a great deal of time attempting to get him to say 'Arthur' when he was smaller to no avail, but now that he was capable of saying it, he rarely did so. Since the Weasley patriarch did not mind the odd shortening of his name in the least, and she thought it rather adorable, she had ceased her contrived attempts to correct him.

Momentarily lost in her wool-gathering, she forgot that her son was waiting for an acceptable answer. Growing impatient, Brendan leaned forward in his seat and pointedly stared at her.

Pinching her lips together to keep from giggling at his expression, the woman took in a deep breath. "I think… perhaps… erm, we'll have to get your father settled in… and, oh Merlin… and if Teddy would like to spend time with us… it shouldn't be a problem…"

The boy raised both eyebrows as he watched his mother struggling not to laugh, and the action was enough to send her over the edge.

"I'm so sorry," she mumbled in between giggles while covering her face in embarrassment.

Her son frowned briefly in confusion and then lifted one eyebrow.

"Oh gods!" Hermione gasped before dissolving into another fit of laughter. It had always been bittersweet to see Severus's expressions on their son's face, but now that she knew the man was alive, well, and hers to keep, there was no residual sorrow accompanying her joy.

"Mum?"

She waved her hand in dismissal and spun to face the cupboard once again while gulping down air. Since she had been laughing too hard, she had not heard the creaking of the stairs as her lover slowly descended to the main floor. As such, when she turned back and found two matching looks of concerned uncertainty, it was almost too much to bear. Nearly doubling over, the witch took another minute and a half to calm down. Wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I'm fine. It's just… the two of you… I'm really fine. Severus, please do sit down."

Snape quirked a small grin as he watched her fetch the leftover cake, and then limped toward the nearest unoccupied seat.

"Morning, Dad!" Brendan greeted boldly when he finally trusted that his mother was alright.

"Good morning," he replied. After a moment, he rubbed his chin and leaned an elbow onto the table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh-huh. Did you, Daddy?"

The wizard paused briefly and glanced up at Hermione, who had approached the table with two slices of cake. "It was certainly one of the best nights I've ever had."

"Birthday cake? For breakfast?" the boy exclaimed, staring first at the plate and then at his mother in disbelief.

The woman gave a shrug as she handed him a fork. "It was your father's idea."

Brendan looked to the man beside him and then back at his breakfast. A wide grin exploded on his face as he stabbed his fork into the icing and whispered, "Best birthday ever."

"Severus – coffee, tea, or juice?" Hermione asked as she stepped away from the table. "I think I'm going to need coffee myself."

"I quite agree," Severus nodded.

After setting the percolator onto the stove, the witch quickly filled a glass with orange juice for her son and then leaned back against the edge of the countertop. She was just about to say something when she heard the Floo flare to life in the sitting room.

"Hermione!" a familiar voice shouted. "You'd better bloody be awake!"

"In the kitchen!" she returned, biting back a laugh when Severus groaned.

A second later, a wide-eyed Harry Potter appeared in her line of vision.

"Hermione! You're never going to guess what I've just heard, but Snape is…" he stopped suddenly and then dropped his voice several levels, "…sitting in your kitchen… eating cake?"

A smug smirk appeared on Snape's face as he raised another bite to his mouth. "Astute as ever, Potter."

"Sir, you're… you're…" Harry swallowed nervously and then flicked his gaze toward his best friend. "You knew?"

The woman drew in a slow breath at his hurt expression and shook her head. "Not until last night."

Severus sighed as he set down his fork. "I take it this means that a correction regarding my current metabolic state is presently plastered across the front page of the Prophet?"

"N-no, sir," the younger wizard stammered. "Well, I mean, there's likely going to be a special edition printed to announce that… you're alive… but Kingsley just Flooed to tell me in person before he tells the press. I just… I can't believe… you're alive."

"How eloquent," the spy sneered.

"But how?"

"I think that's a conversation to be held another time," Hermione stated, gesturing her head in the direction of her son. "Don't you agree, Harry?"

"Oh… of course," the Auror nodded before donning a smile and tousling the boy's hair. "Hey, Brendan! How's my buddy today?"

"Good," the child replied, beaming up at him. "We're having cake for breakfast!"

"Really?" he gasped, leaning forward. "That's a fantastic idea!"

"Uh-huh," Brendan agreed. "You want some?"

Harry shook his head, patting his stomach as he pulled out a chair. "Oh, no, I'm alright. Your Aunt Ginny stuffed me up plenty this morning."

"Okay," the boy giggled. "Hey, are you going to take me flying again today? You said yesterday that you would the next time you saw me. You see me now."

"I did say that, didn't I?" the man chuckled. "I tell you what… if you ask your mum, and she thinks it's okay, I'll take you up. Got it?"

Brendan nodded eagerly and then turned his expectant gaze up at his mother. "Mum, is it okay?"

Hermione exhaled loudly as she set a coffee mug in front of his father and then sank into the sole remaining seat.

"Please," the boy begged. "I'll wear my hat and mittens and scarf! Please, Mummy, please!"

