When Rose was finally asleep, Hermione walked across to their bedroom, and Severus followed. Her eyes met his and her hand stroked across his chest as she passed him in the hall and he met her gaze with a heated look.

She walked through the bedroom door and a moment later he followed her, the door shutting behind him with a resounding click, concealed by a hastily placed silencing charm as Severus reached for her the second the door closed.

The kiss they shared was pure passion. Not a second was lost in the moments between Severus grasping her, and their lips meeting properly for the first time. The kiss burned and consumed, it was fire and passion and promise all rolled into one. The second they broke apart for air, they looked into each others eyes and Hermione broke for real.

The sobs came forth uncontrollably and as her knees gave way she would have ended up a boneless pile on the floor if it weren't for Severus's strong arms around her. Thankfully he had been prepared for it, for he knew something like this was due to happen. She had been so strong for so long, there was only so much one person could take before they buckled. The whole day had been a mass of stress, anxiety and fear.

He allowed her to cry for a while, and when her tears had finally abated to the point of hiccoughs, not unlike Rose herself earlier he picked her up in his arms effortlessly and carried her into the bathroom. As he sat her on the toilet seat, he noticed for the first time the pyjamas she was wearing and just how small she actually was. It seemed impossible for so much strength to come in such a little package.

Kneeling before her, he used a damp cloth to wipe her face. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying, and her nose was running, her face red and blotchy. She offered him a watery smile as he gently cleaned her face with the cloth.

"There are spells for that" She said softly, and he smiled at her in response as he answered, acknowledging the memory between them. "I'd prefer to care for you myself".

He wiped her face as best as he could and then stood, pulling her into his embrace. She sank into him, as though wishing she could bury herself into his very skin. He knew that he would happily let her if he could. When she no longer seemed like she was going to fall apart he picked her up once more, only this time instead of carrying her bridal style she had her arms around his neck, and at his encouragement wrapped her legs around his waist, and he carried her to the bed, their bed, without ever breaking the hug. He sat down on the edge, with her on his lap and just held her for a while rubbing her back, as her face buried in his neck and he tucked her head under his chin.

After a while she pulled back with a sniffle and reached for the hairbrush, looking at him expectantly. His eyes flicked to her riotous curls then to the brush with trepidation. "I don't think I..." but she snorted a laugh, interrupting him.

"It's not for me Severus, switch places with me" Colour rose in his cheeks as it always did when she did this for him. "You don't have to-" he began but she interrupted him once more. "Please? It makes me feel better"

He nodded and settled on the floor in front of her, while she sat on the bed and ran the brush through his hair. It was so soothing that it often had him almost asleep, though he always fought it, not wanting to miss a moment of the sensation. She was humming gently, and he realised that it was the first time he'd heard her do so. Just as it was the first time he'd heard her sing to Rose earlier and it added an entire new dimension of comfort to the experience whilst at the same time it made him happy that she was in herself at least feeling better enough for the music to return to her life.

When she had finished brushing his hair she ran her fingers through his scalp for a moment which practically made his eyes cross, then with a hand under his chin tipped his face up to look at her. He did as she requested and was treated to a sweet, if clumsy upside down kiss. When she parted she left another peck on his nose and then laughed at the look on his face. He grumbled but it was all for show, and he could not hide the smirk at her actions. Anyway, he was infinitely pleased that she was now laughing instead of crying.

He stood at her prompting and she settled back into bed, getting under the covers. For a moment he paused before he got in. Things had changed between them now, their whole dynamic was different and for a short while he wondered if now things were no longer strictly platonic between them, would it be proper for him to assume he would be sharing a bed with her. His doubts were assuaged though when she pulled back the covers for him with a smile so that he could get in beside her, which he promptly did.

Things were different though because though he was used to waking up with her in his arms, they always started on opposite sides of the bed. But not tonight. Tonight as soon as he was in the bed, she was promptly wrapped around him like devils snare as her head tucked into the nook under his chin where they had discovered earlier that she fit as though it had been made for her. He carefully wrapped his arms around her, giving her plenty of time to back away but she didn't instead she went boneless and relaxed further into him with a sigh. "Severus...this is nice" she said softly, her voice already thick with sleep. Pressing a kiss to her the crown of her head, he heard her sigh once more as her breathing evened out. "Yes, it is" he answered as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take him.

He was woken by his wards prickling at his skin, moments before a small hand started tugging on his shirt. Turning carefully, so as not to wake Hermione who he was spooning, he came face to face with a tearful Rose. He thought for a moment that she intended to climb into their bed, so he went to lift her only for her to pull his shirt again encouraging him to follow her. He did, moving carefully once more and walked hand in hand to her bedroom. She stood by her bed tearfully and he noticed the familiar damp patch on it, along with the matching one on her pyjamas. Without raising a fuss he flicked his wand over the bed, quickly cleaning it, and then went to do the same to her. She stopped him with a "No Daddy" and brought him over to her drawers, even as his heart lurched in his chest at her simply spoken words. He'd thought it was perhaps a fluke earlier and that would be the one and only time she addressed him as such in her desperation, but clearly that was not the case.

