Chapter 11- What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Older
Four months ago:
Severus sighed as he headed to the door to exit his lab.
His head ran with ideas of changes and alternations he could try tomorrow, which was futile as he would forget most of them in his sleep, he's been rather forgetful lately.
Good thing he wrote them down.
This potion proved to be exceptionally difficult, and though he enjoyed the challenge and the thrill of trying something new, it still gets tiring after a while and he was absolutely fatigued, eager to turn down for the night.
He muttered a quick Tempus as he opened the door only to prove that it was indeed late.
One thirty after midnight.
They must be deep asleep by now, he thought as a feeling of guilt took hold of his heart.
Just as usual, he barely got home before dinner, having had to deal with the chaos that took place in the Slytherin common room after a couple of Gryffindors tried to sneak in and chase a 2nd-year Slytherin.
God only knows what they were thinking, sneaking into the snake din, but Severus was certain they'd never think of doing that again.
He ate his meal absentmindedly as he listened to Arya tell them about her exciting day- or at least that's what he guessed she was talking about...he didn't pay much attention- and then, with a quick glance at his wife to let her know where he'd be, he excused himself and headed to the cellar.
He wasn't deluded, he knew that he wasn't spending as much time with his family as he probably should, but working on his potions was his only solace these days.
It kept his mind busy, and he needed that.
Though each time he emerged at such a late hour from his lab he felt bad, he couldn't help but repeat the same routine. No matter how hard he tried, as soon as he sat down in the living room and it got a little bit quiet he felt this unshakeable need to get up and busy himself, he couldn't ignore it.
Hermione didn't understand that though, no matter how many times he tried explaining it to her.
She was under the notion that he was hiding from his feelings, his problems, and his family.
Which was ridiculous, Severus never hid from anything... he was just... busy... perhaps even restless, but that's it.
It didn't matter that sometimes he would sit down staring at nothing in his lab or that he would latch onto anything to fill his time if he had the smallest empty gap in his work schedule.
It didn't matter that his dreams were plagued with images of Hermione crying over losing their child and that he could count on one hand the nights he had a restful sleep.
It didn't matter that he couldn't bring himself to be with Hermione ever since the incident.
This was just stress due to his busy schedule, which was a common thing at the end of each school year, and though the loss of his child certainly shook him up and added to his stress, it didn't mean he needed to seek professional help as others seemed to think.
This was just a phase, come summer he'll be alright.
He raised his wand to ensure the wards around his house were intact before heading to bed when he heard a noise in the kitchen.
Still holding his wand he walked towards it as quietly as possible.
What he saw there gave him a pause.
It was Hermione, wearing her night clothes with an apron on top and she was kneeling in front of the stove, apparently taking something out of it.
Looking around he noticed that the kitchen was turned upside down, she has been working there for quite some time.
He raised his brow at this.
Leave it to Hermione to have these strange cravings in the middle of the night.
They've been having a lot of arguments lately, and Severus hated to start another one tonight.
He knew his short temper was to blame for many of them, but Hermione was also getting extremely defensive lately and would get extremely emotional over the simplest things.
It was one of the reasons why he preferred to stay in his lab for as long as possible when he was in a particularly bad mood, avoiding clashes.
"Why are you still awake?" he asked quietly, making sure to make his presence known before speaking lest he startles her.
Hermione ignored his question as she stood up and turned around, and he finally saw what she was getting out of the oven.
A cake.
He looked at her strangely, not understanding what was going on.
Until it dawned on him.
May 20th.
"It's Arya's birthday" Hermione declared setting the cake down on the counter.
"Oh," He said dumbly, and she finally looked at him, accusation in her eyes.
There we go again.
He felt the need to defend himself, he didn't forget.. how could he forget? it's his precious girl's birthday.
He remembered the date by heart, he knew when her birthday was he just didn't realize it was tomorrow.
Or today rather.
He just wasn't paying the date any mind these few days, what with him being busy with work and making sure that his 7th years are ready for their NEWTs.
He was always busy around this time of year, but he never forgot his daughter's birthday before, a treacherous sound said inside him.
I didn't forget!
"We could have ordered a cake tomorrow," he said when she finally moved her gaze and picked up a glass of water, "you didn't have to bake it yourself."
"She likes it when I make her one" Hermione said dismissively.
