"Severus I don't know what to say, I..."
"There's nothing to say, on this I am immovable"
Tears dripped freely down her face as she studied the parchment in her hands.
Severus Snape had officially made Rose his heir.
"This came the day before yesterday" She reiterated softly through her tears.
"Faw" came the echoed word from Rose. She was often mimicking partial word sounds now, in addition to babbling.
After offering an indulgent smile to Rose "Yes." He confirmed once more, though there was a slight questioning lilt to his tones.
"A whole day before we admitted..before we discussed...just before." She finished lamely.
"Indeed, Firstly I shall not take offence at the very subtle insinuation, " He offered wryly with narrowed eyes, and she had the good grace to blush in embarrassment, resting a hand on his as she kissed his cheek in apology. "But this has no bearing whatsoever on what we spoke of about us yesterday, or indeed it has no bearing on us at all. Which is why I am immovable on this subject. I have been arranging this for a while and this is between myself and Rose, when she is old enough to fully understand...unless of course, as her mother and guardian you wish to contest it?"
The last few words were spoken cautiously, and he looked at her shyly through the curtain of his hair.
"Tess" Came Rose's echo.
"You sweet, sweet man" She whispered, before dropping a gentle kiss on his lips. "Of course I won't challenge it. I think it's a beautiful, wonderful thing you've done Severus, and Rose is ever so lucky to have you in her life. We both are."
He actually breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned into her. He was sitting in his chair, and she was sat across his lap. He rested his forehead on her chest and she leaned her cheek on his head, wrapping her arms around him, as he did the same. They held each other close for a few moments until Severus felt a tug on his arm.
Turning his head from the comfortable position upon Hermione's breast, he found Rose at his side, colouring abandoned on the floor and arms outstretched.
"uu"
Chuckling he helped her up, where she promptly deposited herself on the other side of his lap,after kissing his cheek. Smiling Hermione wrapped her arms around the girl, cradling her to Severus's side, and Rose smiled widely at her mother. After Severus dropped a kiss on Rose's head, she dropped her head onto his chest and began sucking her thumb, the other hand coming to twirl in his hair.
Feeling warmer and more content than he could ever remember being, he chuckled and pulled on one of Rose's curls, making it spring back, before repeating the action on Hermione. "Carry on twirling my hair like that Rose, and at this rate it shall end up as curly as yours and your mother's" Rose giggled "urr lee" but pointedly didn't stop playing with his hair, and both girls smiled at the feel of the deep laugh that rumbled in his chest.
Hermione summoned a blanket to cover them and dimmed the lights, as Severus wrapped his arms around both of them, holding them securely into his sides. Rose already had heavy eyes, and Hermione pillowed her head on the other side of his chest. "You are the death of all productivity woman, I had work to do today and now I find myself trapped in place by two spider monkeys" Eyes shut and a smile fixed upon her mouth, Hermione replied from her position pillowed on his broad chest. "Shut up Severus, you love cuddling, but I won't tell anyone, now go to sleep." He didn't reply, simply chuckled, a smirk affixed on his own mouth. He couldn't deny her words, as asinine as they were, because frankly...he really did love the cuddling. Closing his eyes, he slept.
The next morning, he wished for nothing more than the quiet peace they'd had the day before, as they all napped together in his armchair. Hermione was fretting, and had bitten her nails down to the quick as she worried at them. Rose had been stressed and fussy, sensing her mother's disquiet. Hermione was like a live wire, fretting from one thing to the next, alternating between holding back tears, and snapping harshly at Severus. So Rose was clinging to Severus's legs and the stability he offered.
Unbeknown to Rose, Severus's inner turmoil was just as turbulent as Hermione's, if not even more so. In fact he had more than once entertained the thought of withdrawing all his money from Gringotts, throwing both of them over his shoulders and apparating to some foreign country where the ministry would never find them. Though he doubted that Hermione would approve of his plan... however as she packed and repacked her handbag for the third time, he thought at this moment in time she might actually go with it. Fortunately however, years of subterfuge meant he carefully concealed his true feelings so Rose was gravitating to the calm demeanour that he was outwardly showing, the opposite of Hermione's frazzled actions.
The chime for the floo activated, and Severus dropped the wards to allow them entry, lifting Rose onto his hip and carrying her down the stairs with him, to allow Hermione to get her meltdown out of her system in peace.
Three familiar blonde heads quickly came into sight, as they walked into the living room. He turned to regard the small girl on his hip. "Do you want to go say hello to Scorpius?" He asked and the girl nodded very seriously, which made him smile.
He placed her on the ground and she ran over to meet her friend. The widely grinning Scorpius upon spotting her quickly waved a chubby arm in greeting, the exuberance of youth meaning he was unaware of the gravitas of their situation. He was a very affectionate child, who usually was hugging or kissing whatever adult was within his grasp, but the bright young boy had soon learned not to be too 'forward' with Rose, unless she made the first move. Rose smiled shyly at the little blonde boy and hugged him cautiously. Permission granted, and the grin the boy was sporting turned megawatt as he returned her hug enthusiastically, whilst greeting her. "Hullo Wose, lub you" which was returned with a very quiet "Peeyus". Rose's limited verbosity aside, Scorpius was not the easiest name for a child to pronounce.
