A/N: Hello Everyone!
I'm alive!
Seriously though... college almost killed me. Then I had to find a job. Which is very difficult for someone with social anxiety.
But I did it. life has stabilized... for now anyway.
But that's not all!
Today is the 9th anniversary of the day that books and I became friends!
So here you are! A chapter for our friend-anniversary!
I've got a bunch more planned for the next few months of summer, with so much more planned for the new year!
Thank you for the reviews during the wait. It was all wonderful!
Don't forget to keep on reading!
-TTC
Emmeline pulled her brush through Lucy's hair one last time to get the very last knot out of the back of her head.
"Goodness… has your hair always been this unruly dear?"
"Sort of," Lucy muttered. "I notice it's not as bad around Hogwarts. I think the ocean makes it frizzy…"
"Well! Magic gives the solution!" Emmeline began with a smile. "We have Harry's adoptive grandfather to thank for this actually." She murmured as she pulled open the medicine cabinet for a small glass jar.
"Huh?" Harry said, poking his head into the room. "What was that about Granddad?"
"No, not Grandfather," Emmeline clarified. "Fleamont potter."
"Huh?"
"James Potter's father. He invented the Sleakeaze hair potion." Emmeline informed him as she passed the jar so he could read the label after dipping two fingers to scoop up a blob of the cream and spread it onto the brush.
"You're joking!" Harry cried in awe, holding the jar up to read the back. "'produced by the potter potions company' bloody hell!"
"Language!" Emmeline scolded.
"Is… is that how the Potters made all their money?"
"No!" Emmeline cried with a laugh. "Harry the family name goes back to the Middle Ages. They used to be lords and ladies of court. They were the definition of old money. Fleamont could only spend all his time tinkering in his laboratory because he had loads of inherited wealth." Then she took the medicated brush and brought it over Lucy's hair. Instantly the frizz went away and the little girl's hair fell in smooth slightly curly waves.
"Whoa!" Lucy cried in awe as she stared at herself in Emmeline's vanity. "Thanks, Harry's grandfather!"
"Lucy darling!" Emmeline cried with delight "Look at these gorgeous curls! Why do you always braid your hair darling?!" Lucy swallowed and knotted her hands into her jumper.
"W-well…" she began softly "I was never really allowed before…" Emmeline realized she touched a nerve and smiled.
"Well, if you want to stick with braids, I am quite well-versed." She picked up a comb and started to divide the hair "My own hair is pathetically dull. Hardly a wave. I keep it braided all the time so that when I let it out I have a bit of volume, even for a little while."
"I guess…" Lucy suddenly piped up. "Maybe I could leave it down." She muttered. Emmeline smiled.
"Only if you want dear."
"It's okay," Lucy agreed. "Only… can you make sure it stays out of my face?" Emmeline smiled and used the comb to section a few more pieces of hair. Then she pulled the strands at Lucy's temples back, tying them into a well-secured ponytail at the back. Then with practiced ease, she waved her wand and the whole thing was tied together with a big white bow. Emmeline smiled as the girl titled her head right and left.
"Thank you miss. Emmeline." She said as she got up and gave her a big hug.
"It was my pleasure darling." The woman assured her before looking at Harry. "Are your trunks all ready?"
"Yes, mum."
"Well then let's be off!" Emmeline said, "I for one don't want to hear about you flying a car to Hogwarts again!"
"Wot?!" Lucy cried with a laugh before the whole sentence caught up with her. "What does she mean 'again'?!" Harry's stuttering explanations and Lucy's indignant responses had Emmeline chuckling all the way down the stairs.
Harry watched Lucy run off with a couple of her friends from Hufflepuff with a slightly worried expression. The girl had been rather reserved as Emmeline saw them off and seemed to be hiding much of her true feelings behind a startlingly good brave face.
Maybe an acting club was a bad idea…
"Harry!" Dean cried with panic.
"What? What is it?" Harry asked worriedly. Suddenly Seamus ran up to him.
"My lord Richard! At last, you return! How fares your campaign to the coast? Surely you fought the vile rebels off, yes?" the Irish teen cried with a look of reverence in his eyes.
"what the bloody hell…" Harry began with a blink.
"He came to visit me over the hols," Dean bemoaned pitifully "he was still having trouble with a few lines and my mum introduced him to the concept of method acting!" Dean looked at his boyfriend and whimpered. "Now he's broken!"
"My lord allow me to receive your burdens!" Seamus offered, reaching for Harry's rucksack.
