An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 10 ~ Confrontation

In a daze, Hermione was quickly prepared to give Eileen a blood transfusion. It was decided since the young witch didn’t respond to magical treatment it might be best to take the Muggle route and feed her the blood intravenously. Everything seemed unreal to Hermione, the situation, the preparation, the setup and subsequent transference of her blood through a long tube strung between their beds, a small privacy curtain pulled back.

Snape sat beside Eileen, not even glancing at Hermione as he watched her color return. He planned to give her a thorough examination of his own to try and find out exactly why she became ill, since the dolts at St. Mungo’s seemed unable to figure it out. But he was thankful they were able to assist his daughter despite not knowing all the facts.

Hermione laid there, her face turned toward Eileen, taking in her profile. She had long dark eyelashes and her nose was slightly aquiline like her father’s but an attractive female version. Her mouth was like her mother’s, her eyebrows thick and perfect.

Eileen roused, then opened her dark brown eyes, and was greeted by the vision of her anxious father.

”Daddy?” she said softly. “Where am I?”

”Ssh. St. Mungo’s. Now, just lay still, Eileen. You’re going to be fine.”

Three healers walked over and check her with their wands thoroughly.

”The transfusion was successful. Your daughter is out of danger,” one said to Snape, who nodded, not taking his eyes off her.

Two medi-witches carefully went to work removing the tubing.

Eileen watched them, frowning over at Hermione, who was sitting up, a medi-witch handing her cookies and a pumpkin juice.

”Who’s that?” she asked as Hermione looked back at her.

Suddenly the curtain between the beds quickly slid closed, blocking Hermione from view.

Eileen turned her head to see her father with his wand in hand.

”Pay no attention to the witch behind the curtain,” he said to her.

Suddenly the curtain was yanked open, Hermione glaring at him as she stood barefoot in the flimsy hospital gown.

“You git!” she seethed, as both of Eileen’s eyebrows rose. She’d never heard anyone call her father a git before. Who was this woman? She looked as mad as a wet hippogriff.

The curtain slid closed again.

Angrily, Hermione ripped the curtain back again and stalked over to Eileen’s bedside. Eileen looked up at the short, curly-haired witch. She looked familiar.

”Eileen, this is your blood donor,” Snape said, narrowing his eyes at Hermione warningly.

Eileen studied her.

”Thank you,” she said to Hermione, who stopped glaring at Snape and looked down at her.

”You’re welcome—ah—“

”Eileen. My name is Eileen Hermione Snape,” Eileen informed her.

Hermione’s brown eyes flicked up to Snape. He’d given his daughter her name?

“I’m—I’m Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione replied.

”Oh. Rose’s mum,” Eileen said a bit witheringly. “I’ve seen you at the train station.”

Hermione nodded, then looked at Severus.

”I want to talk to you before I leave the hospital,” she told him tightly, forcing herself to remain in control. He didn’t even seem to register her as he stared at his daughter. Hermione snapped her fingers.

Snape looked up.

”I need to talk to you before you leave the hospital,” Hermione said again. “Privately.”

Snape’s black eyes flitted over her.

”I hope you’ll get dressed first,” he replied. Hermione turned crimson as Eileen smirked.

”I’ll be dressed. Meet me in the lobby. Nice to meet you, Eileen,” Hermione said, giving Severus another warning look, then reaching around and clasping the back of the open gown so her arse wouldn’t show, she turned and with as much dignity as she could muster, walked back over to her side of the room and pointedly yanked the curtain closed.

Eileen looked at her father.

”What’s going on here, dad? Do you know Mrs. Weasley personally?” she asked him.

Snape nodded.

She was a student of mine long ago. We—have a history. A history I imagine I will have to reveal to you now. I thought I’d wait until you were older, at least out of Hogwarts, but it appears fate had other plans.

“A history? You, dad? With a witch? You didn’t shag her while she was your student did you? If you did, that’s wicked. You’re a bad boy.”

Snape colored slightly.

”No, I didn’t shag her when she was my student,” he snapped at his daughter as a medi-witch brought in a plate of cookies and pumpkin juice. She set the food down on a small bedside table.

“But—you did shag her,” Eileen pressed, looking delighted her father had some kind of love life in the past that didn’t involve her mother. She sat up, picked up a cookie and bit into it. Then she scowled and spit it out.

”Ew. Nutmeg,” she said then looked at her dad again. “Well, did you? She seems very familiar with you. I’ve never heard anyone call you a git to your face.”

“Eileen, there’s a lot about me you don’t know, and not much of it is good,” Snape said heavily. “I’m going to take you home, and then—we’ll talk. Just be patient.”

Eileen nodded. When her father told her he’d do something, he always did it.

”I hope it’s something juicy,” she said, and Snape rolled his eyes.

It was juicy all right, and had the potential to destroy his relationship with his only daughter if he didn’t approach it properly. She knew he had been a spy for the Order, and knew at the final battle Voldemort turned on him and tried to kill him with his snake. And she also knew he had been left for dead by a witch and two wizards who witnessed the act, but didn’t attempt to help him and he had saved his own life. That was all she knew, however.

