Snape's Favorite Meal

Severus felt a tiny form crawl onto the bed and begin pressing down on his shoulder and face, but the weight soon shifted so that it was sitting right on top of his chest. Two small hands began pulling on his nose.

"Papa," the small voice said. "Mama says it's time for breakfast."

Severus forced his eyelids open and found Alice staring back at him. He gently tapped her hands, and the girl let go as he lifted her off, sat up, and set her down on his lap. "Good morning, Alice-Marie. What are we having?"

"Breakfast pasties," Alice answered.

Severus gave her a smile and a kiss on the head. "Is your sister sleeping?"

"She's awake," Alice said. She pulled on Severus's hair. "C'mon."

Severus got out of bed, carrying Alice into the bathroom and handing her a comb so she could brush his hair while he put on a dressing gown. Summers were starting to become his favorite part of the year; each moment with the children was important to him and Lily, and it was important that they didn't grow up thinking Snarky was their father. He had planned on taking all of them to the Dudley Zoo, perhaps inviting Lily's side of the family as well.

Severus made his way down the steps and over to the table; Rory was sleeping on the couch in the other room, the half-Kneazle's tail swatting the air occasionally. Lily, babe in arm, had only just set the platter down at the head of the table, fortunately out of the reach of the twins. He made his way over to her and said, "Good morning."

"Papa," Alice said. "Food."

"Alice made them," Lily said, kissing Severus once and Alice's hand twice. "She says you have to eat so we can go to the zoo."

"Yes," an old voice came from upstairs. Snarky walked down and took his seat between Severus and the twins. "Severus Snape must eat. Miss Alice spent a full half-hour preparing them for you."

Severus sat Alice in her seat to the right of his own as Lily set Marley in her highchair and sat at the opposite end. He looked down at the food to see what Alice had done. There was, in fact, a plate of pasties sitting in front of him. He cut one in half and set them in front of the twins, who began picking at the insides and tasting it, before setting another half in front of Alice. He levitated one onto Lily's plate before giving the remaining half-pasty to Snarky and looking at the final one more closely. It was terribly malformed, and he could see the imprints of Alice's fingers along the surface. He looked at Alice, who was staring intensely at him, ignoring her own half-pasty.

Severus picked it up and took a bite, taking in what he was eating. He could certainly taste the dry beef and mushy onion, along with the over-seasoned scrambled egg. The pastry was doughy on the inside, although that might have been some of the lumps of potato inside… no, that was swede.

"How's it?" Alice asked. Her eyes were wide, and she would probably be leaning forward in her seat if she wasn't so well-behaved.

Severus felt his mouth curl slightly. "You've done an outstanding job, Miss Snape."

Alice's mouth broke into a wide smile, but it quickly vanished as she clapped her hands around her cheeks and forced herself back into a neutral expression. She nodded succinctly before taking some of the loose filling with her spoon and tasting it. Her face soured as she said, "This is disgusting!"

"I've no idea what you're talking about, dear." Severus looked across the table to Lily, who was smiling warmly at both him and Alice; her attention was immediately brought to Marley, who had taken the liberty of grabbing a handful of the eggs and beef and stuffing as much of it into her mouth as possible.

"Papa, it's supposed to taste delicious!" Alice looked down at the plate with disappointment.

Severus set the pasty down and rubbed the girl's back. "For what it's worth," he said, "I was a much worse cook when I was double your age."

"What's that mean?"

"You're four, so that means I was eight. You're significantly better."

Alice looked up at Severus and smiled. "And when I'm grown-up, I'll be better at potions than you."

Severus smiled. "Perhaps."

"Definitely," Lily said with a laugh in her voice, finishing cleaning up Marley.

With a newfound vigor, Alice began eating more of the pasty, this time moving it around in her mouth and furrowing her tiny brow in concentration; she was tasting to see what she'd done wrong and what she needed to do to improve.

"Eat up, Papa," Lily said across the table.

Severus smiled and took another bite. It was better than the last.