Severus stands in the attic, a bubbling cauldron of contraceptive potion to his right which needs to be tended in the next sixty seconds or else the entire batch will be useless. On his left is another cauldron, its contents fast approaching a steady roll, which contains a menses drought meant to relieve the drinker of menstrual cramping and heavy bleeding, and needs the addition of chamomile and yarrow before the simmering slivered ginger root darkens the water much more. Behind him is an additional five cauldrons containing Dreamless Sleep, Headache Drought, Blemish Blitzer, Cough Potion, and Lung Clearing Potion which have been completed and left to cool down before bottling for the apothecary.

With children returning to school after Easter holiday, parents flocked to the shop to squeeze in some last minute potions to pack for the snot-nosed children's trunks, leaving his shelves bare but his pockets full. Which meant that today, Monday, the only day of the week the shop was ever closed, was reserved for brewing as much as he possibly could in a short span of time. The more advanced potions that took days, weeks, or even months to prepare, were all being brewed at the shop where he could easily step away to tend to them. These much simpler ones, which he usually taught first and second years at Hogwarts, with the exception of contraceptive and menses potions, were easy enough to brew with a three year old running between your legs and insisting on helping.

Today, however, perhaps sensing his irritation and the sheer amount of potions he needed to brew, Danu kept Lorna entertained in the gardens and greenhouse, away from his simmering cauldrons and pounding head. The child had been an absolute menace since returning from the Quidditch match with the Potter's, and was beginning to drive both he and her mother absolutely mental with her constant talk of the sport. Had they known then what she would be like upon her return, they both had agreed they would have waited a bit longer to allow her to experience the game in person.

Lorna had been beyond enthusiastic, bordering on obsessed with Quidditch since the moment the whistle sounded, according to Potter. He had relay to him and Danu that Lorna did not utter a single word, nor take her eyes from the sky for the duration of the game, which had actually gone into an over-time period of nearly a quarter of an hour due to both teams being tied for points when the Snitch was caught. The following day Potter and his wife had taken both Lorna and Mister Lupin up on brooms and flew them around the Quidditch pitch, which only served to further fuel Lorna's obsession with both Quidditch and flying.

The starter broom Draco had gifted her for Christmas had been a source of great debate in the Snape household since. Lorna believed it to be for "babies" and not nearly fast enough for her liking, as it only lifted her about two feet in the air and could move at half the speed at which her mother walked. Danu had since banned the broom from inside of the house after Lorna had bumped in to the backs of her legs in pursuit of the damned cat, causing Danu to drop the mug of tea she had been carrying, resulting in a drenched first edition copy of one of the numerous Bronte sisters novels of which he had never been particularly fond of, but his wife seemed to favor, and scalding the inside of both of her legs, both of which Severus mended after several moments of wailing from Lorna's end and Danu threatening to break the broom over her knee if he did not "get the damned thing out of this house."

It was finally decided that Severus would be the one to safely, and carefully, teach her to fly, as Danu had never been a fan of brooms herself, and Severus was the only person with whom Lorna regarded when it came to safety instructions. Severus took Lorna bright and early to Splinter and Kreek's one morning before opening the apothecary, and together they picked out a used Cleansweep Eleven, which remained locked in the attic when not in use.

Every evening, just as darkness crept over the valley, Severus would mount the broomstick with Lorna tucked securely between his arms in front of him, and together they would soar through the sky without fear of being seen by a Muggle in the nearby town. Lorna would stretch her arms out at her sides, her fingers dancing in the wind and her head thrown back in laughter.

"Faster, Daddy!" She would shout above the roar of the wind in their ears. Followed closely with, "Go higher, I want to go to the moon!" The flight always ended with, "Please, just one more lap?" To which he would always obey, for the look of bliss on her small face was worth more to him than all of the gold in the world.

Potter and Weasley had come by a week prior and set up an obstacle course for both her and Lupin in the back garden to use to practice turning, stopping, and navigating on their starter brooms. Lorna had gotten quite good at it; it was nothing out of the norm to see her zooming in slow motion between the obstacles for hours on end during the day. Lupin, while being nearly a year older than her, was not as naturally talented as Lorna seemed to be, despite having much more flying experience. He was still using a starter broom, due solely to the fact that he bumped into and knocked over every obstacle he encountered while flying. Lorna could be heard shouting directions and coaching him through the make-shift course, her hands on her hips and one little foot stomping when he failed to obey her command.

