"I've got three sopophorus plants. I'm certain the condition is perfectly swamp like in that corner of my green house, but they look worse every week. I'm worried the dung I ordered isn't actually mooncalf, or at the very least was collected after sunrise. I'm not sure how to test it to be certain."
"You could always fertilize devil's snare with it. If it shriveled and died, you would know for sure that it was actual mooncalf." The man whom she recognized from Hogwarts but could not for the life of her remember his name, explains to her between sips of wine.
"Yes, you're right. I don't have access to any, though. If I did, my daughter would—"
"LORNA AND TEDDY!" Molly's voice booms over the crowd, causing both Danu and the man she was speaking with to jump.
"I'll be right back." Danu offers an apologetic smile and half runs towards the spot where Molly had Teddy and Lorna both clamped on the back of the necks.
"What are you doing?" Danu demands as she glares down at Lorna, who looks up at her sheepishly through her long lashes. "I told you not twenty minutes ago to stop being a menace, and to stop letting Ron and George talk you into doing things that you know you are not allowed to do! Now, come with me."
Danu places her hand on Lorna's shoulder and pulls her towards her before turning and offering Molly yet another apology. Molly grabs Teddy by the ear and drags him along with her, her face red and sweaty from shouting at everyone in sight. Once back on the far end of the tent, Danu sits Lorna down in a chair by her side and turns her attention back towards the man she had previously been speaking to.
"Sorry about that, Ron and George enjoy riling them up."
"It's quite alright." The man offers with a kind smile as he accepts a refill of wine from Harry as he staggers towards them clutching a bottle in each fist.
Ron had shown up to the wedding drunk, much to everyone's surprise. Harry was massively hungover, and quickly became just as drunk as Ron had been. Ron stumbled inside and passed out drunk halfway off of the sofa the moment he had been deemed a husband, and the party picked up from there. Shortly before dinner was to be served, Harry and George drug him from the house and thrust a bottle of Firewhisky in his fist; Ron got a second wind and was soon standing on a table belting the lyrics to You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me by Celestina Warbeck at the top of his lungs while pointing at, and making aggressive eye contact with Hermione, who was beet red and furious at his behavior.
"Nev—hiccup—Neville…Neville Longbottom. You are a fine man." Ron offers as he nearly trips over his own feet, ultimately falling into the arms of the man whom Danu had been speaking to. At least now she knew his name. "I am so sorry Hermione stunned you that one time, but you see…Oh Danu, Danu, Danu. You are far too pretty for that git of a prof—profes—"
"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!" Molly shouts from behind them, forcing Ron to jump before slowly turning to face his mother.
"You're in trouble." Harry laughs as he claps Ron on the shoulder and staggers off in the opposite direction. A flash of red out of her peripheral catches her eye as she watches Harry stumble away, but she thinks nothing of it.
"I thought the kids were bad." Danu chuckles as Neville brushes his suit jacket with a napkin, apparently Ron or Harry one had spilled wine on him.
BANG
Everyone freezes a moment, the sound jolting even the drunkest attendee's. Danu turns her head sharply to find Lorna fidgeting on the chair, eager to get up and join whatever mayhem Teddy was causing. She peaks up at her mother out of the corner of her eye, catches her watching, and forces her eyes back down at her feet dangling from the chair.
"Sorry, I don't recognize you from Hogwarts. Unless you were ahead of me, which would make sense, I guess. What house were you in?" Neville asks sheepishly as he nervously scratches the back of his head.
"Ravenclaw. I was a few years ahead of you, but I saw you coming to the greenhouse a lot, most of the time as I was leaving, though."
"Ah, that would make sense. I didn't pay—"
"Miss Danu," A small voice begins with a soft tug at her dress. Danu looks down to see Teddy, who has now shifted his hair color to jet black to match that of Lorna's, as opposed to the strawberry blond he had been sporting for most of the evening, pleading up at her with large doe eyes. "Can Lorna please come play with me?"
Danu shifts her gaze to Lorna who was kicking her feet and pleading up at her silently, her blue eyes sparkle in the sunlight filtering through the thin fabric of the tent. Teddy makes his way over to Lorna, takes her hand in his, and both sets of pleading eyes gaze up at her innocently.
"Are you both going to behave?" Danu asks quizzically, knowing the two will ultimately be talked into doing something they shouldn't.
"Yes, Mummy!"
"Yes, Miss Danu!"