She brought him to her drawers and proceeded to pull out a clean (mismatching) set of pyjamas. But who was he to comment if she wanted to wear the pink top with the canary yellow bottoms and polka dot pants.

She managed to get the top off herself, and then held her arms up expectantly which was the point when he realised that he was expected to take an active part in this. He'd never dressed a child before, and for a moment he had to think about what was the best way to do it. Swallowing his nerves he went ahead and put the shirt over her head, making sure to get her arms in the holes. Between them they sorted out her hair and she smiled at him. She sat down then an began pulling on her wet bottoms and with dawning horror he realised she needed those changing too, obvioussly. In a panic he stood ready to retrieve Hermione to take over this activity, when she spoke again. "No Daddy". What would Hermione think if she walked in? He thought in a panic. "Let me get your mother to help you Rose" He said softly, but she was adamant against it. "No. No. Daddy". His nerves frazzled and he looked longingly at the doorway to his bedroom where Hermione was, though with the light on in Rose's room, he could see nothing in his own darkened room.

Sighing deeply and squaring his shoulders for whatever fate awaited him, he resolved himself to complete this task. He couldn't deny her any more, not when she sat there so trustingly, calling him daddy. If she needed him to be her daddy, then by Merlin that was what he was going to be, so he returned to his knees on the floor beside her.

She smiled and carried on none the wiser to his inner turmoil. She wriggled out the trousers and underwear, and he purposely kept his eyes away to give her privacy.

When she'd thrown the soiled clothes on top of the others, he held out the clean knickers, still without looking at her. "Can you do the pants yourself?" He asked her and she answered with a "yes yes" much to his relief. She took the knickers from his hand, but held onto his arm to help her stand up while she got her legs in.

He likewise went to pass her the bottoms, but she pushed them back to him "Daddy help". Right then, so this is your sworn duty now Severus, lets just get this over with. He turned to face her where she stood wearing her pink top, polka dot pants and a smile and he couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him. He couldn't tell which way round the bottoms went just by looking at them as to him they resembled tights but in the end he found a label on the inside and assumed that would be the back.

Attempting to think logically he rolled the legs up and held the bottoms out in front of him. She rested her hands on his upper arms for support as she stepped into the legs one at a time, then he gently pulled them up until they were in place and tied the little ribbon into a bow at the front.

When she was done he offered her a smile and she returned it, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a slopping toddler kiss on his cheek. He returned the embrace and the kiss, holding her tightly to him. All the fears of the day washed over him anew and he tightened his grip. It seemed unreal that she could have been taken from them today. Rose was just as disinclined to let go, even when he eased his grip. When she still didn't let go, he chuckled and stood up, feeling her legs come to wrap around him as he held her close to his side.

"It's time to go to bed sweetheart" He whispered into her hair, but she just shook her head no an buried her face in his neck. "Biskits". Chuckling he made his way quietly to the stairs, still holding her to his side. "Do not tell your mother I gave you a chocolate biscuit at 2am Rose or I shall be in the dog house" He gave her a conspiratorial smirk and she laughed, she probably didn't understand the term fully but it amused her anyway.

They had a late night picnic in the kitchen, Severus had a cup of tea and they shared a couple of Chocolate Biscuits. Rose had half a cup of warm milk, he didn't want to give her any more in case she had an accident. Severus sat in the chair with Rose on his knee. As he drank his tea he found himself rubbing her back gently, quite without realising. He went to stop only to find that she grunted around her sippy cup and nudged him to carry on. He chuckled and resumed rubbing her back for her, his other hand holding his tea.

It didn't take long before she was dozing gently on his chest. He carefully took the sippy cup from her, and wiped any evidence of chocolate off her face. When he'd done that, she slung her arms around his neck once more and he carried her back upstairs.

She was practically asleep when he tucked her back into bed, making sure everything was set to rights and she had Herman in her grasp. He placed a kiss on her head, when he soft and muzzy voice came through the teddy bears fur.

"night daddy"

His chest tightened and tears burned at his eyes, which he fought with all his will to hold back.

"Good Night Princess" He whispered back as he turned off the lights.

He had to stand in the hall for a few moments and compose himself before he could go back into their bedroom.

Cautiously tiptoeing so as not to wake her, Severus slipped back under the covers. He'd thought he'd gotten away clear as he carefully settled back into bed. Hermione was laid in her favourite position, which was the one Severus referred to in his head as 'Dropped from a large height onto concrete'. Face down in the pillow and limbs akimbo, taking up 3/4 of the space.

Her voice when it came was muffled by the pillow and made him freeze in his tracks.

"Severus Snape, you better not have given that girl chocolate"