Quidditch was not the only take-away Lorna got from her weekend away with Potter; she was now, at last, sleeping in her own bed. According to Potter, Lupin had been adamant that he not share a cot with Potter Junior, because he is a "big boy who sleeps in his own bed" which prompted Lorna to go quiet and refuse to sleep in the same cot as the Veela child that belonged to one of the eldest Weasley children. Since returning, she had stubbornly insisted that she sleep in her own bed, despite the fact that she was still clearly frightened of the Boggart that had once resided in the room.

His bed was now cold, despite Danu being pressed against him each night. Severus found himself unable to fall asleep, or stay asleep once the lights were out and the cottage was quiet. Hs mind, and ears kept playing tricks on him, convincing him that Lorna was whimpering across the hall, which prompted him to rush to her side only to find her sound asleep in her bed where he had left her. He woke each morning in a panic before the rest of the household, and rushed across the hall to find Lorna tangled in her quilt, her pillow over her face, the stuffed hippogriff on the floor, and the cat lying against her chest.

She was growing up; he could not hide from it any longer. Only a few short weeks ago, she had needed him to hold her against his chest, with her mother rubbing her back in order for her to sleep. Now, she was sleeping in her own bed, flying on a broom, and insisting on brushing her own teeth and hair. Did Danu feel it too? Did she realize that their once small, helpless, terrifying baby girl would one day soon no longer need them?

Severus sighs and cuts the heat beneath the contraceptive potion; its contents the perfect shade of purple. Just as he lifts the still simmering cauldron, the kitchen door slams against the wall below him and small feet scamper up the stairs. He has time to make it across the short distance to the far counter space to place the cauldron with the others.

One foot before the other, and the steaming cauldron sloshes ever so slightly with his movement. Before he has time to think, or even react to her presence, Lorna comes barreling past him, chasing after the cat once more. The cat veers right, Lorna dives for him, slamming in to the side of his leg in the process and showering him, the floor, and the cats tail in scalding contraceptive potion. The cauldron rolls noisily across the floor, leaving a trail of deep purple liquid with it before finally slamming to a halt against the back wall and rattling the vials and jars lining the shelf above.

"GOD DAMNIT LORNA!" Severus shouts between gasps of agony at his burning skin. The cat screeches, tries to look back at its sopping and likely burning tail, screams once more, and skids to a halt beneath the wing backed chair in the corner of the room. Lorna, still now on hands and knees still in pursuit of the cat is not even phased. Severus pulls his sleeves up his arms, stalks towards her, doing his best to ignore the intense pain in his legs he grabs her by the ankle and drags her across the floor. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I-"

"Severus," Danu's voice calmly cuts him off. Her face is set in stone, emotionless, though her eyes are fiery and narrowed. Severus pauses, looks down at Lorna lying flat on her stomach on the floor before him, her face frozen in fear. He releases her ankle and notices red splotches in her milky white flesh from where his fingers had unintentionally gripped her too tightly. "Go get cleaned up, take a walk, and calm down. I've got it from here."

"She-" Severus tries to explain himself, tries to tell her what had just happened, so it does not look as though he were about to flail their daughter for no reason. Lorna, realizing that she had been released, scurries on hands and knees away from him and towards her mother, tears were beginning to well in her blue eyes as her lower lip begins to tremble.

"I know, I'll take care of it. Are you okay? Are you injured?" Danu asks as she steps towards him, one hand raised in peace as if he were a wild, aggressive animal ready to strike. He takes a step back, his heart hammering in his chest.

"I am fine." Severus lies through grit teeth. "She-"

"Hey." Danu interrupts as she reaches forward and takes his trembling hand in her own. "I'll take care of it. Go calm down and make sure you aren't badly burned."

Danu stands on her toes and gives him a gentle peck on the cheek before pushing him towards the stairs leading from the attic, away from the mess and his terrified daughter still lying on the floor. He had never shouted at her before, had never grabbed her that way, had never left a mark on her skin. Everything happened so quickly; he had not meant to scare her; he was not even sure what he had meant to do after grabbing her by the ankle. Something inside of him had cracked when she knocked the cauldron from his hands, and Tobias found a way out of the cracks that small interaction had left. If Danu had not intervened, would he have struck his own daughter?

Once downstairs Severus can hear Lorna's whimpering from above, and the sound of Danu clearing the mess with her wand. She says something to Lorna that he is unable to decipher, and the whimper stops abruptly, only to be followed by the sound of small feet running across the floor, and a chair being drug across it. He does not bother changing out of his soiled clothing, or addressing the burns he knew to be covering both thighs. With any luck, the contraceptive potion will seep in through his wounds and render his sterile so as to not subject another child to himself. He stalks slowly towards the kitchen door and closes it softly behind him.