"You can go play," Lorna leaps from the chair still clutching Teddy's hand and makes to charge in the opposite direction, but Danu catches her other hand and jerks her back towards her, causing Teddy to stomp on Lorna's foot and nearly trip, as they were still holding hands. "Only if you behave. The second I see, hear, or find you doing anything you shouldn't, we are going home. Do not listen to anything Ron, George, or Harry tell you to do."
Danu watches as the two children nod their heads excitedly before running away, hands still held. She turns her attention back to Neville, who was grinning at the display before him. She offers him a kind smile and dives back into their previous conversation of herbology.
"My great uncle Algie gave me a mimbulus mimbletonia for my fifteenth birthday!" Neville announces, his face gleaming with pride and joy that Danu found to be quite cute, in an innocent sort of way.
"That's fabulous! Do you still have it? I've never seen one in person before. Professor Sprout had one before I started at Hogwarts, but something happened to it. She always spoke very fondly of it."
"Oh, they are wonderful! I had been trying to get mine to breed for years, and it finally happened! I've got a few small plugs from it, they weep often and are quite unstable, but they grow rapidly. I can save one for you, if you want." Neville rings his free hand not clutching a wine glass on the seam of his overcoat and looks at her hopefully as a bit of pink spreads across his nose.
"I would love that, Neville. Feel free to come see my greenhouse sometime, I've got quite the collection. I'd be happy to show you around, maybe even trade plant cuttings with you."
"That sounds—"
"Neville, Danu, I'm so happy you could be here." Hermione exclaims as she embraces Danu tightly before turning her attention to Neville.
Hermione's long, normally untamable hair is plaited and twirled intricately, small curls remain loose to frame her face, rose blossoms and baby's breath are stuck randomly throughout her hair, and the makeup on her face had been expertly done by a Muggle salon in London early that morning. The ball gown style white dress she wears contains enough tulle and lace to create at least five normal sized dresses but looked breathtaking on her.
"You look beautiful, Hermione. I'm sorry about all of….this." Danu gestures around her towards the drunken hordes of Weasley family members and Hermione and Ron's classmates all doing their best to create the most noise and mayhem.
"I have decided to not be angry anymore, and now I'm just trying to have a good time." Hermione explains with a huff before downing the remaining champagne in her glass. Neville grabs a bottle chilling in ice on the table nearest them and refills her glass with a smile before offering Danu some with raised brows; Danu shakes her head no and tips her glass of water his way.
"I wish Luna could have been here." Neville states plainly, taking the thought directly from Danu's head. She had looked around for Luna Lovegood for the first hour of the reception, before bumping into Neville and striking up a conversation as they both stood at the back of the tent out of the way of everyone stumbling about drunk.
"Oh yes," Hermione begins. "I received her letter only this week, she said that she was in Fiji researching Dakuwaqa, then would be off to Nigeria."
"I'm happy for her, she's doing what she loves." Danu smiles at the thought of Luna never being afraid to be herself.
"Sna—Severus couldn't make it?" Hermione asks as she looks around for Severus in the crowds.
"Oh, he had to get the shop ready. We were supposed to open the first of the month, but Severus said he needed more time to brew, now he's saying that he needs more time to clean."
"So, when is he actually opening? Missus Weasley and I wanted to stop in, when he does."
"I don't know. He mentioned next Monday, but nothing set in stone yet. I think he's nervous that it won't do well, but he won't admit it."
"You—You're—Are you—Danu…..Snape?"
"Yes." Hermione and Danu say in unison as they shift their gaze to Neville, who was now slowly backing away and turning a sickly white color before turning away and practically running in the opposite direction to join Ron and Harry at an incredibly rowdy table.
"Wha—" Danu attempts to say as she watches Neville take several sideways glances at her, his face growing even paler each time.
"He was exceptionally cruel to Neville." Hermione explains, a look of concern etched on her face as she looks back and forth between Neville and Danu. "Neville's boggart was Snape's during our third year when Lupin was Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Yeah…I remember hearing about what happened in that class. I'm really sorry he had to go through that, Severus can be very cruel when he wants to be. I hope Neville doesn't think I'm like that."
"I'll talk to him." Hermione assures her as she pats her on the arm while draining the rest of her champagne once more.
