AN: I don't own Harry Potter and don't make any profit.

Severus slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Elena was lying in the crook of his arm sleeping. The bed was warm and soft. He closed his eyes again, when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he rasped his voice still drowsy.

"Good morning, Severus! Would you like to join me for breakfast?" Hermione Granger smiled at him and suddenly the events of last evening came back to him.

"Yes, that would be nice, let me just put Elena in the cot and well put on a T-shirt," he replied. Looking at Hermione, who blushed looking at his bare chest and quickly turned away, he grinned to himself. He couldn't remember the last time a girl – woman, for that matter blushed at the sight of him. Had that actually happend once? He couldn't really recall it. He sighed and got up.

"Tea or coffee?" Hermione asked when he entered the kitchen.

"In the morning I usually have one cup of black coffee with a tiny bit of sugar in it, if that's okay? Have you only got one chair?"

"Oh sorry, I totally forgot, I turned the other chair into the cot," Hermione laughed.

"Oh! Let me just …" and he quickly transfigured a chopping board into a chair.

"Well, I'm actually dying to hear your story," she said with a quizzically look on her face.

Severus sighed, "Can I please have some coffee first?"

She handed him a cup.

After he drank half of his coffee in silence he started talking, "Well after being saved and cleared of all charges, I retreated from wizarding society. I tried to live a quiet life, trying not to draw any attention to myself. I've got a lot of enemies, since it became evident which side I was on the whole time.

. Luckily I had some savings set aside, from my time at Hogwarts and I started a mail order business for potions using a fake name. So I was kind of content, didn't think I would ever have to deal with my past again. Clearly I was wrong. About a year ago I met a woman I liked. She was a muggle. We slept together a couple of times and well she got pregnant. For me it felt right to stay at her side, even if I didn't love her. I wanted to do something right in my life, for once. Unfortunately Elena's mother died shortly after she gave birth to her…"

Hermione gasped," I didn't even know, that still happened."

"Apparently it does, very rarely though. Well Sophia, Elena's mum didn't have any relatives anymore so there I was with a new born baby and no experience whatsoever. So I went back to Sophia's place with Elena, where I had stayed for the last couple of months of the pregnancy. We had a quiet first week, getting to know each other, when suddenly my whole past blew up in my face."

There was a soft cry from the bedroom and Severus got up, getting his daughter. When he came back he held her head to his cheek and cooed in her tiny ear. It warmed Hermione's heart seeing her former cold and distant professor caring so much about another human being. Seeing the look on Hermione's face, when he came back, Severus barked in a very low voice, "Don't you ever let anybody know about this!"

Hermione couldn't supress a grin.

Severus prepared a bottle for Elena, while bouncing her up and down with one arm, still cooing in her ear.

"And they always say only women are able of multitasking," Hermione said dryly, "Do you maybe need a hand?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," Severus replied.

When he settled Elena in his arms with a bottle, he continued his story, "Somehow they found us and set the whole place on fire. I was just able to magically keep the flames at bay for a couple of minutes, grab Elena and a couple of personal items before the whole place burnt down," he sighed deeply and stared to the floor. Hermione got up, and grabbed some marmalade she forgot from the fridge, passing him by she slightly squeezed his shoulder, saying, "I'm sorry!"

"Thanks. Anyway I wanted to go back to Spinner's End, but I already saw from a distance that they had done the same thing there, so I didn't know what to do. I was on the run for a week before I decided to come to you."

"Why of all people did you come to me?"

"Well the Malfoy's I didn't trust anymore. I didn't want to go to McGonagall, everybody would have known by now, not because of her, but because of the students gossiping. The Burrow? Sorry but I can't cope with Molly for a long time." Hermione grinned.

"Who else is there left, Potter, Kingsley? It had to be you. I knew you would help me out. You are a Gryffindor it's in your nature."

Hermione snorted.

"How could they break down your wards?"

"Sorry, but I've been a bit preoccupied for the last couple of weeks," he replied sarcastically.

"Hm! So what are your plans?"

"To be honest I've got no idea. The last couple of weeks have been a bit overwhelming really."

"Well I don't mind if you're staying here for a while. Let me just get something to write, we'll make a list."

"A list?"

"Yeah, it helps me think, get my thoughts sorted. Don't you ever do it?"

"No!"

"You should. It's great." Severus raised a questioning eyebrow at her enthusiasm.

"Okay so we need to go shopping, I guess we need nappies and formula, what else?"

"I need everything else, clothes, toiletries, everything really," Severus sighed.

"Do you want me to watch Elena, while you go or do you want me to come with you?"

"Actually can you do the shopping for us? I don't want to go out with Elena, but I also don't want to leave her behind."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and grumbled "Well then write me a shopping list. Can you do that?"

"Why are you being so unfriendly?"

"Because I'm missing the old snide Severus, who would stand his ground," she looked at him challenging.

"Miss Granger," Severus raised out of his chair, towering over her, "I'll be my old self in a couple of weeks, but for now I need your help if I'm not asking too much of you. So are you going to help me or not?" He asked his voice dangerously low.

Hermione grinned, "That's better! I almost feel like being back in the dungeons. So I'm happy shopping for Elena, but I'm not sure I can say the same about shopping for you," Hermione said.

"It's quite easy really nothing pink or rose coloured for Elena and just grab me two pairs of jeans, a couple of t-shirts and two or three jumpers."

"What about underwear?" she asked blushing again.

"Oh, I didn't think about that," he said a bit uncomfortable.

"There is a men's clothing store, just around the corner. It's a bit more expensive, but you can quickly pop downstairs and grab socks and underwear," she said.

Severus sighed in relief.

"And while I'm gone you could think about our sleeping arrangements. The flat is tiny, but maybe you could come up with something."

"I'll try," he smirked.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Chocolate frogs," he mumbled.

"Did you just say chocolate frogs?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Please!" he grinned stupidly.

"Right then," she pulled her hair into a ponytail, put on a baseball cap and some dark sun glasses.

"A disguise, good thinking," Severus smiled, thinking how it would be very suspicious for Hermione Granger to go shopping for baby things and men's clothes.

After she left and he changed Elena and put her in her cot, where she fell asleep instantly, Severus took a long hot shower, thinking of how lucky he was to finally have found a place to keep his daughter save, even if it was with Hermione Granger, the insufferable know-it-all she was. But to be honest she wasn't too bad, at least she knew how to change a baby. That would come in handy. He smirked to himself.

When he got out of the shower he had a thorough look at her flat. It was tiny, true, but he thought it suited her. It was a bit light for his taste, but then he was used to living in the dungeons for a long time. The furniture was simply and practical, except for an old bureau and an old bookcase. There were a couple of photos on her wall, some wizarding, some muggle, of her parents and her friends. A picture of Hogwarts hung next to a small banner of Gryffindor. There was even a picture of the Order of the Phoenix, where he tried hiding behind Lupin, very unsuccessfully.

When he browsed through Hermione's books he was amazed by her collection. When he was her age he didn't have half the amount of books, although he would have wanted them. He settled with one of her books on her bed and started reading, but falling asleep quickly afterwards.

AN: So what do you think? Do you think you're going to like it?