AN: A trip to the shoe store becomes eventful when Severus loses Rose. Will he find her without putting his reputation as a heartless greasy git in serious jeopardy?

It wasn't enough for Severus' five year old daughter to sing happy birthday as she washed her hands. No, she had to sing it twice and throw in another song for good measure. He wondered how much of her skin would be left once she finished. The bottom of the mirror was covered in soap and water. He felt a pang of sympathy for the store employee who needed to clean it.

"You need to finish soon," Severus began, holding her toy snake in his hand.

"I will when my hands are clean," Rose answered as she splashed onto the gray tile floor.

"I can assure you they are clean now."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

"Yes, they are clean."

"Are they clean enough to keep away the dirty goblins?"

"The what?"

"Dirt goblins," Rose answered. "The last time she babysat us, Luna said dirt goblins infect dirty hands. That's why we have to wash them really well before touching anything."

Severus fought the urge to roll his eyes. That was the last time he trusted Ms. Lovegood to babysit his children. It was bad enough she'd given them ice cream right before bed, but her method of convincing them to wash their hands apparently involved one of her imaginary creatures. What made the situation worse was the fact that Luna believed in the creatures herself.

"I can assure you, the dirt goblins will not infect your hands," Severus answered.

"How do you know?" She removed her hands from the water.

"Because they are afraid of people who wear black robes."

"They are?" She turned off the faucet.

"Yes," he pointed to her black dress. "That's why you have never seen one. You wear black so often they fear you."

She hummed. "I knew her story wasn't right."

"Indeed." Severus felt a pang of guilt. He hated lying to his children. Then again, was it lying to build on an already fictitious story?

Before he could meditate on his dilemma, Rose jumped off the tan plastic stool and strolled over to the paper towel dispenser. She jumped, but could not grab a hold of one.

"Here," Severus put the toy snake onto the plastic top of the trash can. Then, he pulled a paper towel from the dispenser.

"Thank you," she dried her hands.

"Have you taken care of everything now?"

She nodded as she handed the paper towel back to him.

"Good." He gave her a smile before continuing in his best professor voice "Now pay close attention to me as I select a pair of dragonhide boots. You'll need to know how to judge how well they fit if you want to buy a pair of your own someday."

"Okay." She smiled.

Severus couldn't help but return the expression. He never thought any child would be so interested in mimicking his mannerisms and his style of dress. It truly was the sincerest form of flattery. Granted, it did appear odd for a greasy git to take his daughter shoe shopping when only he intended to make a purchase, but who was he to deny her when she pleaded to go with him?

"Why can't I buy dragonhide boots now?" She asked as he opened the door for her.

"Because they do not make them for people with your shoe size," he answered.

"I think that's dumb."

"I agree." He stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him. "Still, they have some lovely boot styles for little girls."

"I'm not a little girl."

"Are you taller than me?" He smirked.

"I will be," her expression lightened. "When I get to be bigger, I can wear your shoes."

"I'm sure you will."

"In the meantime, I don't want regular girls shoes."

"I know, but for now you will have to make do with them. When you are older, you may purchase your own pair of boots."

"I wish I could purchase them now," she grumbled.

"I wish you could purchase them now too." He began leading her through the aisles of shoes. Of course they put the men's section as far from the bathroom as possible. It was as if they believed he would make an impulse purchase on the way.

"You could always trans-transfuse…them," she continued.

"It's transfigure."

"Yes, transfigure. You can transfigure your boots into ones that fit me."

"Unfortunately dragon hide boots have too temperamental of a fabric to change," he answered. "The material does not always respond well to magic, which can make for a terrible fit."

"Have you ever tried to transfigure the boots?"

"Yes, one time when I was impatient and did not want to go to the store." He decided to leave out the part where he was too poor to afford another pair, and was growing too impatient for his next paycheck.

"Did it hurt when you wore them?"

"Yes, I received several blisters. You wouldn't want to receive blisters, would you?"

"If I looked nice I might."

"Trust me, as a woman you will have plenty of opportunities to get blisters on your feet from poorly made shoes. There's no reason to start as a child."

"But your shoes don't give you blisters."

"Yes, because they fit well. We'll find a pair of draonghide boots for you when you're older."

"Do you mean that?" Her eyes grew as her face lit up.

"Yes, they make some for women. When you're older, we'll find some."