Nodding in greeting to a smiling Draco and Lucius, he fondly recalled the first meeting between the two young toddlers a couple of weeks ago.
He'd warned Hermione that they were having guests and she had of course told Rose, but that didn't stop them both worrying about how the young girl would react.
They were waiting in the living room when the chime sounded, Hermione sat on the sofa with Rose upon her knee, and after a nodded confirmation from Hermione, Severus lifted the wards to allow their guests entry.
Two impeccably dressed blonde Slytherins stepped out of the floo and were joined by a very brightly smiling toddler balancing on Draco's hip. "Hullo Unca" he waved with a smile as he saw Severus, and Severus smiled indulgently. "Welcome to my home, young master Scorpius" and the boy giggled at his formality.
He heard both Lucius and Draco greeting Hermione, but was completely overtaken by the wondrous look of happiness that had overtaken Scorpius's face. He struggled to get down, and Draco conceded after giving him a quick warning. "Rose is shy Scorpius, remember your manners"
The boy rushed over to the sofa, quickly finding a seat next to Hermione. Rose was shyly watching him through her hair.
"hullo am skor-pee-us, was you name" Rose buried her head a bit further into her mother's chest, but shyly smiled at him. "Hello Scorpius, it's lovely to meet such a polite young man, I'm Hermione and this is Rose. Say Hello Rose" Rose waved with a small smile and Scorpius beamed at them. Standing on his tiptoes he kissed Hermione on the cheek, and then Rose, who smiled and giggled at the grey eyed boy. "nice meet you" he said as he fell back onto sitting on his bum, the smile yet to leave his face as he stared at them in wonder. "You hair prettee" he said to Rose and she smiled and signed to him. He looked confused for a moment until Hermione spoke. "Rose is very shy Scorpius, she finds it easier to talk with her hands" She copied the three signs that Rose had used, speaking slowly as she did so the toddler could follow. "Your. Eyes. are Pretty"
The boys megawatt smile returned then and he quickly copied the sign for "pretty" that Hermione had shown him. It was actually the sign for 'beautiful', but pretty was easier for the children to understand.
"YOU eyes prettee." He said pointing to her and doing the 'beautiful' sign. "You hair prettee. You evree think prettee. You my friend?"
Rose smiled to him, really smiled at the affectionate young boy who was doing his best to communicate with her. She nodded and Hermione smiled to Severus.
Scorpius's keen eyes hadn't missed the art supplies that had been left out.
"We play?" He pointed to them and to the amusement of the adults he pointed to her and then to himself. "Me You Play?" He really was an astute young boy. Much to Hermoine's Surprise Rose nodded, and both she and Severus were gobsmacked when a grinning Scorpius grabbed her hand, and Rose went willingly with him over to the art supplies, without a second look at her mother.
Hermione just smiled indulgently at them before smiling brightly to Severus and the other two Slytherin men.
"Draco, how exactly did you raise a little darling like that?" She asked wryly. Ice broken between them, Draco just snorted and smirked at her. "Just because you're immune to the Malfoy charm, doesn't mean everyone is" He said and Hermione laughed.
"Look at the poor boy, he's besotted" Lucius drawled, and the adults watched as the small boy exuberantly played with Rose. It seemed that upon learning Rose didn't speak, Scorpius had decided to speak enough for the both of them. He was waxing lyrical about Rose's art work, and every now and again he would point at something on Rose and give the 'beautiful' sign. Everything from her nose, to her hands to her shoes.
"He's a sweetheart" Hermione said as she came to stand with the other adults. "This will do him good as well I think" Draco admitted to her. "He just wants to be friends with everybody, and doesn't understand why people won't let their children play with him" She didn't miss the way he stroked his hand down his left arm, or the look of guilt on Lucius's face and sympathy on Severus's.
"Well if there's one thing Rose is, it's loyal, I think he's got a friend for life" Severus admitted and Hermione nodded. They took some time to watch the children, before they sat down to discuss the trial.
When they were ready to leave Scorpius started to cry, which set off Rose, and they had two tearful toddlers on their hands. Scorpius wouldn't let go of Rose until Hermione taught him the signs for 'love' and 'friend' and Scorpius spent five minutes telling Rose how much he 'loved' his 'friend' , and the adults had to promise them they could meet again that week, so upset were the pair of them.
And so began their 'playdates'. Twice a week for the past for past fortnight, either Lucius or Draco would turn up with an overly excited Scorpius, who always insisted on bringing something for Rose and Hermione. Usually sweets or flowers, or once a pack of crayons for Rose.
"So, are you ready old friend?" Lucius asked him.
"As ready as we can be, I think, given what we're about to endure" He responded, as Hermione finally approached from upstairs.
"Well then, let's go"
And with a deep breath, they made their way to the ministry.