"Potter!" Blaise suddenly called from down the car. "Potter, I want to talk to you about-"
"Ah! Fair lord Buckingham! Seek you an audience with the good duke?"
"What?" Blaise said with a blink. "What's wrong with Finnegan?"
"Long story," Harry responded with a slight snicker. "It'll make Hermione happy though. Don't worry about it."
"Speaking of pleasing Granger," Blaise said flatly. "I think we should, all the major cast, pledge to do two dress rehearsals a week."
"If you can get the crew to agree, I don't see why not." Harry agreed.
"Excellent," Blaise said with a smile. "Let Davies know for me will you."
"Of course." Harry agreed. Then Blaise turned and left with little to no ceremony.
"Fare thee well, lord Buckingham!" Seamus called smoothly. "Shall we away to the carriage my lord?"
"Yes, of course," Harry responded, not quite in character, but a bit more formally than he normally would.
"Harry!" Dean cried in horror "Don't encourage!"
"Dean!" Hermione suddenly barked, grabbing the back of his collar. "We were supposed to be at the prefect's meeting twenty minutes ago!"
"But!" He looked at Seamus "but!"
"No buts! Let's go!" She snapped before dragging him off.
"He certainly is a funny little fellow, isn't he," Seamus murmured with a bit of a grin.
"Be honest, you're just doing this to mess with him aren't you?" Harry questioned. Seamus laughed.
"Yeah. I think I'll just keep it up when he's around. Mess with his head for a bit." Seamus responded normally. Harry laughed before they slipped into a compartment and began the journey back to Hogwarts.
"Hello Benjamin," Emmeline began casually as she stepped into his office.
"Emmeline," Benjamin began as he quickly handed her the packet of forms. "get those filled out and submitted as quickly as you can. I've already submitted her files and the case is listed as open, so she will show up if anyone comes looking for adoption. However, given your proximity to her original house, your case will be the best. However, delays can lessen your chances."
"I need to discuss this with my fiance first," Emmeline admitted with a slight wince. "I may have jumped the squid, as it were."
"You're getting married?" Benjamin asked casually. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Severus Snape." Benjamin's jaw dropped.
"Snape?! You're marrying that crotchety old grouch?!"
"He is not old, nor crotchety," Emmeline argued with a scowl.
"But he is still a grouch?" Benjamin joked cheekily. Emmeline cleared her throat.
"Thank you Mr. Grummy."
"You're very welcome, Miss. Vance," Benjamin said with a slight grin before he cleared his throat. "In all seriousness, congratulations."
"Thank you," Emmeline said with a smile before she swept for the office, precious paperwork held against her chest.
Severus sighed as he rubbed his temples. Umbridge's idea of a start-of-term meeting was much much worse than Albus'. It was all 'best practices' this and 'ministry approved' that. Now that she had 'fixed' defence, she was starting to come after other subjects too. She had the gaul ('the gaul!' Minerva had cried) to suggest that practical spellwork should be removed from all classrooms. "Perhaps the children don't even need wands," she murmured into her teacup scathingly, as if such a notion really was quite silly. Severus was momentarily stuck with a sick feeling in his stomach when she'd made that little remark.
"Perhaps the Ministry should remember the New York incident of 1923 or keep their mouths shut!" Poppy shrieked in disgust. Delores had gone a pasty white colour before clarifying that she meant in the classrooms, not in general. The ministry really was in quite a sorry state if Senior members of the bureaucracy would suggest such a ludicrous idea. He sighed and rubbed his temples a bit harder. What he needed was a stiff drink and then bed. He'd gone back to use his old teacher quarters in the dungeons for sleeping. The apartments were just too lonely now. Lord and Lady Gedevier seemed to understand. But as Severus reached for the handle he frowned. Someone was inside his office. He scowled and drew his wand. He really didn't have the patience for any idiots right now. Whoever thought they could get away with this was sorely mistaken. So he redied his wand and flung the door open. But the moment the woman turned her face to him he dropped his wand, took three steps forward, grabbed her face and slammed their mouths together in the most desperate display of affection and passion he'd performed in a long time. The pair of them only separated when they both needed oxygen for survival. Severus immediately tilted his forehead against hers and sighed.
"Emmeline… What are you doing here?" He asked in barely a whisper. The woman sighed.
"Oh darling I missed you so much," she declared. "but… well I don't want you to be too upset."
