Elizabeth looked from Draco to her father and back again.

Severus cleared his throat. "Thank you, Miss Calhoun. That will be all." He looked at Elizabeth. "Give us the room, please."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes slightly but left, the sleeve of her robes brushing slightly against Draco's, refusing to walk around him.

When the door closed, Severus leveled his gaze at his former student. "Mr. Malfoy. I'm startled that the wards allowed you over the property line."

Draco nodded, his eyes dropping to a point noticeably below Severus'. "Yes, sir."

"You said you needed my help." Severus said, raising an eyebrow. "Since I haven't heard that phrase from you in several years, I must say I'm intrigued."

"It's Astoria," Draco said nervously. "She's… she's with child."

Severus' jaw twitched. "She's a sixth year." He hissed. "Mr. Malfoy, were you, perhaps, absent the day I taught contraceptive potions?"

"No, sir," Draco said, his eyes dropped further. "She's of age, sir. I swear. A late birthday, and the war—" Draco stammered. Leave it to Severus to make him feel like he was ten years old.

"That's right," Severus said, steepling his hands on his desktop. "You were not absent, because it was a private lesson I gave you in your fifth year. I had hoped that lesson would be all the help you needed in that regard. And I don't care how old Miss Greengrass is, she's a student at this institution, with a year and a half left in her education."

"Yes, sir, I know." Draco wondered if there was a way to simply melt into the floor.

"Yet here we stand," Severus said, tapping his index fingers together. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you."

Draco dragged his eyes to those of the man who had tried so hard to be what he needed, even when Draco had constantly rejected him.

"You are a man," Severus said firmly, his eyes locked on the younger wizard's. "It's time to step up and start acting like one. You've fancied yourself independent for years, and now you'll have to be."

"That's why I need your help," Draco said softly. "My father…"

Severus frowned. "You've told him?"

Draco shook his head. "I'm going to marry Astoria. I'm going to do the right thing, and even though he won't approve of the circumstances, he'll like the match."

"Then what's the problem?" Severus frowned. "Lucius Malfoy's pureblood legacy will carry on."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Draco said, his eyes falling to the floor again. "You've heard that Father is… starting again."

"For several months now," Severus confirmed, nodding shortly. "I assumed that you were unconcerned, since you didn't arrive at my door immediately."

Draco shifted slightly on his feet. "It's… It's different now."

"Because you have a child." It was not a question, but Draco nodded anyway. Severus stood. "Nothing changes a man like being a father. If any karma exists, you'll either have a daughter who will drive you up a wall or a son who will irritate you like you've spent the past two decades irritating me." He came around the desk and sat against the edge of it, crossing his arms. "I presume you have some idea of what you'd like to do?"

Draco took a deep breath. "I need to get Astoria away somewhere. As soon as possible."

"You've told her parents?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir."

Severus raised his eyes skyward. "So you are proposing that you remove a child from school without the consent of her parents? It's kidnapping."

"She's of age…"

"Come see me in seventeen years, and we'll see if you still say that," Severus glared at the younger wizard. "You couldn't have gone with the elder Greengrass girl?"

Draco wasn't sure if it was a legitimate question, so he stayed silent.

Severus pointed to a chair. "Sit. I'll return in a moment."

"Where are you going?" Draco asked, a bit frightened.

"To find the mother of your child."

"Why?"

Severus snorted. "Because I have a bit of experience with making grand plans without, in your case, your future wife. It is ill advised, at best."

*S*S*

"Draco Malfoy is here," Elizabeth said, sitting on Remus' desk as he worked on a large wooden cabinet along one wall of his classroom.

"Is he visiting Miss Greengrass?"

Elizabeth made a face. "Why?"

"Because they've been dating since the beginning of last year." Remus fiddled with the spacing of several holes in the front of the cabinet.

"How did I not know that?"

"You were otherwise involved," Remus said blandly.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a dueling box," Remus explained. "Here, you can help me test it." He stepped several paces back from the cabinet and pointed to a spot on the floor a few feet to his right.

"What does it do?" Elizabeth stood on the indicated spot.

Remus pointed his wand at the box and murmured a charm Elizabeth didn't recognize. Suddenly, she felt a sharp sting hit her thigh. "Remus!"

The werewolf grinned. "I told you, it's a dueling box. It fires harmless hexes at students so they can practice protection charms."

"Harmless," Elizabeth muttered, rubbing her leg. "Why can't you teach them like you and Sirius taught me?"