"That's good, because I don't think I'd want to wear shoes like that." Rose stopped and pointed to a turquoise shoe with a heel that was at least four inches tall. "Mum said you can break your neck in things like that. I don't want to hurt my neck."

"That is a great attitude to have, for I would hate for you to have an injured neck as well." He glanced at the shoe. Was there a reason its strap needed to have rhinestones along it? Then again, it was amongst the best selling shoes in Britain, so who was someone as fashionably challenged as him to pass judgments?

"Although," Rose's eyes lit up as she darted one aisle over. "I like this shoe! It would be pretty on me!"

Severus looked at the black boot which had a six inch platform off the ground. Its buckles were golden, and the leather reflected in the light. His foot ached just imagining walking in that.

"Can you transfigure this into something I can wear?" Rose jumped up, but was unable to grab it.

"That platform is too high for you," he could already hear her cries once she broke her legs trying to run in that thing.

"What's a platform?" She asked.

"It means it's too high off the ground."

"But I like it. It makes me look bigger. Can't I just try it on?"

"Not today." He took her hand and led her away from the shoe before she knocked the entire shelf over trying to grab it.

"But it will make me taller, which is why I want it."

"There are better ways of becoming taller."

"Like a potion?"

"No, like growing naturally."

"But that takes years, which take forever!"

"Trust me, at my age years do not seem so long."

"How old are you?" Her voice was loud enough to catch the attention of a few other shoppers.

"Old enough not to want to answer that question." He gave them a glare, lest they forget he was old enough to have destroyed their poor excuses for potions essays.

"Oh," she cocked her head. "Why won't you say your age? I thought getting older was good."

"In your case it is very good. The older you get, the more you'll grow. You want to grow, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then consider it good to grow older."

"Okay."

In silence they strolled down the aisles.

"I remember now! You're fifty!" Her voice was much too loud for the shoe store.

A few more of the customers glanced at them. Severus gave them the most withering glowers he could. Most returned to their shopping, unwilling to see if he still lived up to his less than flattering nicknames.

"Why don't you want people to know you're fifty?" She asked, oblivious to his growing discomfort.

"Rose, please keep your voice down. The entire store does not need to know my age."

"Why? Are you embarrassed?"

"Here are the dragonhide boots." He had never been so happy to see a pair of shoes in his life.

"Oh," she turned to them, his age now forgotten.

"Now, you want to make sure the material is genuine." He picked up the display boot before kneeling down to her level. "Sometimes stores want to sell you a faux material because it is cheaper for them, and people are unaware of what true dragonhide feels like."

"What does it feel like?"

"Hard, sturdy, with just the right amount of flexibility for movement." He squeezed the shoe and rubbed his hand along the front. "Yes, this will do nicely."

"So it's real?"

"It is." He handed it to her.

She examined it before squeezing it. "Yep, it feels like yours."

"As it should. Also notice its sheen," Severus continued. "It reflects the light somewhat well, but does not cast a clear reflection. That is another sign it was made correctly."

"I see." She furrowed her eyebrows as if she was taking mental notes.

Severus gave her a half grin. After spending years failing to get dunderheaded students to listen to him, it was refreshing to find a child who wanted to learn, even if she did need to work on the volume of her voice and could use a lecture on the inappropriateness of announcing her father's age in public.

"Now," Severus took the boot from her and put it back onto the display rack and glanced at the boxes under the boots. "I just need to find one in my size."

"What size are you?"

"Nine."

"Oh, I can find a nine."

"I'm sure you can," he muttered as his frown deepened. So far he wasn't seeing his size.

"Are you looking for something?"

Severus turned to the man before him. There was a fear in the salesman's eyes which only came from being subjected to years of potions classes with the dungeon bat.

"We're looking for dragonhide boots in size nines," Rose began before turning to the boxes. "But we can't find any."

"Indeed we are." Severus replied.

"I see," the salesman stepped closer. "Though I do wonder if these are the ones you'd be most comfortable in."

"Excuse me?" Severus snapped. "Are you saying that I am incapable of discerning my comfort level?"

"No, I uh," he fidgeted. "I just thought you'd like to know all your options."

"I want dragonhide boots."

"I know, but we have ones which offers better arch support. They could really help for those long days brewing in the lab."

Severus prepared a retort, but closed his mouth. He couldn't deny that some days brewing were better on his feet than others. Lately he had been casting more foot cushioning spells than he had in years past, and sometimes even those weren't enough to prevent a foot ache. As Rose had so helpfully reminded him earlier, he was not getting younger. Perhaps it was time to give his feet some attention.