A shout from the center of the tent catches their attention. Mister Granger is doubled over shaking his hand vigorously, blood streaming from his nose and staining the front of his white button down shirt. To his left stands Lorna, a look of true fear upon her face, some contraption clutched in her right hand. Lorna slowly backs away before bumping into George, who is swaying slightly and howling with laughter. George takes the device from Lorna, vanishes it with his wand, and clamps her on the shoulder before reaching into his pocket and producing a purple wrapped sweet. Hermione rushes to her father's side and begins consoling him, while her mother stands by his side desperately trying to wipe the blood from her husband's face. Danu stomps forward and grabs Lorna by the shoulder, she jumps slightly before staring up at her mother in horror at being caught.
"What. Did. I. Tell. You?" Danu spits between grit teeth as she leads Lorna away from the commotion and towards Molly who was shouting at Harry, Ron, and George once more.
As Danu reaches the edge of the tent where Molly, George, Ron, and Harry were being berated, another loud bang fills the air, followed closely by the foulest stench Danu had ever encountered. Percy Weasley glares at the small group of Weasley's huddled before her before grabbing the hand of his wife and stomping from the tent.
"We're going to go now before Lorna causes any further damage." Danu announces to Molly, who was red faced and seething. "Do you want me to take Teddy with me, to get him out of your hair?"
"No." Molly spits before turning towards Danu and softening her face slightly. "No, I've already written Andromeda. She's going to fetch him shortly. Thank you though, love."
Danu keeping one hand on Lorna's shoulder so prevent escape, bends down to remove her heels and allows them to dangle from her finger by the strap as the two make their way up the trail and back towards their home. Lorna peeks up at Danu from beneath her long lashes, an attempt to gauge just how angry her mother truly was.
"I am very upset and disappointed with you, Lorna. I told you so many times not to listen to Ron and George, and you repeatedly disregarded everything that I said."
"I'm sorry." Lorna pouts innocently.
"Mister and Missus Granger are Muggles; they aren't like us; they aren't supposed to know about magic. You can't do these things around other Muggles; you need to be careful. It can be dangerous for them, and you could get into a lot of trouble. This was supposed to be a special day for Hermione, and I know that it isn't your fault that the adults couldn't behave, but you and Teddy also behaved poorly. So, you're going to be on punishment, and I want you to apologize to Hermione the next time you see her, and I will help you write a letter apologizing to her parents as well. You won't be playing with Teddy for a bit, not until after you say that you are sorry to Hermione and her parents."
"I can't play with Teddy?" Lorna exclaims as she comes to an abrupt halt at Danu's side and stumbles slightly before looking up to her with a pained expression. "Teddy's my best friend."
"I know that Teddy is your best friend, but actions have consequences. I know that it wasn't entirely your fault, but I suspect that Nan and Teddy's Nan are going to punish Teddy and the adults who were acting up, too."
Looking down at the pain in Lorna's face, Danu feels guilt flash through her knowing that she was the one causing it, but Lorna needed to learn that she can't go around acting the way she had today. Earlier in the evening, Danu had overheard McGonagall and Hagrid referring to Lorna, Teddy, and James as "the new generation." They had compared them to James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin.
Lorna was not her grandfather, neither was James; Teddy was not his father. They were brave men, no one could ever dispute that, but these children were not them. They needed to make their own way in life, they didn't need to worry about war, or being hunted and killed. Lorna would never have to experience losing her best friend, being framed for his murder, and locked in prison, only to be a prisoner of her own home before being murdered by her cousin. James would never die protecting his family from a sadistic dictator. Teddy would never face scrutiny for a condition he could not control, only to be the final living member of his friend group and fight for justice that he himself would likely never be able to experience, before ultimately leaving his only child an orphan of war.
Danu would never allow Lorna to be a bully. She would not stand for her daughter treating anyone the way that Sirius had treated Severus, and who knows who else before him. There was a fine line between the pranks that George Weasley was known to pull, and the so called pranks that Sirius had once pulled on Severus; notably the one that would have undoubtedly resulted in Severus' death.
It would be best to nip this type of behavior in the bud now, before Lorna became much older and began finding it as funny as Ron and George had this evening. Having fun was one thing, but having fun at another's expense was something completely different. The look of panic and fear on Lorna's face as she looked up to see the blood pouring from Mister Granger's nose, combined with seeing the anger on her and Molly's face would likely make her think twice before pulling any stunts like that again. A few weeks away from Teddy and a hopefully stern talking to from Severus when they returned home would no doubt put her off from that sort of behavior.
—
The sun rises behind blankets of dark grey clouds, casting a purple hue across the lighter white whisps of clouds soaring through the sky with the blustering wind. Danu stands on the crumbling cobblestone street of Spinner's End, before the spot she and Severus had once called home. It was the first time she had come here since she had left it behind nearly three years prior.