She had always been a bit angry about how her father had been abandoned and left to die, especially since he risked his life for the wizarding world. Did no one appreciate what he’d done? She’d found his Order of Merlin once, stuffed in the bottom of a drawer. When she asked him why he didn’t display it, he told her it meant nothing to him. That it had been given to him without the ceremony afforded the others, delivered to him at Spinner’s End by two Aurors. His role was considered very sticky since it wasn’t Ministry sanctioned and Dumbledore was dead. Only testimony from a few Order members in the know and Harry Potter had kept him out of Azkaban. Kingsley Shacklebolt played a large part in securing his freedom when he became the Minister of Magic for a short while. So, he never received any public accolades for his part in the Dark Lord’s downfall.

He wasn’t bitter about it, however. He didn’t want to be a hero anyway and shunned the limelight. Let Harry Potter claim all the glory, the swollen-headed, addle-brained little prat. Snape had bigger brooms to fly.

But, he had tired of being alone in the world and wanted someone to care for and to care for him. Witches weren’t attracted to him, and even if he did find one, they were fickle, treacherous creatures. Completely untrustworthy. Snape, as cold as he was, was still a human being and wanted companionship. Someone he could nurture, someone he could be himself with. Someone he could love.

Hermione Granger provided him that.

Now he would have to let that someone know the truth about her conception and birth.

It wasn’t going to be easy. Neither was dealing with Hermione, now that she knew about their issue.

A healer walked in with a clipboard and examined Eileen again.

”Miss Snape, we just want you to rest here for a couple of hours so we can observe you. If all is in order, we will release you to your father. You aren’t to return to Hogwarts for a week,” he told Eileen, then he looked at Snape. “Mr. Snape, we need you to give your daughter a little space so she can rest.”

Snape frowned at him.

”She can rest while I’m here,” he hissed at the healer, who blanched.

”Dad, just go for a little while. I don’t need you hovering over me like a vulture. I’m in the hospital. Nothing’s going to happen to me. Besides, my blood donor wants to talk to you, remember?”

Snape looked at his daughter with a slightly pained expression. She had referred to him as hovering over her like a vulture. He wasn’t hovering, he was just—just watching over her like he always did. His little girl was growing up.

”Very well, but I won’t be far away,” Snape said, rising and leaning over to kiss Eileen’s forehead. She scowled at him a bit, embarrassed by the public display of affection.

”Daaaad,” she hissed at him, reddening in front of the healer. “Don’t baby me.”

Snape stared at her soberly.

”Don’t worry, Eileen. In two years you’ll be an independent young witch, too grown up to stand for your father’s babying. Just allow me to indulge myself while you still need me. I promise, it won’t last forever.”

Eileen’s face contorted slightly as his words sunk in. But, she knew she was being manipulated. Her father was very good at that. Still, that knowledge did nothing to stop the effect his words had on her.

”Aw, dad. Where’d you learn to pile on the guilt like that?” she said to him softly.

He smirked.

”It’s a talent, finely honed over the years. Goodbye for now, princess.”

”Bye, dad.”

Snape turned and exited the hospital room, Eileen looking after him sadly. Her father was right. She was growing up and soon she would be on her own. She’d work with him in the shop for a little while, but eventually, she’d strike out on her own and he’d be alone again. But he was wrong about one thing.

She’d always need him.

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Hermione paced the lobby furiously, watching the double doors for the Potions master to emerge. That snake. That scheming, sneaky, treacherous bastard. How could he do this? How could he make a child with her and take her away? And now, what did he expect of her. He might have destroyed her family and marriage with his selfishness. He could have at least told her he was raising their child. She might have been able to accept that and made it known to Ron. Suddenly, she had another daughter, her children by Ron had a half-sister, Ron had a step-daughter and her own deceased parents had a grandchild they never got a chance to know.

This was too horrible for words. And worst of all, Snape didn’t seem to care about the disruption to her life. He hadn’t even thanked her for saving Eileen. No, he closed the curtain on her as if she were an insignificant stranger. Twice!

Oooh, just wait until he got here. He had some explaining to do.

Suddenly the doors parted and Snape walked out, heading straight for her, his dark eyes narrowed, and expression grave. Instead of stopping, he stalked past her.

”Come along,” he ordered peering into several smaller waiting rooms and choosing an empty one with six small upholstered chairs inside. Hermione followed him in, frowning. How dare him give her orders?

Snape sat down and Hermione sat across from him, a small coffee table laden with magazines between them.

”How could you do something like this? Conceive a child with me and take it without so much as a word? Then you raise it all alone, letting people think it is the issue of your marriage and no one’s the wiser. Explain yourself!”

Snape looked at her calmly.

”I think you’ve explained it just fine,” the dark wizard replied, then fell silent.

Hermione stared at him in exasperation.

”You—you may have ruined my marriage. Broken up my family!” she hissed at him.