"I would not be opposed to perhaps looking into some other boots, provided they are dragonhide," although his voice wasn't friendly, it lacked the earlier hostility.

"Don't worry, dragonhide boots aren't what they used to be. The manufacturers are more cognizant of foot care and the importance of improper alignment," the salesman continued.

"Daddy." Rose tugged on his cape.

"Not now, Rose," Severus turned to her.

"But Daddy, this is important."

"Is it an emergency?"

"Yes."

"What kind of emergency?"

"I need something."

"Will you perish without it?"

"No."

"Is someone going to be injured if you do not obtain this object?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then allow me and Mr. Finch to finish conversing," he replied.

"But…"

"Mr. Finch and I are having a conversation," his voice was firmer. "If nobody is going to be injured then you need to observe us without interruption."

"You remember my name?" The salesman's eyes grew.

"Yes, you were a rather uninspiring Hufflepuff in the lab," he replied. "I only hope your shoe selling technique surpasses your brewing skills."

Severus half expected Rose to make a comment about how great of a professor her father had been, or ask a question as to how awful a student Mr. Finch had been, but the child was silent. It seemed as if she'd taken his words on silence to heart. He would need to reward her for that later.

"I hope my salesperson skills exceed my brewing skills as well." He didn't sound as confident as Severus would have liked.

Any misgivings Severus had about trying on new boots evaporated within a few moments. Mr. Finch was far more knowledgeable about shoes than one would've expected. Perhaps Hufflepuffs weren't as inept as he'd initially believed.

Once the proper shoes were on his feet, Severus stood. It was as if his feet were being massaged. It had been years since he'd had such support.

He turned to his side. "What do you think about these shoes, Rose?"

There was no answer, because there was no Rose.

"Rose?" Severus felt his heart accelerate as his body temperature warmed. "Rose?"

There was still no answer.

"I…I thought she was right here," Mr. Finch began. "I thought she was standing here."

Severus couldn't hear Mr. Finch's blubbering. Instead he was searching the ends of the aisles, trying to keep some semblance of control. "Rose!"

There was still no sign of her.

"Rose!" He didn't care that he was shouting. Good God where could she be? She'd never run off before. Rose knew better than to go outside, didn't she?

"Excuse me?"

Severus glowered at the woman. The last thing he needed was inane chatter.

"Who are you looking for?" She asked.

"Rose." Was this woman so daft she thought he'd be yelling for a flower?

"Rose?"

The other customers ceased shopping long enough to look at the scene.

"Yes, Rose, she's my daughter!" Severus was sweating. Every emotion was on his face. Gods he couldn't find it in himself to care. He just needed his daughter back.

"Okay, what does she look like?"

"She's five years old, comes up to a little above my knee," He lowered his hand to where Rose's head reached him. "She has curly brown hair and light blue eyes. She's wearing a black dress."

"Okay," the woman turned and began calling, "Rose!"

Soon, the entire store began shouting the girl's name. Severus shouted the loudest. He darted around the store like a madman, hoping against all hope to find any trace of the girl. Even by the shoes she had pointed out and admired, she was nowhere to be seen.

Minutes were hours as the store searched for Rose. With each passing moment, the fantasies surrounding what could have happened to her became darker, and much more twisted. She was old enough not to leave the store without his knowledge. Could someone have taken her? There may be escaped Death Eaters or Snatchers afoot. They had every reason in the world to hate him. Did that person want a ransom, or did they only intend to harm Rose? He would give them any amount of money and all his possessions if they would give him back his daughter.

He stopped in the middle of the store as his eyes clouded with tears. What did she need earlier? What if Rose had been trying to tell him she was frightened and he'd silenced her? Would the last words from him she'd ever hear was him brushing off her concerns? What kind of father was he in refusing to listen to his daughter so he could try on a pair of boots?

"Rose," His throat was constricting so hard he could hardly breathe. What was he going to tell Hermione and Victor if he could not find her? How could he look his beloved wife in the eyes knowing how horribly he'd failed so utterly as a parent? How could he face Victor knowing he was such an inept father that he couldn't protect his sister? Could they ever forgive him if harm had befallen Rose? Could he ever forgive himself?

"Rose," he choked out as he crumpled to the ground. His task in raising Rose was to protect her. How could he have let a pair of boots distract him from doing his duty as a parent?

"Excuse me?"