"You shouldn't be awake," he said with finality, his concern slipping into his voice.
It took a while for Hermione to get back to a relatively normal sleeping schedule and the slightest bit of change could easily ruin any progress she made.
Despite her physical body having for the most part healed after the miscarriage, and starting to gradually get back to normal, her magical core and energy are still far behind.
It was only natural since those went hand in hand with the person's mental state and Hermione was still struggling in that department after the loss of their child.
"Hermione," He prodded again when she didn't answer, coming close.
"I'm almost done," she said finally, putting the glass down after taking a few sips.
Severus looked at her sceptically and sighed.
She started looking around for something, and so he handed her the frosting, figuring this was the next step.
She nodded at him and proceeded to spread it on the cake.
"How you manage to find anything in this mess is beyond me," he said exasperatedly, picking up the empty bowls and carrying them to the sink where they would magically wash themselves.
"At least I'm doing something" Hermione muttered bitterly.
Severus immediately felt another pang of guilt, but he carried on cleaning, this time picking up the cleaned dishes and physically returning them to their assigned places.
"I didn't forget" he defended himself after a moment " I just—"
"Got carried away with work?" Hermione continued, having heard this excuse many times.
"So to say," he said.
"How is that better?" Hermione said, pausing what she was doing and looking at him pointedly.
He looked back at her with a blank face and looked away when he saw her shake her head at him.
"Isn't Potter picking them up in the morning? has he said where he'll be taking them?" he asked after internally interrogating himself about how he could forget his daughter's birthday plans.
He concluded that it probably slipped his mind since it was agreed that they will leave it to the Potters and Weasleys, who were all too eager to take care of things for them while they were still 'grieving'.
"Harry never completely specified, he said something about taking them to an amusement park but I'm not too sure," she answered.
"As chaotic as ever," he rolled his eyes, he never hid his opinion of the boy who lived, and though his remarks about him were now full of sarcasm rather than hatred, only a select few people could tell that the relationship between the wizarding world's saviour and his hated potions professor had shifted since their Hogwarts days, thanks to his wife.
"They'll have fun, and they'll be safe, that's what matters," Hermione reasoned.
"I suppose."
They carried on like this for a few moments, her spreading the frosting on the cake and him cleaning up the kitchen and tidying things up.
"So what, you just woke up in the middle of the night and decided it was perfect timing to bake a cake rather than leave it till tomorrow morning?" he asked after a while, still trying to figure out how she found herself in this situation.
"I couldn't sleep" she answered distractedly.
He stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were in your lab" she answered simply.
"Yes..." he confirmed, "which has a door you can knock on should you want anything"
Hermione ignored his gaze and looked down at her task
"Do you need a potion?" he asked
"No, I don't ne—" she cut herself short when she remembered how many times she used to say that, only for Severus to give her one later on because she did indeed need it.
"You know they can get addictive, I don't see why you keep insisting I take them," she said instead.
"I'm a potions master, Hermione, I know what dosage to give you and when" he countered sharply, and after a deep breath he attempted to soften his voice" I wouldn't suggest one if I didn't think you need it, keeping a constant healthy sleeping schedule is highly important for you right now, you know that."
"I don't want one, Severus, let me try doing it on my own"
Severus sighed, better pick his battles.
"So long as you don't make this a habit" he gestured at her messy state indicating the fact that she was baking a cake at such a late hour.
"Say that to yourself," Hermione gestured back at him.
Severus looked down at himself and smirked, she's got a point, his robes did indeed need some washing.
"How does it look?" Hermione suddenly asked, coming up from her hunched position and rolling her shoulders.
Severus moved to stand behind her and looked over her shoulders at the finished result.
She had finished spreading the frosting and drew a few pink flowers on the side, she had also decorated with sprinkles around the cake.
It looked lovely but something was missing, "I'm sure she'd love it," he said honestly, and then he moved his hand above her shoulder to point at the noticeable empty space on the side "What about here?", he asked.
"Oh yes, I was thinking of writing something, she'd love it now that she's mastered reading"
Severus smiled fondly, his daughter loved to talk about her reading skills, ever since she learned how to spell she started bombarding him with questions about it, and every time she caught him peacefully reading his daily prophet, she'd crawl her way into his lap and attempt to read whatever page he was on out loud.
"What are you going to write?"
"A simple, 'Happy 5th Birthday, Arya', there's no place for anything else really."