The house had long since come down, along with all of the houses in the surrounding area. All that was left now was pile upon pile of rubble and stone strewn haphazardly throughout the landscape. Surveying the area in the faint morning light, it looked more like the after effects of The Blitz, which she had seen photos of in history class in primary.
A pang hits her chest as she takes another timid step towards the rubble of what had once been their kitchen, and the gnarled vines of Eileen's rose bushes catch her eye. Severus had never said how he felt about the house being gone, though she doubted he minded too much that the place was no longer standing. It shouldn't bother her, either. This was not her home, her home was wherever Lorna was, and Lorna was currently sound asleep in her bed at home, where Danu had left her.
She had to get out of there, could not stand to look at Severus another moment. She hadn't meant to argue with him, then again, she never does. She was in the shower while Severus read Lorna to sleep. Everything had been fine, for the most part, albeit, she was still slightly annoyed at Lorna's behavior throughout the day, but it wasn't something she would dwell on for the rest of the evening. It was the absence of Severus' shampoo in the shower when she reached up to retrieve her own shampoo from the wire shelf hanging on the showers wall.
Severus' shampoo bottle was gone, something so simple and mundane had sent her into such a frenzy that she nearly toppled from the shower in her attempt to locate him. It wasn't until she was slipping and sliding on the tile floor while trying to wrap a towel around her body that she spotted his empty shampoo bottle in the small waste bin next to the toilet and began to calm down slightly.
Severus had only ran out of shampoo and tossed the empty bottle, nothing to lose her head over. Or, so she thought.
As she stood over Lorna and Severus in the bedroom and watched as the opened book draped across Severus' chest rise and fall as he breathed deeply, Lorna curled and snoring at her side with her thumb lodged snugly in her mouth, a pang of jealousy wash over Danu, followed closely by agony.
Severus was who Lorna asked for when it came time for her nightly bath, Severus was who now read to her every night, he had even taken over brushing and braiding her hair. Lorna cried for Severus when she was hurt or scared. Severus soothed her nightmares, cut her fruit in the mornings for breakfast. Severus answered all of her questions, Severus spelled all of her words for her, and Severus is who her eyes instinctively sought out the moment she walked into a room.
Jealousy is not a good look, she knew that, yet, the feeling stayed. If he hadn't have left in the first place, if he had only stayed and done all of this from the beginning, perhaps that ugly green monster wouldn't be clawing its way out of her soul each time she heard Lorna's sing-songy voice cry out for him throughout the house each day. This jealousy is always quickly replaced by gut wrenching pain the moment the realization that he will likely leave again hits her, because it will be Lorna who suffers the most from his absence.
Or, perhaps Severus will take a page from Sirius' Black's book and obliviate her before running away again. Either taking Lorna with him or abandoning her in an orphanage in a strange town, just as James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Albus Dumbledore had done to her when she was only months younger than Lorna currently was. He was capable of anything, was used to lying and hiding his emotions. He could be planning it now, could just be bidding time, waiting for the perfect moment, stealing every ounce of Lorna's trust so she never even thought of her mother after it was over.
Danu's feet shuffle her along the cobblestone street once more, her mind swarming with anxiety and made up fears. It had been this way for months, ever since Severus first stepped foot in her door. She couldn't stop it. The meditation that Astoria had taught her in order to control her mind enough for Draco to teach her to apparate hadn't even been enough to control the emotions sweeping through her on any given day.
Of course, it was not only the fear that Severus would leave, or the terror of him bringing Lorna with her that had caused her to sit up all night. It was also the way he had treated, well, everyone. The fear in Neville Longbottom's eyes when he had registered who she was kept flashing through her mind. Then she recalled all of the tears she cried in her bed after he had terrorized her yet again.
She had been blinded, of course, by the eventual semi-kindness he had exhibited while the two of the were alone in his office and storage room. The mugs of tea waiting for her when she arrived, the constant flow of books, the conversations surrounding them each. Maybe it was the intense loneliness that she had experienced in her youth, or perhaps the need for someone, anyone at all, to care about her.
Later it had been the gentleness; Severus washing her hair in the bath, his eyes never straying from his task at hand to linger on her nude body. The way he would silently offer his hand, upturned on the arm of his favorite chair before the fire, an invitation for her to take it in her own. Those subtle hints later turned into thoughtful gifts after he had argued or fought with her, each becoming increasingly more expensive looking, as if, in his mind, the price of the gift would make up for anything he could say or do to her.