Hours later, Severus finds himself stopped on a dirt path, looking up at a tall tower like home shaped like a rook, a single light flickering in an upstairs window tells him just how dark it had gotten. On his guilt ridden pilgrimage, he hadn't even realized night had come, much less that he had been walking for hours by this point. The skin on his upper thighs screamed in protest as he turns on the dirt path and slowly makes his way back towards home.

Dawn creeps over the valley, a deep fog settles low on the grass, and his clothing feels cold and damp when Severus creeks the kitchen door opened on his return home. His muscles ache, the burns on his legs throb. The cat hisses somewhere in the still darkened room before his feet patter up the stairs. Something rustles on the sofa, Severus creeps forward slowly to find Danu rousing on the sofa, her hair tussled. She rubs the sleep from her eyes with the backs of her fists and slowly opens her eyes.

"Hey." She smiles up at him, though the smile does not reach her eyes.

"Hello." Severus croaks, his throat dry and his tongue heavy in his mouth.

"I brewed another contraceptive potion and bottled everything up for you."

"Thank you. I will take it over to the shop shortly. Just need a shower first."

"You aren't opening the shop today, Severus. You were clearly up all night, and you look can barely stand."

"I will be fine. Just a shower, some coffee, a potion." Severus argues as he straightens himself to full height in defiance.

"Go shower, I'll make you breakfast and coffee." She protests as she grabs his hand tenderly, the warmth of her flesh against his giving him new life. "You're freezing, Severus."

Severus presses his body against the cold tile wall in the shower, panting from the pain radiating up and down his body from the burns he had refused to heal prior to stalking the countryside all night. His heart was still heavy with guilt and regret at what he had done to Lorna, the fear he had instilled in her from one single altercation. A shudder runs through him at the memory of his fingers reddening the skin around her ankle from where he grabbed her. Did she have bruises now? He would never forgive himself if he had left lasting marks on her body.

Only once every drop of hot water escaped the pipes of the old cottage does Severus exit the shower and dare look down at himself. Large, yellow, fluid filled blisters pepper his blood red skin from hips to knee, narrowly, and miraculously, missing his genitalia. The droplets of water inching down his body causes the reddened flesh to pulsate. He sucks air between his teeth and does his best to dry off before wrapping the damp towel around his waist and timidly exit the bathroom, listening closely for any sounds of life from Lorna's bedroom.

No sound permeates from slightly cracked doorway, so Severus makes his way to his own bedroom and drops the towel at his feet to pull on a pair of blue shorts. He scrunches his face and squeezes his eyes shut as he pulls the fabric up his thighs. Not only was the burn worse than he had anticipated, but the muscles in his legs were screaming in protest at the act.

"Severus." Danu hisses, Severus opens his eyes to find her staring at him opened mouthed with a look of shock and disbelief etched upon her face. "Why?"

Danu rushes to his side and kneels before him on the threadbare Persian rug on the floor. She places her hands behind either of his knees to steady them both and hisses in disbelief. Severus flinches at her touch, although her soft hands were not close to his wounds, her fingers made his skin prickle and his hair stand on end, causing a shock wave of pain to radiate throughout his body. She suddenly jumps to her feet and runs from the room, he can hear her feet on the boards above his head as she rattles through the salves, potions, and tinctures were kept.

Danu is back at his side in a flash, arms filled with burn balm, dittany, potions for pain and scaring, and a wet washcloth and lies him back on the bed to access the damage. He winces once more but attempts to hide it with a stony expression as her nimble fingers work on his lower extremities. He can't help but sigh in relief as the burn balm draws the heat from his body. After she has finished, he lies there panting, feeling empty yet relieved. The pain had been a reminder of his guilt, had taught him a lesson to not let his emotions get the better of him.

"Is she..Is Lorna alright?" Severus asks sheepishly as Danu wipes the balm from her hands with the damp cloth.

"She's okay, I promise. She whined for a few minutes but completely forgot about it once I told her she could help me brew."

"I hurt her." Severus admits as he fidgets with the edge of the quilt.

"You did not. She was confused at what had happened, and afraid that you were mad at her, but completely unharmed. I checked her from top to bottom for burns, she somehow doesn't have a single one."

Somehow the idea that she too could have been burned in the accident had not once occurred to him the entire night. He had been much too consumed with the idea of her being injured by his own hand to think of much else.

"I left marks on her ankle when I grabbed her. I saw them." His throat constricts and his heart pounds in his chest.