Severus nodded and moved his hand, catching his wife's scent as he stood up, he dawdled around a bit revelling in her lovely scent and fighting the urge to pull her close against him, before he went back to his task of cleaning up.
He summoned his nightly potions a minute later, thinking he'd take them here as he waited for her to finish.
He downed the first one quickly, grimacing at its bitter taste and the burn it left in his throat, you'd think he'd be used to it by now, but these potions irritated him every time, he hated having to take them daily.
He picked the second potion ready to take it when he heard a sniff.
Startled, he looked up at Hermione, she was still hunched over the cake, her face hidden but he noticed the unmistakable gesture she made of cleaning her face with her palm.
He put the potion down and retreated to his earlier position behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Hermione?"
He felt her freeze under his touch but she didn't move away.
He prodded her gently to turn around and look at him and he immediately noticed the tears rolling down her face, unable to hide them she angrily gestured to the cake.
" I can't write that bloody 'B'"
Confused, he looked down at the cake, he could indeed see that the B looked weirdly shaped, she clearly had been attempting to fix it with no success.
But it was no reason for her to cry about it, she could easily fix it with her wand, he didn't know why she was making it more difficult by doing everything manually.
He looked back at her and picked out his wand " Here, I can fix it."
"No!," she pushed him back before he could so much as mutter a spell " don't use magic"
"I—" he didn't know what to say, the situation greatly confused him and he was too tired to think of a way to fix whatever was happening.
He remembered Hermione complaining to him that doing things the muggle way gave it more meaning, that it produced better results, which would explain her refraining from using magic.
But he didn't understand why she was crying.
"Fine I won't use my wand," he placated, picking up the piping bag and lightly moving Hermione to take her place in front of the cake.
He carefully fixed the shape of the 'B' she made, making it slightly bigger than was needed but not as weirdly shaped as it was before, he thought it was okay since it was the beginning of a new word. He looked up at her for confirmation and she nodded at him satisfied.
He took that as his cue and continued to write down the letters, taking extra care to make them as presentable as possible and try to mimic Hermione's writing so it doesn't look completely different.
When he finished writing his daughter's name he put the bag down and stood up to admire his work.
Satisfied, he looked at Hermione who had significantly calmed down but she was still tearing up.
He grabbed her by the chin gently, urging her to look at him, and lightly stroked the side of her face brushing away her tears.
He leaned down to kiss her cheek, just and under her teary eye, and then brought his forehead to hers.
"Why are you crying?" he asked quietly.
Hermione closed her eyes and stayed quiet, their quiet breaths were the only sound for a while.
"This is not how I imagined this day going," she said after a while.
And Severus immediately understood her meaning.
Arya's 5th birthday wasn't supposed to be like that, with her spending the day with Potters and Weasleys instead of her parents.
Of course, neither he nor Hermione was fond of throwing big birthday parties for their children, but celebrating their birthdays together whether in the house or outside was the norm.
Arya, being the young age of five had certain expectations for her birthday that she came up with throughout the year after her fourth birthday, and though some of them were unrealistic and they would tell her as such, they had secretly planned to at least honour some of her wishes.
But that was out of the question now.
They can't possibly go out or host a party in their house filled with children when Hermione hadn't even stepped outside the house ever since the miscarriage.
They both avoided bringing up the subject as the birthday neared, though Severus planned to appease the little girl by at least getting her a significantly bigger gift than usual, until Hermione brought up Potter and Weasley's suggestion a week ago, and Severus readily agreed.
It was the best plan, really, Arya would enjoy the day with children her age, and then she and Theo would come back home, they would sing her a happy birthday, eat the cake and call it a day.
Arya would surely love it.
He'd wager it was a better birthday plan than anything they would come up with if the miscarriage never happened, as Hermione would be heavily pregnant by now.
But still, it was different, and that alone was enough to sour his wife's mood, and his.
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him, she gripped his shirt and buried her face in his chest.
"He is never going to have any birthdays, Severus," she said quietly.
He felt his breath hitch in his throat at her words, he didn't need to ask her to know who she was talking about.
They stood like this for a while, as he held her, Severus became annoyingly aware of the apron she was still wearing, he brought his hands to her lower back to untie it, now that they were finally done.
Hermione moved back from their embrace to look at him.