Snape considered her.

”If your husband can’t deal with the fact you have a child that you didn’t know about that was conceived before he married you, perhaps your marriage wasn’t that well-grounded to begin with,” Snape said coldly. “Eileen’s existence has nothing to do with your relationship with your husband.”

”What do you mean? It has everything to do with it. Suddenly, I have another daughter, my children have another sister and my husband has a stepchild! That changes the dynamics of my family and our relationship greatly, Severus! Not to mention the bigger implications.”

”Such as you hiding the fact that you engaged me as payment of your Life Debt? That isn’t my fault, Hermione. I asked you if our engagement would affect your relationship with Mr. Weasley. You said it wouldn’t. And it didn’t, because you weren’t truthful with him.”

Hermione turned crimson.

”I never lied to Ron—it just never came up,” Hermione replied, her voice quavering.

Snape looked at her, shaking his head.

”You never brought it up. You lied by omission and led him to think you had been with no one else. Now, the dragons have come home to roost.”

“If you’d been honest with me, Severus, then I could have been more forthcoming with Ron,” she admonished him.

”I was honest. I told you I intended to take something precious from you, an—ingredient,” Snape told her flatly.

”A child is not an ingredient!” she snapped at him.

”I didn’t take a child. I took a fertilized egg from a witch of good stock to insure the best of both our genes would be passed on. Those are the ‘ingredients’ I spoke of. I nurtured that precious egg until the time was right and I was in a position to care for my progeny. Eileen has had the best care and training I could provide for her. She wasn’t foisted off on nannies, and she wasn’t raised around fools. She has no delusions about the world, is well versed in charms and potions, is an exemplary student who is running neck and neck with your own marks, and overall, a young woman to be proud of. I didn’t need you beyond that night, Hermione, and I don’t need you now.”

Hermione scowled at him.

”Oh, but you did need me. Our daughter would be dead if you hadn’t contacted me.

”But she isn’t dead. You wouldn’t let her die, even if she weren’t your daughter and you could have helped her. It’s the do-gooder Gryffindor gene. Fortunately, in Eileen’s case, it wasn’t passed on. She’s a Slytherin through and through.”

Hermione frowned at Snape. He felt no remorse concerning his actions.

”What about Eileen? She deserves to know who her mother is,” Hermione told him. “How will she take that? Do you think she’ll be able to forgive you for hiding the fact that she has another mother rather than the one she believed conceived her?”

”I don’t know, Hermione. But, I will be honest with her and start at the beginning, which in your case is the Shrieking Shack. Then I’ll tell her about how I saved you from Fenrir and the Life Debt. Then, I’ll tell her about the ritual we engaged in and how she was conceived, and why she was conceived. I will tell her I admired your magical abilities and your brilliance, but how I abhorred you because you left me to die, abandoning all your Gryffindor principles because you judged me unfit to live. You could have helped me. Out of all three, you had the presence of mind to do it, Hermione, but you didn’t. So I took my due of you and raised a child that is accomplished and—who sees me for who I am. Eileen is not a Gryffindor. She understands selfishness, even underhandedness. She knows deceit can be a tool, a valuable tool in acquiring what one wants. She has no illusions about nobility, honesty and those attributes you value so greatly, but cast aside so easily. Remember, it took deceit and dishonesty to bring Voldemort down, even in Albus’ case. Some people in this world understand the necessity for cunning, resourcefulness, purposeful manipulation and shameless self-advancement. I believe my daughter to be one of them.”

Hermione stared at Snape, astonished at his view of things. But the way he said it—he honestly believed himself justified in conceiving and taking Eileen.

”That view is so—so skewed!” she exclaimed.

Snape shrugged.

”Well, I am sure in the near future you will have an opportunity to tell our daughter your side of it, and let her judge which version is most compelling. But, she doesn’t know you, Hermione. I have been both mother and father to her all her life, and she has been—happy. You may be her biological mother, but I have her love and loyalty. I don’t believe she will easily cast that aside. You are, after all, loyal to a fault and to some extent, she is her mother’s child.”

Snape rose, Hermione looking up at him.

”There’s no reason for you to stay here. I imagine you have quite a night ahead of you, dealing with your husband and extended family. I don’t want you crowding Eileen. After I talk with her, it will be her decision whether or not to seek you out. I’m going to go and settle her account now. You’ll be contacted if anything further is needed from you. Good day.”

And with that, Snape strode out of the door.

Hermione blinked after him, unable to believe how little was settled between them. He felt completely within his rights to do what he did. What was worse, in a perverse way he did manage to justify it somewhat. In the dark world of Severus Snape, he’d managed to find light in the form of a loving daughter.

Hermione rose, still feeling disconnected from her surroundings. In one afternoon, her safe, secure and predictable life had been irreversibly turned upside down.

It didn’t look as if it would be righted any time soon.

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A/N: Whew. This isn’t over by a long shot. Wow, Snape has quite the story for Eileen. He’s going to look like the noble victim in all this, I bet. Thanks for reading.