The witch bit down on her bottom lip as she flicked her gaze to Severus, who was impassively staring at what remained of his cake. After a moment's consideration, she nodded her head. "Yes, you may go flying with Uncle Harry."

"Yes!"

"But finish your breakfast first," she chided. "And then go get dressed."

"Okay," he replied before determinedly shoveling his last few bites of cake into his mouth. After slurping down his juice, he flew out of the kitchen and raced up the staircase.

Harry chuckled quietly and pushed out of his chair. "Well, I guess I'll go fetch the Firebolt then."

With a slight grimace, Hermione stood and hurried after him. When they were both in the sitting room, she hissed his name.

"Yeah?" he murmured, turning around at the fireplace.

Folding her arms to her stomach, she approached him. "After you go flying, can you and Ginny keep him for a while?"

"Erm, yeah," her friend replied, narrowing his eyes at her sober expression. "I suppose so. Is something wrong?"

The witch shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "I don't know really. I need to take Severus to St. Mungo's today, and I don't think that Brendan needs to be there. I'm not certain how long it will take, so if you and Gin are busy, can you take him to the Burrow?"

"We didn't have any plans, so we can certainly watch him," Harry answered. "Is he… is he alright?"

She grimaced and let out an irritated huff. "They didn't treat him."

"What?"

Hermione glanced back in the direction of the stairs before answering. "Narcissa Malfoy saved him. She started treating him, but when the Aurors took her and Draco into custody, they also took him and locked him away somewhere else. He can't remember much, and wasn't fully conscious until that Christmas when Kingsley came to see him.

"Harry, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even speak for year, and who knows how bloody long he laid there completely paralyzed! His leg is hurting him – he's trying to play it down, but I know he must be in pain – and do you know what he told me? That he should be grateful for the pain because until two years ago he couldn't feel that leg at all! Which means… that for… for nearly five years, he couldn't… he probably couldn't walk… and no one told him that… that he's a hero… and he didn't even know… if I was alive… and… he didn't... kn-know...ab-bout..."

"Hermione," her friend sighed, wrapping his arms about her quivering frame. "Calm down."

"How could they?" she whispered into his robes. "How could they do that to him? After everything…"

"I don't know," Harry growled, "but I'm certainly going to make sure that Kingsley knows my feelings on the matter."

"Kingsley knew damn well who Brendan's father is, and yet never bothered to tell Severus that he had a son." The woman pulled away from her friend and angrily shook her head as she gestured to an armchair. "He sat right bloody there not even a week ago and commented that their resemblance was uncanny. He knew about Brendan; he knew about my relationship with Severus; and yet he didn't make an effort to tell either one of us that the other survived! Notice that I haven't even received a personal Floo call, and Severus was released days ago!"

"Well, he probably figured that you would hex his bollocks six ways from Sunday," he snorted.

She glared at the fireplace and then sighed. "When you speak with him, would you do me a favor? Tell him he can take his job offer and shove it up his –"

"Mum!"

Hermione pinched her eyes shut and wiped her face before turning around to face her son. "Yes, baby?"

Brendan held up his green scarf as he came down the stairs. "Can you help me?"

"Of course," she smiled, moving toward him. Grabbing hold of it, she made quick work of wrapping it around his neck and tucked it under the collar of his coat. "There you go. Now, be a good boy for Uncle Harry."

"Okay," he agreed after she kissed his forehead and patted his bottom. "Bye, Mum! Bye, Dad!"

The witch looked up to see Severus leaning in the doorway to the kitchen with an inscrutable look on his face.

"Ready to go, bud?" Harry asked, catching hold of Brendan as he ran toward him and swinging him up onto his shoulders.

"Yep!"

"Alrighty then," the man laughed. When he reached the fireplace, he lifted Brendan off of his shoulders and set him back onto the floor. Holding out the container of Floo powder, he allowed the boy to open up the connection and then gave a tense smile toward the other two occupants of the room. "I'll see you soon, Hermione, and I'm really glad to see you again, sir."

"Come on, Uncle Harry!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!"

As the green flames swallowed them up, Hermione sighed and moved toward her wizard. Concerned by the injured expression on his face, she reached a hand up to stroke his cheek. "Are you alright?"

Though he tightened his jaw, Severus covered her hand with his and nodded.

"Do you want anything more to eat or drink?"

"No."

The witch sucked in a quick breath and gave a quick nod. "I guess I'll pop upstairs quick and get dressed for the day, and then we could head over to St. Mungo's while it's still early. As long as you're agreeable, of course."

"That should be acceptable."

She blinked at the quiet statement and then slowly pulled away from him. His complete lack of protest about venturing out into public for treatment could only serve as confirmation of her fears regarding his current level of pain. Severus Snape, changed or not, was a proud and stubborn man who hated having to admit when he needed help.

Pausing momentarily at the head of the staircase, she looked over her shoulder and noticed him staring solemnly in the direction of the fireplace. Though her gut twisted with anxiety, Hermione exhaled deeply and whispered assurances to herself. "We're going to figure this out. Everything's going to be okay."