Their eyes met for a second before Hermione got onto her toes and brought her lips to his.
"I miss you" she muttered as she deepened the kiss.
Severus held her as she kissed him but didn't attempt to bring her closer, instead, he pulled back after a while.
"You need to sleep," he said, pulling the apron over her head.
"Go to bed I will finish up here," he said as he stepped away, avoiding her gaze.
Hermione stared at him for a while before she turned and left without saying a word.
Severus tried not to think about the hurt he recognized in her eyes as he stood frozen in his place until he heard the unmistakable sound of their bedroom door being closed.
Then, he let out a deep breath and picked up his potion.
Today:
"David Granger," Severus informed the receptionist, while Theo waited patiently beside him.
He had been quiet throughout the whole journey to the hospital, and after his outburst at his head of house's office, Severus wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
He turned to his son and put his hand on his shoulder intending to ask him if he was alright, but when Theo looked up something behind Severus caught his attention.
"Theo! you're here," a familiar voice said.
"Mum!" Theo's immediate smile at seeing his mother was in contrast to the sad demeanour he had since Severus laid eyes on him this day.
Theo passed his father to run towards his mother and embrace her... or that's what Severus assumed happened since he still didn't turn.
"Oh I missed you so much," Hermione said in a muffled voice.
Severus looked back at the receptionist and nodded at her, they no longer needed directions.
He finally turned towards his family to see Theo retreat from the embrace.
"Mum, is he alright ?" Theo asked worriedly.
Hermione, bless her, immediately sensed her son's distress.
"Oh honey, of course, he is, he's been asking for you" she reassured.
"So he's awake ? can he talk?" Theo didn't miss a beat
"Theo dear.." she said quietly and brought him back to her embrace, as she did that she met eyes with Severus, who tried to convey to her with his eyes alone that Theo might need much more reassurance than what he could offer him.
He was just as clueless as his son as to what this whole visit meant, and though he knew what cancer is he was not so familiar with its treatment, being the half-blood that he is he spent the majority of his life steering clear from muggles and their illnesses.
That, and Hermione did not explain much in her brief message.
"Love... he's fine, we'll have to be careful since his immune system is weak and after the transplant... we may not be able to see him for a while, this is the only reason I wanted you to come to see him beforehand, you don't have to worry yourself," she explained.
Theo nodded and so did Severus as he felt the explanation was for him too.
He cleared his throat and walked towards them, "how have you been?" he asked casually.
"Just fine, how was your week?"
"Busy as always" Severus answered dismissively.
He knew he still didn't get back to her about a date for their meeting but he really had no time to settle on a date with his lawyer, students this year proved to be quite adept... at blowing cauldrons and ruining his class, burning themselves in the process and forcing Severus to spend his nights brewing healing potions.
Not to mention that Minerva expected so much more from him, now that he sleeps in his quarters, even at the weekends.
He supposed it was payback for him refusing to tell her the real reason for this 'sudden change'.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Theo who grew tired of standing awkwardly between his parents.
"So where's Grandpa's room?"
Hermione smiled weakly and pointed towards the elevator, only for Theo to rush there to press the button as if he couldn't wait to escape his parent's presence... or he was simply too eager to see his grandfather.
"Is he okay?" Hermione asked quietly as they started walking, following Theo.
Severus sighed, remembering what happened earlier, "I'll tell you later"
She gave him a worried look and he shook his head, "it can wait."
Luckily the elevator immediately arrived when they reached it, and the three of them went inside.
"Which floor?" Theo asked.
"Fourth," Hermione answered, rolling her eyes.
Theo eagerly pressed the correct button.
Severus smirked at that, it was an established rule by now that one of the children would press the button in an elevator instead of Hermione or Severus.
Severus could remember numerous occasions in which Theo cried himself out as a toddler until Severus finally caved and held him up to let him reach and press the buttons, and then they would have to patiently wait until they reach the correct floor, because Theo thought it was hilarious to press all of them.
He later learned his lesson and invented a game in which the children get imaginary points every time they only press the correct button. Luckily, neither of them asked what those points meant as Theo was too young then to understand that Severus was fooling him, and Arya grew up with this game already made so she never asked.
"One point to Theo," Hermione muttered mischievously, ruffling her son's hair.
"Mum!" Theo snorted.
"What?" she asked innocently, " I couldn't let your father say it as it might count as a point to Gryffindor"
"Would it really?" Theo asked his father.