"What have you done?" Severus demanded, suddenly growing weary. If Emmeline had done something drastic to Delores there would likely be hell to pay. Or anything else illegal. Then there were a slew of legal things she could have done that made him worry all over again.
"I went to the ministry and collected the forms necessary to formally adopt Lucy," Emmeline explained flatly. Severus blinked. "I know! I know we should have discussed it first! But I love that precious darling and I didn't want to wait in case something else happened!" Severus let out a chuckle.
"Emmeline…" he began before he chuckled again as he walked to his desk, opened the top drawer and pulled out his own stack of adoption papers. Emmeline blinked and looked them over before gapping at him.
"When did you get these?"
"October," Severus admitted matter of factly.
"October?!" Emmeline cried, utterly awestruck.
"I was intending to persuade the good pastor to give up custody of Lucy to us. That was my plan in September. But then Delores started getting more and more unfathomably irritating and it just wasn't a priority." Severus sighed as he sat back in his chair. "Of course now it's too late to do this the easy way…"
"The easy way?" Emmeline questioned.
"One of the pages of the forms has a section dedicated to parental consent. If it's signed by one or both parents, all the ministry has to do is file it away and the process is complete. Remember Emmeline. This happens much more frequently than you realize." Emmeline's face fell as she remembered Severus' speech in June. Then she swallowed.
"So… we agree then?"
"Obviously." Severus drawled with a bit of a smirk.
"Thank Merlin… I… I wasn't sure."
"I thought it was obvious by now," Severus remarked. "I have been openly referring to her as Harry's sister since we arrived at Hogwarts."
"Well, I know! But I thought it was mostly to make her feel welcome!"
"And my mother's hairpin?" Severus asked with a chuckle. "Was that another welcome gift?"
"Alright, maybe the hairpin gave me pause," Emmeline admitted sheepishly. Severus chuckled again even as Emmeline adjusted her robes. "I'm going to be working on expanding the cottage now."
"Emmeline… don't count our chickens," Severus argued. "Finish and submit the paperwork first before you start anything like that."
"I happen to know the man currently running the relocations section of the DFS. So I am not terribly concerned with outcomes my darling."
"All the same. Don't forget that people like Delores Umbridge exist."
"Speaking of her!" Emmeline began as she glanced at a stone in her hand. "I really must be off. This magical signature dampening stone I made won't be active much longer.." Severus quickly rose to give his future wife one last longing kiss, much less passionate than their first, but full of feeling nonetheless.
"We'll be together again soon," Severus declared. Emmeline sighed.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Just a feeling," Severus murmured around one last kiss before Emmeline backed up, disappearing in a swirl of green flames. He stood staring at the flickering fire when suddenly the door slammed open. Instinct had his wand in his hand and a spell on his lips so fast that it was only his years of expertise that saved Delores Umbridge's life. He felt momentarily cheated by that fact.
"Where is she?!" Umbridge demanded shrilly.
"Where is whom, madame?" Severus demanded scathingly. Umbridge narrowed her eyes at him coldly.
"Don't play dumb! The wards alerted me to Emmeline Vance's presence. You know as well as I do that she is forbidden from the school grounds.
"It was a floo call," Severus said scathingly.
"What on earth do you have to discuss with her professor?"
"She is Harry's mother."
"No, she's not." Umbridge cried with a chuckle. Severus' knuckles went white as he clenched his fists. "Not only is she not biologically, but you aren't even married yet. She has no rights to him at all."
"Get out." Severus declared coldly.
"I beg you par-"
"Get out!" Severus roared. Then he reached out and physically pushed the woman out of his office and slammed the door in her face. And there he stood, long after the vile woman finally gave up on her efforts to re-enter, head bowed with exhaustion and always repeating a simple mantra.
Stay for the children.
Stay for the children.
Stay for the children.
And he didn't just mean his own. Whichever 'ministry-approved' idiot that foul toad found to replace him would not nearly be good enough for what the students needed to learn. Especially in these dark times, where uncertainty flourished. All year the darkness had been simmering under the surface. He could feel the tension in the air, like a powder keg with a fuse too short for comfort. All that was needed was a single spark, and the path to war would come, much too quickly for comfort. Severus let out an exhausted sigh.
He wasn't sure if he could survive another war.
Then he scowled at himself.
This wasn't like last time!
This time, he had something to lose. He had a wife and children to think about! A dream he'd given up on finally came true.
And he wasn't about to let it go now that it was finally here.
Mind settled and goal oriented he turned back to his grading, determined to see this struggle to its end.