Severus had completely blinded her to everything he had been prior to marrying her, so much so that she barely batted an eye to him being a Death Eater. She had essentially ignored that detail when she first saw the Dark Mark on his arm; there had been a momentary flash of anger and fear, but not nearly enough. All Severus needed to do was allow his defenses to slip for a moment for the pain in his eyes to show, and she was complacent. Then he drug her along to all of those meetings, made her sit directly before You-Know-Who and lie through her teeth, knowing first-hand what he would do to her if she were caught. He drug her down with him, made her an honorary Death Eater. She would have gone down with him; hunted down by Auror's and sent to Azkaban, If it weren't for Harry's insistence, his blind trust and hope that she, a mere stranger to him, was innocent, she would be there right now. Since the day she had woken up in Severus' home and learned that she was his wife, which later turned out to be yet another of he and Dumbledore's lies, she had been making excuses for him.
Danu's feet carry her instinctively to a café were she orders a coffee and stares out of the window at the empty streets for several hours, and then to the large oak tree towering over the park which she had spent her entire childhood playing under. Severus himself had played here in his youth, with Lily. It was here that she saw Severus for the first time, though, she didn't even realize it for many years after that. Strange how fate works, isn't it?
Severus had been with another woman. He had touched her skin, kissed her lips. Did he wash her hair in the bath, comb it afterwords as his long, thin fingers worked expertly to separate the knots and tangles? Had he traced circles on the back of her hand with his thumb as he soothed her? Was he planning to divorce her to marry Cathleen, did he even think of her and Lorna, miss them at all?
Severus had once told her of a prophecy from Professor Trelawney, detailing how the two of them were destined to be together. He hadn't told her the details of it, nor did she ask, only that Severus had mentioned in in frustration while he two of them bickered. For all she knew, it was nothing more than another of Dumbledore's schemes.
Ten year old Danu would be jealous of the life now, proud even. She had a beautiful daughter, her own home, and a seemingly loving husband. However, as she sat on the cold, damp ground beneath an oak tree in an abandoned park in Cokeworth after running away from her own home, the smug look of triumph on his face as he leaned forward and whispered that name as he stared into her eyes was all she could think of.
Amycus Carrow.
"You know what I'm going to do to you?"
A shiver runs through her as his nasally voice rings in her head.
That is what Severus does best. He uses your worst fear, your biggest insecurity, and your deepest trauma to purposely hurt you. He had a terrible childhood, an abusive father, and was bullied relentlessly for almost all of his life. That didn't matter, so many people had that and worse, and they did not hurt the people they claimed to love.
An audible sob escapes her throat at the thought. Danu looks around at the vacant park, the sun was hidden behind dark clouds and seemed to be hanging low in the sky. She should go home, ask Severus to leave, and spend the remainder of the day curled up in bed with Bram and Lorna. Severus had another home to go to, full of all of his things which he refused to bring to her house. He should have been the one to storm out, not her. That was her home, her sanctuary. Danu stands, her fists shaking in newfound anger, and disapparates.
The pain did not come at first, only the bone chilling cold. She felt empty and frightened, and oh so cold. There on the ground mere feet from her is Severus and Lorna, each smiling in the setting sun and dead rosebushes surrounding Eileen's final resting place. It isn't until a wetness begins to trickle down her front, and Severus' smile begins to fade from his face that the pain makes itself known.
Her knees buckle, her hands begin to shake. Severus catches her before she has the chance to collapse onto the ground, the act making the pain significantly worse. Her eyes begin to lose focus as she drifts in and out of consciousness on the cold, wet ground. He's saying something to her, yet she can't seem to focus on the words. All she can think of is Lorna. She wants to tell him to take her away, take her somewhere safe so her final memory of her mother is not her death. She isn't afraid of dying, or at least, she doesn't think that she is. She's never thought of it before, maybe she should have. Still, Lorna should no see it. She brings her hand up, desperate to feel anything, as the feeling in her legs was long gone. She grips something warm and bones but can't seem to place it.
She needs Lorna to know that she love her, she keeps telling Severus this, or she thinks she does, anyway. She can't be sure.
Then, nothing. No thoughts, no pain, no dreams. Had time passed? Was this death? Certainly, if this were death, she wouldn't be alone, would she? There would be others her, her ancestors perhaps. Sirius would be here, and so would Phineas. Would she have to see Bellatrix, who killed Sirius, and Sirius' mother, who's portrait screamed and called her a mud-blood? But, why had she called her a mud-blood? Her father was a wizard, she knew that. Maybe she'll ask her, if she sees her here, wherever "here" may be.