"We'll never know, she already gave you a point I'm not giving you another."
Theo groaned and ignored both of his parents as they smirked at him.
"Here we are," Hermione said when they reached the fourth floor.
Hermione didn't bother knocking once they reached the room, she gave Theo one last reassuring glance before opening the door.
In there, David, lying on a bed, was talking quietly to Arya, who was sitting in her grandmother's lap.
"Ah! There you are at last" David beamed as soon as he noticed Theo.
Arya quickly jumped out of her grandmother's lap, fighting to get hold of her brother.
She hugged him and whispered something in his ear, before moving to her father, demanding he lift her by holding her hands up.
Severus immediately obliged, having not seen his daughter for so long.
"Hi, Daddy!" she said sweetly.
"Hello Lioness," Severus couldn't help but smile.
They all exchanged greetings, David was still warm in his attitude towards Severus, which helped ease some of his concerns.
Amanda, however, acted differently. Still nice, but different. She expressed her gratitude to him for bringing Theo and having the time of his schedule to come too.
She probably meant well, but Severus couldn't help but think that those things were expected of him before, it was nothing worth mentioning.
He told her as such and she replied with a nod. He couldn't tell if she smiled at him under the face mask she was wearing but if she did it was a weak one.
David ushered them all out after a while, saying he wanted a man-to-man talk with Theo before the doctors came to take him to start the procedure.
As the only 'man' excluded, Severus didn't waste time before getting out.
Still carrying his daughter, he chose to visit the Cafeteria, to distract Arya a bit.
When Theo finishes his talk with his grandfather he would be taking him back to the castle, as there would be no reason for them to stay longer, thus he wanted to spend what little time he had here with Arya.
"What would you have, sir?" asked the cashier.
"hot chocolate and a muffin!" answered Arya before he got the chance to answer, the cashier smiled at her and looked at him for confirmation.
"Right, and a coffee if you will, thank you."
He paid for the drinks and of course, the muffin, then headed straight to the table nearby waiting for his order to be served.
He put his daughter on a chair and sat across from her.
"I always thought the word 'sir' applies to males, is it different for you ?" he asked as they settled down.
"Mhm," the girl nodded her head.
"I see... what do you think it applies to, then ?"
"Umm.. old people?"
"Not quite," he shook his head " Sir' is a sign of respect dedicated mainly to men." At his daughter's cheeky stare, he asked ", do you think I'm old?"
His daughter gave him a mischievous smirk and nodded her head, giggling.
Severus snorted, "I suppose, given your age, everyone would be considered old by your standards" he justified, shaking his head at her.
" Do you remember how old you are?"
She nodded excitedly, "I'm five" she exclaimed, raising up four fingers on her right palm and proudly showing him.
Severus stifled a laugh as he corrected her hand, letting her thumb join the rest of the fingers, "five years old" he said.
"I'm not old," she protested.
"Neither am I"
"You're older than everyone I know!" she said, " that means you're old"
"I'll have you know, little snake, I'm younger than your grandparents"
Arya acted shocked and continued to look at him sceptically.
"Don't look so surprised, I can hardly be born before my own parents or your mother's for that matter."
"I know that..." she answered innocently
"Well, then what did you think? that I was born 'old'?"
His daughter only stared at him.
Severus raised his eyebrow at her, "Arya, I was a baby once too..."
Arya giggled" How did you look like as a baby, Daddy?"
"Cuter than you," he teased.
"Fat chance!" she said loudly.
"Lower your voice, and where did you learn that phrase, young lady?"
His daughter flushed, and he narrowed his eyes, waiting for her answer.
"Mum says it" she finally said.
Severus smirked, "well, It's unwise of you to repeat it, after all... You don't want to sound like 'old people' , do you?"
"Mum isn't old! only you are," she corrected him.
"Right, I'm unique."
Arya's giggles were music to his ears, he continued to look at her as she laughed and chatted excitedly, her high and cheerful spirits seeming to lift his own.
When their order was ready and they got up to get it, she finally remembered to ask him.
"You will come to my school on Wednesday right, Daddy?"
Side-glancing at her, Severus raised his eyebrow, " Whatever for ?" he feigned ignorance.
"I told you! I sent you a letter, Mummy told me you said yes!"