"I painted her toenails before bed, there were no marks on her, Severus. You didn't hurt her." Danu places her hand on his forehead and smooths the still damp hair from his eyes, Severus catches her wrist and brings the back of her hand to his lips. He kisses her hand gently and she smiles down at him. "Is that why you didn't come home last night? You aren't him, Darling, you won't hurt her."

Severus gulps and looks up at her blue eyes, so full of love and trust for him. She offers him a smile and beds forward to kiss him gently on the lips, her mouth tastes of coffee. A movement in the hallway catches both of their attention, and Danu drapes a warn throw blanket across his lap for privacy before Lorna bursts through the door, her pajamas twisted and bunched in odd places, her stuffed hippogriff dragging the floor at her side, and her hair in disarray. She yawns deeply, rubs her eyes with the back of his fist, and scampers up the bed before snuggling against Severus' side and laying her head on his chest.

"You didn't read me a story." Lorna yawns, her morning breath wafting up to his nose.

"I will tonight." Severus promises as he remains as still as possible, afraid to touch her despite her sprawling out across his chest.

"I'm going to bring your breakfast up." Danu announces before quietly exiting the room.

Severus opens his eyes and peers down his nose at his daughter splayed across his chest. His heart relaxes at the sight of her. Her eerie yet beautiful blue eyes are closed, the long black lashes resting on her high cheek bones. Her bottom lip is plump and rosy with sleep, just as her mother's is in the mornings. Freckles pepper the bridge of her nose, despite both he and Danu's insistence that she wear sun cream outside.

"I am sorry that I scared you yesterday." Severus whispers as Lorna rubs her face on his bare chest, the wiry black hairs that grow sporadically there no doubt tickling her nose.

"You mad at me, Daddy?" She peers up at him, the morning sun creeping through the window behind then dazzling him in her blue eyes.

"I am not mad at you, Lorna."

"You still love me?"

"I will always love you."

—

Severus sits on a metal chair next to his wife's step-father, Vincent, and Potter puffing a Cuban cigar with Vincent as Potter sips a glass of bourbon. The leathery, cocoa taste of the cigar was foreign to him, but delightful. He had not smokes since the night he had left Spinner's End for the final time when Lorna was an infant, and the nicotine danced beautifully in his veins and caused his head to swim.

He watches as the flumes of smoke from the two cigars dance above them, and turns his head to peer at his wife through the large window. She wears a maroon sundress with small white flowers, her curls pinned to her head with a large claw like hair clip. Lorna wears a very similar dress, though her hair is loose and flowing around her. Danu leans against the kitchen island, listening intently at whatever it is that Rose is telling her. Potter's wife has their son on her hip, Lorna is talking excitedly with Rose and Vincent's daughters who seem to want to be anywhere else at the moment.

Danu had called Rose weeks prior, just as they had discussed, and offered to meet in London for dinner. Rose, upon learning that they lived in Devon, insisted that they wait and come visit the family in a small coastal town in Dorset, where they were house sitting for Vincent's parents.

Potter had somehow been brought up in the conversation, he apparently visited Rose and her family quite often. Rose invited them all to come, and Potter drove everyone up in his sedan, having lied to Rose about his own family visiting his wife's family in Devon, since she knew that he reside in London. The two mother's spent the entirety of the one hour drive lecturing the two small children on the do's and don'ts when around Muggles.

Vincent, with the supervision of both Severus and Potter, had grilled thick steaks for the adults, and chicken for the children on a grill in the garden while the women prepared salads, potatoes, and deserts in the kitchen. The meal itself was delicious, yet tense. Rose had made it abundantly clear that she did not approve of Severus, without outright saying it herself. She was cold, distant, and sarcastic each time Severus spoke.

At one point, sensing that Danu was becoming anxious and overwhelmed, placed his hand over hers on the table while she was speaking with Rose. She was picking at the skin around her thumb nail, and her hand had trembled slightly, all tell-tale signs that she was experiencing distress. Rose raised her brow at this and smirked slightly, but said nothing.

During dessert, Vincent asked Danu what she did for a living, and since Danu was preoccupied with scolding Danu for threatening to punch the young Potter, Severus answered for her. Rose, not liking that he had spoken up, said in a very snippy tone that made Potter and Vincent's eyes widen, "I do believe my husband was speaking to my daughter, Severus." Which made Severus clench his jaw tightly and sneer menacingly at her from across the table.

Lorna comes stomping from the house, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. She makes her way to Severus, stops, and attempts to climb into his lap.