"I could," Remus nodded. "But then I could only work with one student at a time, or trust that another student will only fire correct hexes at another. The first wastes time and the second is asking for trouble. Especially with first and second years, which is what I'm using it for."

Elizabeth hopped up to sit on the desk again. "Malfoy came to Dad's office."

"Hmm?" Remus wheeled the cabinet into an out-of-the-way corner.

"Draco. He was in Dad's office, not the Slytherin common room. He said he needed help."

"I really don't know, Sevling." Remus looked around the room. "Amazing how dirty a classroom gets in half a year."

"You should give more detentions," Elizabeth grinned. "That's how Dad always kept his clean."

"And now?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "He only teaches one class, so it's probably not that big of a deal." She was quiet for a moment. "Do you think it's weird that, if he was going to keep one class to teach, it wasn't Defense?"

Remus considered the point. "I think Defense is… a bit too real for your father right now."

"It's not for you?" Elizabeth asked, frowning.

"I take work where I can get it." Remus said, beckoning for her to follow him out of the classroom. "Where else can I work and be near my family, anyway?"

"Speaking of that," Elizabeth said, pulling the door closed behind her. "Where is Teddy?"

"Poppy agreed to watch him for an hour," Remus said, heading toward the hospital wing. "Dora's mother watches him all week, but today I just needed a little time to finish the dueling box."

"You should have asked me," Elizabeth said, following him.

"I thought you'd be at the shop today," Remus said. "You usually are on Saturdays."

"I had to talk to Dad about something," Elizabeth said. "But I'm going for dinner."

"And the night?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to," Elizabeth chided. "Dad doesn't."

"Your father is a wise man," Remus said, pushing the door to the hospital wing open.

"Da! Da!" Teddy was lying on his back on the floor, cushioned by a large blanket. "Bet! Bet!"

"Hey, buddy," Remus scooped him off the floor. "Here, 'Bet," he grinned, handing the baby to Elizabeth so he could gather his toys. "Thank you, Poppy. I hope he wasn't any trouble."

"Oh, of course not," Madam Pomfrey chirped. "He helped me roll bandages, didn't you, Teddy?"

Elizabeth laughed and held up the infant. "Rolling himself, it looks like." Teddy had a bandage wound around him in a clearly self-imposed manner. She tickled his stomach. "Elizabeth, Teddy. Can you say 'Elizabeth'?"

"Give it up, Sevling," Remus said as they left. "Babies only have so many sounds at their disposal, and he's named you."

"Ugh. Can't anyone just let my name alone?" Elizabeth ruffled Teddy's pink hair.

"Your father said something about that," Remus said, leading the way to his quarters.

"I suppose you have an opinion?" Elizabeth asked dryly.

"Not particularly," Remus said, folding the blanket as they walked. "However, Dora was so attached to her last name that she refused to be called anything else. But she changed it when we married."

"But we still called her Tonks," Elizabeth challenged.

"Well, I can call you 'Evans' if you'd like." Remus opened the door, ushering Elizabeth and Teddy through. "Though I don't know that it suits you."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'll keep it in mind."

"You might also want to keep in mind that you allowed Fred to change your first name, years and years ago," Remus said, swinging Teddy up into a high arc.

"That's different," Elizabeth protested, but even as she said it, she wasn't sure.

*S*S*

"Due to the fact that you are of age," Severus said, his hands folded on his desk, looking at the Slytherins sitting across from him, "I am under no obligation to inform your parents, Miss Greengrass. However," he carefully regarded the young woman, "I think you should carefully consider your plans to do this with no familial support."

"They'll never let me outside again," Astoria said, her hand resting on the bulge that was concealed by her robes. "I'll get married, and Mr. Malfoy will lock me up in their home. We'll never get away then."

Severus pressed his lips together, wishing he could dispute the point, but he knew it was true. He had a terribly vivid flashback to when Narcissa was pregnant with Draco. Lucius and Narcissa were living, as was customary, with Lucius' parents. As soon as Narcissa discovered she was pregnant, she was confined to the mansion until the baby was born. While Mrs. Malfoy greatly enjoyed having every aspect of her life managed by house elves for nine months, Severus imagined that Astoria would chafe under such treatment. Not to mention that once the baby was born, the child would never leave the watchful eye of Lucius Malfoy until the older man's death.

"Have you been receiving medical treatment?" Severus asked.

"No, sir," Astoria shook her head. "I can't go to our family physician—

"We'll have Madam Pomfrey examine you tomorrow," Severus said firmly. "You are carrying a life, Miss Greengrass."