"I don't recall," he said as he put down their drinks on the table.
"Daddy!"
"Ah yes," he said then, acting as if he just remembered something " I suppose I'll have to come anyway to take you to your grandmother's house"
"Grandma Eilleen? we're going to her house?" his daughter asked excitedly, sitting next to him.
"She wants you to spend the night at her house if you'd like"
"Really? will you stay there too?"
"I will still have to go back to Hogwarts for the rest of the day after I drop you off, but I may be able to make it back before you go to bed," he explained.
"But what about my school?" she asked as she bit her muffin.
"Your grandmother will take you to school the next day"
She stopped eating and looked at him, "why not you?"
Severus sighed, "I have to go to work in the morning"
His daughter looked down and nodded understandingly
He moved a loose strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear, "I know it's not much, but at least you get to spend the rest of the day with your grandmother," he placated.
"I miss you a lot, Daddy"
"I know, Arya, I'll make it up to you, I promise."
When he finally returned from the little cafeteria, with Arya in his tail, he discovered that David has already been taken to start the procedure. Walking out, he spotted Hermione and her mother outside but Theo was nowhere near.
He was heading to the bench Hermione and Amanda chose to sit on when Arya tugged his sleeve, he glanced down at her and noticed that she was eying the playground nearby longingly.
"You may go play, but there's no need to act like a monkey," he warned
She offered him a smile and ran -just like a monkey -towards the playground, rolling his eyes at his daughter's obvious disregard of his words he continued towards his destination.
"I brought you coffee, thought you'd want some," he offered when he drew close.
"Why thank you, Severus, I was just thinking of getting one," said Amanda taking a cup.
"No problem."
Hermione merely nodded when he gave her her cup avoiding looking at his eyes, he sighed and stood near them.
It was obvious that whatever subject they were discussing was shut down when he joined them. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
He's only here to take Theodore and go back to the school, he reminded himself.
"Where's Theodore?" he asked
"He said he'll use the restroom," answered Hermione "are you in a rush?"
He shook his head "I can wait"
Hermione nodded and the silence stretched on.
Being a former spy, Severus knew exactly what to do in silent situations; observe.
He side-eyed them as he appeared to watch Arya.
Perhaps Amanda's changed treatment of him is due to a recent knowledge she acquired.
Is it possible that Hermione opened up to her about the divorce? he was certain until now that her parents only knew that they split, but not the reason.
Maybe that's what they were discussing before he joined them.
"How long did the doctors say it'd take ?" he asked, after a while, figuring he might gain more information if he asked questions.
"About three hours if everything went well," Amanda answered.
"Hopefully it will, from what I heard this hospital is the best in the area," Severus said
They both nodded.
"I was under the impression that a donor was yet to be found,", he said directing his question at Hermione this time.
"So was I" Hermione responded bitterly, glaring at her mother.
Aha, he may have hit a nerve, Severus observed
He raised his eyebrows innocently, "you didn't know?"
"Only yesterday."
He looked at her strangely.
"My dad didn't tell me.." she explained, obviously still annoyed at the fact.
"He didn't want to tell me either, but I happened to find out" Amanda defended
"Why is that?" Severus asked, truly intrigued.
"David thought it's best not to get our hopes up" Amanda explained
"I don't get it..."
"This donor, he's my cousin..." Hermione supplied, sipping her coffee.
"Amelia's brother? what was his name?"
"Oscar, and no... he's another cousin, I only knew him when I was young."
"Another cousin?" he echoed.
"Remember uncle Benjamin that died in a car accident?"
He nodded, he remembered Hermione mentioning him before, he died before she came to Hogwarts.
"He had a child, Oliver, my father took him under his wing when I was young..." she continued, "when he moved out, we heard from him less and less, and at some point, Dad learned that he fled the country to run from some people"
Severus frowned, it's very easy to fall in with the wrong group of people when you're young and have no one to lead you.
He had his own experience to prove that.
"David knew he was compatible but he wasn't sure it'd be safe for Oliver," Amanda went on" as soon as he heard from us he said that he'll stop at nothing to get here."
Severus raised his head "Is it still dangerous for him?"
"He said it's been settled"
Severus somehow doubted that, thankfully Hermione keeps her parent's house warded since the war, and she continued to do so upon his suggestion.
"Still, you should be careful," he said, eying Hermione and he was satisfied when she nodded.