"You do not need to be around smoke. Go back inside with your mother and I will be in shortly." Severus warns as he fans the air to keep the cigar smoke from wafting into Lorna's face.

"Daddy." Lorna begins with a threatening tone. "What does 'freak' mean?"

"Where did you hear that?" Severus asks as he balances the cigar on the ashtray in the center of the table and turns his attention to his daughter. Both Potter and Vincent do the same, all three men's eyes were focused on the small, yet intense girl before them.

"They called me a freak!" Lorna exclaims and points towards the two girls giggling together on the floor inside of the house.

"Did they?" Vincent asks as he stands abruptly from his chair and strides towards the sliding glass door. "I will be right back."

Severus could feel the anger bubbling within him at the two girls he could not hear giggling over the sound of their father entering the house. They were children, he could not just go inside and throttle them, no matter how desperately he wanted to. Memories of Petunia calling Lily a freak flutter though his mind as he grits his teeth and pulls Lorna onto his lap.

"It is not a nice thing to call someone. You are not a freak." Severus whispers to her as he kisses the back of her head. Potter eyes him for a moment before his eyes flicker away to focus on the glass of bourbon before him.

Vincent comes back a moment later, his hand held out for Lorna to come with him. Severus turns his head to see the two girls seething on the other side of the glass, and Rose shouting something at them that he could not hear from outside. Lorna climbs down from him lap and takes Vincent's hand before he leads her inside. He watches as he stands her before the two girls and looks down at them sternly as they shuffle their feet and look remorseful.

"You're different." Potter's voice drags his attention back to the outside world.

"Meaning?" Severus draws as he reaches for his cigar and narrows his eyes at Potter.

"Not in a bad way. I just didn't expect you to be so….good to her. I sat in your classes for six years and never saw you treat any kid this well, even Malfoy." Potter explains with a nervous chuckle.

"You were not my children. It was not my job to be your friend."

"No, but-"

"Sorry about that." Vincent interrupts as he takes his seat and picks up his cigar. "Teenagers are relentless. I made them apologize to Lorna. We've been having problems with the girls since they started secondary. Enjoy them while you can, because they will be hormone filled monsters before you know it."

Severus excuses himself to the restroom to find Potter's wife and son nowhere to be found, giggles from somewhere above telling him that the teenage girls were elsewhere, Rose drying a plate with a white tea towel, and Lorna asking Danu to take her to the restroom. Danu looks tired and overwhelmed, but refuses his offer to take Lorna to the restroom himself. He links his index finger with hers and kisses the top of her head.

"Are you alright?" Severus mumbles against her head. She nods and pulls away, taking Lorna with her.

Severus watches as she disappears down the hall and closes a door behind her.

"She is more than capable of speaking for herself, you know." Rose clears her throat from behind him and he whirls around to meet her.

"Do we have a problem, Missus Jones?" Severus sneers as he narrows his eyes at her.

"I have noticed," Rose begins as she steps closer to him in an attempt to intimidate. Severus stands taller and glares down his nose at her. "You speak for my daughter an awful lot, put your hand over hers, an act that men use to tell their women to shut up and let him speak."

"You know nothing of my wife." Severus scoffs at the ridiculousness of the accusation.

"You are nearly twice her age; all of the signs point to you—"

"I have not forgotten my age, thank you Missus Jones. Whatever it is that you are about to accuse me of, I implore you to choose your words very carefully."

"What do you want with my daughter?"

"I am married to your daughter, like it or not. We are quite happy together, so I am not concerned whether you do or do not approve."

"You were her teacher! Harry already told me, don't look so shocked. That is vile, disgusting, an injustice! What, did you see her, notice the resemblance to Lily, and have to have her since you couldn't get Lily? Oh, I remember how co-dependent you were with her, how Lily said you begged her to talk to her after she kicked you to the curb."

"You—" Severus sneers, the accusation cutting him to his core and causing bile to rise in his throat.

"Is that why you aren't a teacher anymore? Did they give you the boot once they found out? How long did you groom her before you convinced her to marry you?"

"I know darling, I'm going to ask Daddy and Danu if they're ready to go soon. I know you're getting tired." Potter's wife interrupts as she enters the room with the crying child on her hip.

Severus and Rose glare at one another, neither daring to speak as the two make their way out of the door and Lorna comes bounding back into the room to wrap her arms around Severus' legs in a hug.

"Daddy, I want to go home and fly now." Lorna says as she squeezes his legs.

"It's a game they play before bed." Danu explains as they each catch sight of Rose's raised brow. "She has an active imagination; we play a lot of games."