He glanced up, uncaring that he was unable to occlude a single emotion away.

"Is this your Rose?" An elderly woman asked as she released a child's hand.

"Daddy!" Rose's face was stained with tears and her body was shaking. She clung to her toy snake, as if it could somehow protect her.

"Rose!" He grabbed her and held her close. "Oh thank Merlin I found you. Thank God I found you."

"Daddy, I was so scared," she sobbed as she wrapped her arms around him. "I didn't know if I'd find you."

"I'm here." He rubbed her back. "I'm here now."

"I'm sorry I got lost."

"You got lost?" He met her eyes while still embracing her.

"Yes," she sniffed.

"Where have you been?"

"You left Mr. Snake in the bathroom, but I didn't know it until you were speaking with Mr. Finch." She trembled. "I thought I could get him and come back before you knew I was gone. I made it to the bathroom and found Mr. Snake, but I forgot which aisle you were in. I looked around, but everything looked the same, and I called for you but you weren't there." She squeezed him tighter. "I got so scared that I ran into a corner and held Mr. Snake, hoping you'd find me."

"You left me to find Mr. Snake?"

She nodded. "And I found him before anyone took out the trash, so it was okay, except I lost you."

"Rose, you should never ever leave me alone in public. You are to stay within my line of sight at all times. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but I needed to find Mr. Snake before they took out the trash."

"I can buy you another Mr. Snake. I can buy you a thousand Mr. Snakes if you want, but you cannot run off like that."

"But I had to save Mr. Snake." She released Severus and held her toy close to her. "I can't replace him because you gave him to me when I was a baby."

"No, the toy is replaceable. I can't replace you." He put his hands on her shoulders. "No matter what I say or do, I cannot get a new eldest daughter. You must consider that the next time you are tempted to run off."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."

"I'm not mad."

She turned her head away.

"I'm not mad." He raised her chin until he he could look into her eyes. "I am relieved you are in my arms again and that no harm befell you. All that matters is that you're safe, nothing else. I'm just happy you're back with me."

"I am happy to be with you too." She gulped. "Am I in trouble now?"

"No," he answered. "Any punishment I give you will be little compared to what you have already suffered. Consider this a learning experience, do not do it again, and move on."

"Okay," she gave him a small nod. "Does this mean we can still have ice cream after this?"

"A trip to the ice cream parlor does not sound inappropriate. We can get some as soon as I purchase these shoes." He glanced at them. "They are quite comfortable. If I were to get blisters, I would have done so by now. The padding is quite nice as well."

"So Hufflepuffs can be helpful?"

"Yes, in this one case, this Hufflepuff helped me greatly."

"That's good." She grinned. "I'm really sorry I didn't listen to you explain about dragonhide boots. I really wanted to, until I realized Mr. Snake was lost."

"That is fine. I will explain everything when we get ice cream." He stood.

Rose's lip quivered as she held her arms out to him. Severus leaned down, kissed her on the cheek, and said, "I love you so much, Little Rose."

"I love you too, Daddy."

He picked her up. As he held her close to his chest, the consequences of his actions began to dawn on him. He had shown more vulnerability in the last fifteen minutes than he'd shown his entire time at Hogwarts. People were going to think he was soft, that they could take advantage of him. He may love his daughter, but he would never allow anyone to use her as proof he was weak.

"I'm glad you found your daughter."

Severus looked into the eyes of the woman who'd found her. Instead of calculating manipulation, he saw genuine care and, dare he say it, admiration.

"Thank you for finding her," his throat constricted again. "I don't know what I would have done had some kind of harm befallen her."

"She's a good girl who is lucky to have you as a father," she replied.

"I try my best to be a good father."

"You're a better father than I was a potioneer," Mr. Finch cut in.

Severus was on the cusp of making a biting remark, but then he saw the genuine concern in his eyes. As he looked around the store at the eyes of the other customers, he saw not derision, but respect. They did not think less of him for showing emotion, but looked upon him as a caring father.

"Thank you all for your help in locating Rose," he began. "Thank you to everyone. I will always be grateful for your aid."

They all gave a "you're welcome," and said their well wishes. As Severus returned to the box containing his old boots, he held his daughter closer. His reputation as a git unable to feel the slightest affection for others had just been placed in serious jeopardy. Still, he had his daughter back in his arms, and she was safe.

If he had to choose between his reputation as a greasy git and having his daughter, he would choose the latter every time.