Then, suddenly and without warning, she can feel again. The ache in her abdomen is bone deep and constant, it felt as though she were hit by a Cruciatus curse, but instead of the pain spreading throughout her entire body, it was isolated to one particular spot just below her ribs, and spreading around her side, nearly meeting her spine. She tries to moan, to cry out for help, but her throat is far too dry. The light in the room is much too bright, it takes several minutes to pry her eyes open.
Once she finally manages, she is greeted with Severus hunched over the side of the bed, his head resting in the cook of his right elbow, his left hand resting on her thigh. Danu reaches out carefully and tucks a strand of his hair behind his ear and smooths her thumb over his temple. She has no earthly idea where she might be, or where Lorna was, but Severus was here, and she was likely safe.
Severus' brow is furrowed in what looked to be pain, but she had seemed to be having a hard time fully deciphering. Finally, he is on his feet, cupping her face in his large, cold hands.
"I thought I would lose you." Severus whispers as he presses his head to hers. "I love you. God, I love you so much."
"I love you too." Danu manages to croak, because despite every emotion she felt regarding him, and the fact that she was going home to ask him to leave, she did love him desperately.
—
Danu had been home for two days now, and Severus would not allow her to leave the bed. He brought her all of her meals, her tea and coffee, and insisted on assisting her to the loo and standing right next to her as she did her business, despite her objection on the matter. He had been tending to her plants in the greenhouse, brewing his potions, taking on full time care of her and Lorna.
Drifting up the stairs, through the closed door, is a jumble of voices that Danu knew did not belong to either Lorna or Severus. Danu gets to her feet quietly and sneaks from the bed and over to the window which overlooks the back garden. Outside is a white utility van parked just outside of the kitchen door. She cranes her head around to the best of her ability without drawing any attention to herself but can't make out any markings on the van outside. What was Severus up to? She could creep downstairs and see for herself but knows without a shadow of a doubt that Severus will only escort her back upstairs like she had the dragon pox.
The act of standing on her own two feet felt foreign. Her knees were weak and shaky, and her ankles felt as though they couldn't support her weight. She had not seen the wound from her splinching herself but knew based on her three day stay at Saint Mungo's, and the fact that Severus had kept her bed ridden for two additional days, that it had to be bad. Danu stands before the cheval mirror in the corner of the room and lifts the bottom hem of her shirt up to her ribs.
Danu hisses involuntarily at the sight of the waxy, thick, discolored skin covering what once had been a large, missing chunk of…well…everything. She runs her fingers over the foreign flesh, the sensation causing her to immediately pull her fingers away. The nerve endings beneath her flesh were all out of whack; they were firing off too intensely, yet not strong enough at the same time. Her fingers across it felt electric yet muffled at the same time.
The diamond ring that Severus slipped on her finger two days ago, when he asked her to marry him, gleams in the sunlight filtering in through the lace curtains on the wall. She holds her right hand out in front of her, admiring the ring once more. It truly is gorgeous, though she felt such guilt each time she looked at it. She should have been happier when he asked her, she should have cried and threw herself into his arms. Younger her would have.
Severus only asked her because he was afraid that she would die from the splinching. Or perhaps it was his own guilt due to the fight that lead to her leaving the house before sunrise.
"Get back in bed." Severus' deep voice sounds from behind her, causing her to jump, allowing pain to vibrate throughout her body.
"Who's here?" Danu croaks as she clutches her side. Severus is next to her in an instant, leading her back to the bed.
"I am having a telephone installed." Severus pops the cork on a pain potion and passes it to her, his eyes boring into her, silently telling her to take it before he makes her. Danu obliges and swallows with one gulp.
"Why are you having a telephone installed?"
"So that you can call Rose." Another wave of guilt washes through her. "I thought it would be easier than you going all the way to Surrey any time you wanted to speak to her. Not to mention, Potter has a telephone, it will solve the Floo dilemma we experienced the last time he watched Lorna for us."
Danu's face heats slightly at the memory of Harry walking in on her and Severus on the kitchen counter after their date. She looks up to see a grimace on Severus' face, no doubt he was feeling the same flush of embarrassment as she was.