After fighting a war and being married to him for over ten years, the witch certainly learnt that she must always be on her guard.
"Are you sure this playground is suitable for Arya's age, Severus? These things don't look really safe," Amanda observed, watching her granddaughter 'play'.
"I assure you, Amanda, it's perfectly safe. Arya's antics, however, are not," Severus said, only then noticing that his daughter was standing on the swing which clearly suited children older than her, avoiding all the other appropriate objects.
She was swinging in a way that clearly suggested that her uncontrolled magic was the only thing that kept her from falling.
He didn't waste any time heading towards the playground.
Hermione watched as he lifted Arya off the swing, and put her down, she could hear his baritone voice as he started admonishing her for her antics, but she couldn't make out what he was saying exactly.
And then he started coughing.
It started mildly at first but then he covered his mouth with his left hand and she could see him shutting his eyes as if he was in pain.
Arya, for her part, looked in her direction with worry in her eyes, Hermione couldn't tell if it was because of the admonishment or for witnessing her father coughing somewhat violently.
Only moments later did he control himself, he opened his eyes and ushered Arya to Hermione's direction, then quickly headed to what Hermione assumed was the restroom.
Hermione's first instinct was to follow him and ask if he was okay, but she hesitated, would he welcome that?
Severus never liked when she fussed over him and he can be extremely hurtful with his words when he wants to be left alone.
Not to mention, with the obvious gap between them now, on what ground could she force him to open up? she's not his wife anymore.
Before she could come to a decision, however, Arya reached her side, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Mummy, Is Daddy okay?"
"I'm sure he is, Sweetie," Hermione quickly reassured her, "probably just a little sick." Or at least she hoped that was the case, his violent cough, however, indicated something more than 'just a little sick.
Her concern over Severus, not to mention her father's transplant distracted her otherwise focused mind from remembering to scold the little girl for her antics.
And the little sneaky child wasn't about to remind her.
"Dad?"
Severus was staring at the red liquid that now covered the basin with uncertainty, did that really come from him? he almost suspected the blood was already there before he put his head down the sink spitting and washing his mouth, but that was unlikely the case. Besides, the liquid that got out of his mouth was certainly not just water.
His throat was hurting, it has been for quite a while but never with that intensity, and it was the first time there was blood.
He was just going through the possible reasons as to why that was happening when he heard Theo call for him, he washed his mouth one more time and lifted his head.
"Are you alright?" Theo asked, concern covering his face.
Perhaps he had called a few times before Severus finally heard him.
"I am," he said, and then immediately cleared his throat when his voice came out too raspy" were you in there ?" he pointed to one of the stalls.
"Yeah," Theo said washing his hand, he looked at the sink his father was using and saw the blood traces on it, "are you bleeding ?" he asked in alarm.
"It's nothing," Severus internally admonished himself for letting his son see" I probably bit my tongue, better wash that away," he quickly opened the sink, making sure to remove all traces of blood before washing his hands one more time.
"But... your neck" Theo pointed.
"What about it?" Severus quickly traced the wounds on his neck, he had unconsciously opened his collar when his throat started hurting as he coughed.
"It's red... were you itching it ?"
Shit.. was he? he looked at the mirror, his neck was glowing red but the wounds were thankfully still closed. He did apply the salve today, hadn't he?
" I have an allergy to a certain type of flowers, it's probably the reason."
He said that more to himself rather than to Theo, try as he may, however, he couldn't remember seeing any lilies outside near where they were standing.
Besides, he never had that kind of reaction because of his allergies if anything turned red when he was near lilies it was just his nose.
Is it possible that he messed up while brewing his morning potions?
Severus always had weird reactions to potions that were brewed badly which is why he always made sure to perfect each potion he brew.
Theo was still staring at him when Severus finished buttoning up his collar, making sure to look presentable.
"We should head back," he said, changing the subject, and washing his hands one more time for good measure.
Theo nodded and watched as his father reached for the door.
"Dad," he called.
Severus stopped and turned, and ahead of him, he saw his son holding out his hand, showing him a watch.
"Thanks for the gift, by the way, I really like it," he said with a smile.
Severus, despite his mind running a million miles an hour, couldn't help but smile back at him, "I'm glad you do, Son."
And ... I'm back :D
A few exams left and I'll start on the next chapter, kindly leave a review ت