"Yes, sir."

"Madam Pomfrey will be able to give us a more specific due date," Severus continued. "However, do you have a rough estimate of how long you've been in this condition?"

Astoria wondered if leaping out the Snape's window was a reasonable escape plan. The very last thing she wanted to discuss with the man who had been her Professor and her Head of House and was now her Headmaster was anything to do with her reproductive system.

"Five months," she said, staring at the edge of Snape's desk.

"So you will, theoretically, deliver before the end of the school year." Severus pressed his lips together. "I want to pause in the planning a moment to say this. I'm going to help the two of you deal with this because what's done is done, and despite the circumstances, you've been given a blessing as well as a responsibility. In addition, I believe you are correct in your assessment of what the situation would be for your child. However, I do not want you to think that, because I am assisting you in this, I in any way approve of how reckless and irresponsible you were. I made that clear to Mr. Malfoy earlier, but, as they say, it takes two to tango." He frowned at the couple. "There is no excuse, in a world of simple contraception, that you did not see fit to think even ten minutes into the future."

"Yes, sir," Astoria said, trying to blend into her chair.

Severus cleared his throat. "My only comfort in this situation is that you are both…" he paused to let the next word drip off his tongue, "adults. Technically." He frowned. "Although if my daughter was in this situation and her Headmaster didn't tell me, I'd have him killed. So, if I turn up poisoned, or impaled, the Aurors should look to Miss Greengrass' parents." He stood. "You," he pointed to Draco, "go home and start figuring out how to funnel money from your parents into cash. I would imagine that any rights you have to the Malfoy fortune will be nullified once we hide you away."

"You," he indicated Astoria, "go back to your dormitory and finish your weekend homework. I will set up a meeting with Madam Pomfrey this evening and let you know what time you'll need to be in her office tomorrow."

Draco opened the door for Astoria, squeezing her shoulder awkwardly as she went out. Severus took the door, using his other hand to cuff the younger wizard soundly across the back of his head.

"Ouch!" Draco protested, twisting to the side to block any additional assault.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Get out before I forget that you're a grown man."

*S*S*

"What do you suppose Draco wanted?" Elizabeth asked Fred, tapping her wand on the pile of receipts on the desk and then on the large, leather-bound ledger.

"Hmm," Fred said, filling in the order form on his desk. "Maybe the Death Eaters would like to use Hogwarts for their next social event?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and threw a ball of spare parchment at him. "Seriously."

"Seriously, I think we need to keep an eye on Malfoy," Fred said, frowning. "Did you see him with Astoria Greengrass at the last Hogsmeade weekend?"

"How did everyone know about that but me?" Elizabeth scowled.

"I don't know," Fred shrugged. "Maybe you've had other things on your mind." He grinned and reached for the ledger, locking it in his desk.

"I don't really know her very well anyway," Elizabeth shrugged.

"She's in Ginny's year," Fred said. "Or she is supposed to be. Her parents pulled her out last year, so she's behind."

"Even with Dad in charge?"

"Her father's a Death Eater," Fred said, extinguishing the lantern by the office door as they headed out and up the stairs. "They didn't want her going to school with a blood-traitor during a war, I'd imagine."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "He's not a blood-traitor. You're a blood-traitor."

"Oh, that's right," Fred smirked. "One of my better attributes, I think."

Elizabeth laughed. "Yeah, that and your body is the reason I agreed to marry you."

*S*S*

"So, what did Malfoy want?" Elizabeth asked, her legs over the arm of the sofa, her Potions book on her stomach.

"For you to mind your own business," Severus quipped, not looking up from the Daily Prophet he was reading.

"Dad!" Elizabeth sat up, hugging her knees and looking at him. "Come on!"

"'Come on'?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and flopped back down. "Fine, don't tell me."

"Exactly my plan," Severus said. "What are you reading about?"

"Fire-repellent potion," Elizabeth said, "You assigned it, you should know."

"I do know," Severus nodded. "But you're just so pleasant this evening, I thought I'd ask."

Elizabeth was quiet for a minute. "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"The potion… Does it work outside the body?"

Severus frowned. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth sat up. "If I were to take a vial of fire-repellent potion and hit it with incendio, would it burn?"

"No… because it's a liquid."

"So is gasoline," Elizabeth countered. "But is it fire-proof because it's liquid or because it's actually fire-proof?"

Severus considered the question for a moment, then pointed at the door to the lab. "Figure it out."

"You don't know?"