"Did Potter ever give any indication as to why Lorna would be afraid of Ronald McDonald?" Severus asks as he unlatches the window to allow the slight March breeze to filter in through the window. Danu closes her eyes and breathes in deeply, the scent of damp earth permeating the room.
"Yeah." Danu sighs, remembering Harry's drunken retelling of the story at Ron and Hermione's wedding. "Teddy wanted to go to McDonald's the night that Harry had them. Lorna apparently saw a statue of the clown there and it frightened her."
Severus comes forward and puts a pillow beneath her knees to prop them up and passes her a steaming mug of tea. He lovingly sweeps the stray hairs escaping from her bun from her face and bends forwards to kiss her on her forehead. Danu closes her eyes and swallows a lump in her throat.
"Where's Lorna?" Danu asks as Severus pulls away and looks down at her expectantly.
"Coloring in the kitchen under the guise of asking the technicians a thousand questions." Danu smiles at this and watches as Severus backs his way towards the door, his eyes never leaving her. "I will return shortly with some food shortly."
"Do we have any melon?" Danu asks hopefully. It was all she had wanted to eat, and Severus kept finding every excuse not to give it to her.
"As I told you yesterday, and the day before; you need protein, zinc, vitamin d. Hence the meals of beef, eggs, and beans that I have been providing. Once you have healed bit more, you can have all of the melon your heart desires."
"Please?" Danu begs, poking her bottom lip out the way Lorna does to get anything she wanted from him.
Just then a small, grey own swoops in the window, drops an envelope on her lap, and sweeps back out of the room without so much of a hoot. Danu turns the envelope over, the wax seal on the back has interlocking M's. It is from the Ministry. Severus and Danu each raise an eyebrow at the other in question as Danu turns the envelope back over.
Danu Iris Snape
The Master Bedroom, The Cottage
Ottery St. Catchpole
Devon, England
Danu rips the envelope open and reads the contents quickly, her heart hammering in her chest as Severus makes his way next to her on the bed to read it at the same time.
Missus Snape,
The Ministry received intelligence of your splinching on tenth March, resulting in a two day stay in hospital.
Due to the severity of this injury and the fact that you have held your apparition license for less than one year, the Ministry must act for your own safety.
You will be fines twelve galleon and will be banned from any form of solo apparation for three months, after which you will be required to retake your apparation test and resubmit for licensing.
Wishing you a speedy recovery,
Sincerely,
Wilkie Twycross
Department of Magical Transportation
"Daddy!" Lorna shouts from downstairs, demanding Severus' attention. He holds one finger up to her, and spins on his heel to trek back downstairs.
Danu slams the notice on the side table and leans back on the pillow with a huff as she clicks her tongue on the roof of her mouth to call Bram back into the room.
To hours later, Severus and Lorna appear in the doorway with a tray of food and a pile of colorful papers. Danu eats her meal diligently and watches excitedly as Lorna goes through each picture she drew and expertly colored in. Severus sits on the bed next to her, his hand resting on her thigh as she eats. There was still random spots of purple on the edges of his fingernails from where Lorna had painted them. He had rushed to remove it earlier that day, apparently before the telephone technicians arrived.
After eating most of her try of food, Severus was evidently satisfied with how much she had eaten, because he takes the tray from her and carried it back downstairs, returning moments later with a large bowl of melon, cherries, and orange slices. Danu and Lorna devour the entire bowl while watching Bram play with a spider in the corner of the room.
Danu dozes in and out of a light sleep with Lorna curled in her arms, both of them facing Severus, who was popped up against the headboard, his legs stretched out before him with his ankles crossed, reading The Swiss Family Robinson.
"We named the two puppies Bruno and Fawn, and so ended this important domestic business." Severus read, pushing his reading glasses further up his nose with the pad of his middle finger.
"Daddy," Lorna begins with a yawn, causing Danu to jerk awake. "Can I have a puppy?"
"Absolutely not." Severus says as he shuts the book and places it on the nightstand.
"Why not?" Lorna rubs her eyes with her balled fists and snuggles further into the blankets. "Teddy has a puppy."
"You are not Teddy. We are not getting a dog; it is bad enough there is a cat in this house."
"What about a house elf?" Lorna counters.
"No. We have no need for a house elf, as I have told you before."
"Fine." Lorna moans in defeat and rolls over to bury her head in Danu's neck before drifting off to sleep.
Severus stands from the bed and walks around to Danu's side to plant a tender kiss on her forehead. Danu quickly drifts off to sleep after that, Lorna's body plastered to her own.