"What kind of teacher would I be if I just gave you all the answers?"

Elizabeth smirked. "You don't know." She stood, closing her book. "I can't believe it."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Yes, my child, I've always been all-knowing throughout your childhood."

"Just about," Elizabeth shrugged, disappearing down the steps.

*S*S*

"Isn't it supposed to get brown?" Fred asked, leaning over to look into the oven.

"It will; give it time," Elizabeth assured him. "I want to talk to you about something."

"I can't believe you convinced me to put in a real kitchen, " Fred shook his head. "Muggle cooking is so slow."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Why don't you sit down and stop staring at it?"

"Okay, okay," Fred went into the living room annex of the apartment. "You want to talk about something?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth sat beside him on the sofa. "What do you think of expanding the Defense line at the shop?"

Fred considered. "The line itself was kind of a lark, we haven't added new products to it in a year."

"Exactly. But I think there's a market for personal Defense right now. Everyone wants to be able to defend their families. With Lucius Malfoy being obnoxious…"

"I'm sure you're right," Fred said, propping his feet on the ottoman. "But it's about all I can do to keep the jokes up and running. It's only recently that I've had time to invent anything new."

"It wouldn't be you," Elizabeth shook her head. "It would be me."

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Defense by Elizabeth Evans? The marketing certainly writes itself."

"I've been… playing with some things," Elizabeth said, suddenly a bit uneasy now that she was saying it aloud. "Here," she reached into her bag she'd dropped by the sofa. "Put this on." She handed him a black Slytherin robe.

"Umm… no," Fred said, pinching the fabric between two fingers and eyeing the Snake icon.

"Fred," Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Betsy, I've almost died at least a dozen times for you, and now you want me to put on a Slytherin robe?"

"Put it on," Elizabeth said, poking him in the side with her wand. "I want to show you something."

Fred seemed to assess the situation and determine that he was going to lose. "Alright," he said, pulling the robe over his t-shirt and jeans. The robe, clearing belonging to a First Year, only came to his knees. "I look like an idiot."

"No," Elizabeth grinned, gesturing for him to stand a few yards from her. "You look like when I first met you."

"Wearing a Slytherin crest?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but I haven't seen you in a school robe in years." She raised her wand. "Incendio!"

The blast of fire from her wand surprised Fred so much that he didn't even try to resist. He felt the impact of spell hitting him in the chest, his breastbone giving slightly under the pressure. "What the hell?" he sputtered, pulling off the robe and throwing it in front of him, wand drawn to douse it in water.

"Stop," Elizabeth ordered, pointing at the robe. "It's not burning."

Fred paused a moment, trying to get his heart to slow. "What did you do?"

Elizabeth grinned, picking up the fabric. "I altered the potion that you drink to become fire-proof to create solid threads, and then I wove it into the fabric. You don't have to drink the stuff 'just in case' anymore. You can just wear the fabric."

Fred sat on the sofa. "Give me that," he said, holding out his hand for the robe. He inspected it closely. "Why hasn't anyone done this before?"

"It's complicated," Elizabeth said, sitting beside him. "Even Dad didn't know if the potion could be used any other way. It's a bit too mundane a potion for him. It took me weeks to figure out exactly how to do it. We have regular fireproof robes, but these repel—

"Magical fire," Fred nodded. "What about Fiendfyre?"

"I don't know," Elizabeth shook her head. "It's too dangerous to test."

"Maybe not in a Ministry lab," Fred said. "Your dad sent George and I to one our fourth year because we kept blowing up his classroom when he let us use it."

"You never told me that," Elizabeth said, folding the robe and putting it back in her bag.

"He swore us to secrecy," Fred said, getting up to check on the oven. "In fact, I think he said that if we ever told anyone that he was 'tolerating our ridiculous little games'," Fred used his fingers as air quotes, "he'd destroy everything we'd ever made and have us transferred to Durmstrang."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "There was a whole little world of Snape-Weasley alliance that I knew nothing about."

"You knew he helped us get patents early on," Fred said, pulling plates from the cupboard.

"Yeah, but it looks like the conspiracy runs deep," Elizabeth teased, finding glasses. "Who knew Severus Snape had such a soft spot for rebels?"

"He'd remind you that he and my parents were the original rebels," Fred rolled his eyes. "I hate that I'm quoting Snape."

Elizabeth laughed. "There are worse people to quote, I suppose."

Fred nodded, wrapping his arms around her. "So you want to be my business partner?"

Elizabeth looked up at him. "I guess we should probably ask Ron."