—
Something falling upstairs jolts Danu awake. Lorna doesn't budge, she remains fast asleep. A faint light spilling from the cracked bedroom doorway lights up Severus' side of the bed, showing it empty and still made up. Danu pries herself from Lorna's body and creeps out of the door.
Once upstairs, Danu stands silent for a moment, watching Severus run his hands absent mindedly over the railing of Lorna's old cot that she had shoved into the corner and thrown a white sheet over once she had outgrown it. Severus had removed the sheet at some point and drug it to the center of the room. Boxes litter the floor all around him, and the bookshelves lining the walls were now overflowing with books. Severus has been in the process of moving his things in.
"Hard to believe she used to be small enough to fit in there." Danu offers Severus a weak smile as he tears his eyes from the cot to look up at her. Severus only grunts in response and moves back to unpacking boxes.
"I apologize if I woke you. I kicked over a box." Severus places the stack of books he had removed and places them on the shelf, his back turned to her. Danu steps forward and wraps her arms around his waist. "You should not be out of bed."
"I can't stay in bed for the rest of my life." Danu counters as she releases Severus and plops down on an armchair Severus had brought up for Lorna to sit in while he brewed. "Can we talk?"
Severus finally turns to meet her eye, a book clutched in his hand. He passes her the book and leans against the bookcase closest to her.
"I think you will enjoy this one." Severus says as she scans the cover of the book entitled The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. "Three Thanksgivings is my personal favorite, though I believe you will enjoy The Giant Wistaria and The Cottagette."
"Thank you." Danu runs her fingers over the yellowing pages of the book before placing it on the arm of the chair. "Can I ask you something?"
"So long as you go directly to bed after."
"Remember when we went to Sirius', and his mother's portrait started screaming at us? Why did she call me a 'mud-blood' if she somehow knew that I was Sirius' daughter?" The question had been burning in the back of her mind since she thought that she was dead after going unconscious after the splinching incident.
"That generation typically used it to refer to anyone who was not of pure blood." Severus heaves himself from the bookcase and sits on the foot stool before her. "This is not what you wished to discuss, though."
"Can I be honest with you?" Danu asks as she peeks up at him beneath her lashes, her middle fingernail moves on its own accord to begin picking at the skin next to her thumb nail out of habit.
"I sincerely wish that you would."
"When I came home the day that I was splinched, I was coming to ask you to leave."
Severus freezes, one hand held in midair as he was reaching out to take hers in his own. His face is contorted in pain, his dark eyes look as though they may spill tears down his face.
"I don't want you to leave, Severus." Danu encourages him as she reaches for his hand that was still hanging in midair. Severus allows her to take it, she grips her own tightly.
"You did, though." Severus furrows his brow at her, his face remains scrunched in pain.
"No, I didn't. I was hurt, I still am a bit. I don't like fighting with you."
"Nor do I." Severus admits, his voice catching slightly. "I meant what I told you that night; I am trying to be a good husband for you."
"I know, Severus. You are a good husband, you really are. You just can't—we have to talk about things if we want this to work. We can't hold things in until we explode and hurt each other's feelings. I need to work on that too, I know. I haven't been well."
"You have been struggling, I have seen it for months. I had hopes that you would come to me, when you were ready."
"What did you say to Harry before we left to meet Rose?"
"I asked him to watch you for signs of distress, to protect you if anything went wrong with the meeting." Severus admits as he draws tight circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Did you only ask me to marry you again because of what happened?"
"No, it is a thought that I have had for quite some time." Severus admits, his black eyes softening as they roam her face.
"Do you want to have another baby because you feel guilty for missing Lorna grow up?"
"No." Severus sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand before opening his eyes to look into hers once more. "I genuinely would like to have another, though I will not force it on you if it is not what you want."
"I know you wouldn't do that." Danu admits as she offers him another smile and squeezes his hand firmly. "Maybe one day, but I'm not ready right now. I'm still really afraid that you're going to leave again. I'm trying to work through it."
"Come here." Severus demands as he stands from the foot stool he had been sitting on and pulls her from the chair and into his long arms. "I am not going anywhere."
"When did you have time to bring your books here?" Danu asks as she listens to his heart beat against her ear.
"I started tonight after you and Lorna fell asleep. We can discuss selling the shack later, though it may take a while to sell. It is not exactly desirable real estate."
"No, let's keep it. You were right, Lorna will love spending the summers there." Danu tightens her arms around Severus' waist as Severus kisses the top of her head. "I love you, Severus."