Love and Parenthood

Love and Parenthood

Disclaimer: All canon characters are the property of JK Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.


Examining the Evidence


“You should go to bed Hermione,” said Severus.

“I slept right the way through the afternoon, thanks to that spell,” said Hermione. “I’m quite comfortable on the sofa.”

“Perhaps you should spend a little time with your parents. They’ve had quite a time of it today.”

“Mum and Dad need time alone for the baby worship thing, especially after this afternoon. Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

“I’m not… I’m just trying to look after you. You just don’t look comfortable and I can’t understand how you can stand being so restricted in your movements.”

“It is tiresome but it won’t be for much longer. I mean, Mistress Finch is going to have to start inducing births soon if the babies continue like this.”

“Who is it that’s just Apparated to the gates?”

Hermione turned to examine the map on the wall behind her.

“Albus, Remus and Tonks. They must have finished the search on that house. I wonder what they found?”

“Well you won’t have to wonder for much longer. I shouldn’t imagine they’ll have found much. The parts I saw were barely furnished. Are you sure you want to get involved in all this at the moment?”

“They kidnapped my sister. Of course I’m going to get involved. I may not be able to run around hexing people yet but my brain isn’t so addled that I can’t help with the planning,” she said forcefully.

“All right. I appreciate your point of view but please promise me you’ll try not to get too agitated… if only for the sake of my nerves rather than your own health.”

“You’re even worse at this waiting than I am.”

“I want all the babies safely born and their mothers sufficiently recovered to defend them. Until that happens we are extremely vulnerable.”

“They’ll be here in a minute. You go to greet them and I’ll get the elves to rustle up some tea and cake.”

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Severus led Albus, Remus and Tonks through into their private sitting room. The three all greeted Hermione affectionately and settled into armchairs. The tea was ready and waiting. Severus began to serve it in response to some non-verbal prompting from his wife. Albus began to speak.

“A through inspection of the property confirmed our first impression that no part of it was in use as a residence. The kidnappers left very few traces behind but we have recovered some interesting items. Tonks?”

“In the next room we found five items. Two long black cloaks…. And two masks. From these I was able to retrieve a hair sample which could provide us with a clue to the identity of one of the kidnappers.”

“Would the Family Tree spell work?” asked Hermione.

“No,” said Severus. “The hair needs to be freshly plucked. Polyjuice would work. It will take me a week to complete though. I always keep a partial preparation of the base to hand. What was the other item?”

“It’s a wand. You might want to take a look at the masks though. I’ve never handled one but I don’t think they’re genuine.”

“Show me.”

Tonks pulled the mask out of her pocket and handed to Severus who examined it carefully.

“It’s not genuine,” he said. “It makes sense when you think about it. No Death Eater would have left my wife merely stunned. They would seek to kill her for her association with me let alone her own actions during the war.”

“Who would want to pretend to be a Death Eater?” asked Remus.

“It’s just a mask,” said Hermione. “A mask is worn to conceal identity.”

“Or to create a false impression,” added her husband. “May I see the wand?”

Tonks pulled the wand from another pocket.

“It’s not an Ollivander,” she said. “Beyond that I can’t tell anything about it.”

“I would wager Ollivander could though,” said Severus. “I’d go as far as to say that this is a homemade one but Ollivander would have an idea about who could use it if it’s someone who has bought their registered wand from him.”

“Should we bring him in on it?” asked Albus.

“Can we trust him?” said Hermione.

“I think so,” said Severus. “He comes over as a fence sitter but I know for a fact that he never supplied Voldemort with black market wands. They were all imported.”

“That’s quite brave in a way,” said Remus thoughtfully. “Not many people would have refused.”

“Quite!” said Severus coldly.

“That wasn’t a dig,” said Remus hastily.

“No matter.”

“So it’s settled then. Severus I’ll speak with Ollivander and see if I can get him to come and visit you tomorrow. Will that be convenient?”

“My schedule is very unpredictable at the moment but if he comes I’ll see him.”

“I nto gto go back to Headquarters and file a parchment about this,” said Tonks, standing up.

“I’ll walk you to the gates,” said Remus. He stood up as well and Hermione noticed the look that passed between the two of them.

Albus continued to sit munching a piece of cake.

“I’ll see you to the doors,” said Hermione. “I need to stretch my legs a little. I won’t be long.”

She got up out of her chair and moved slowly to the door, one hand to her back.

“Are you all right?” asked Remus.

“A touch of backache. I must have been upright for more than half an hour,” she replied. “I’ll need to lie down before dinner.”

The three of them left the room leaving Severus and Albus alone.

“You tracked the children very efficiently this afternoon,” said the Headmaster.

“Yes Albus! I did use the Dark Arts.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Not in so many words. I was frantic. I could never have faced Hermione’s parents again if I had allowed their child to be stolen from my home.”

“Does Arthur know how you did it?”

“I allowed him to follow me through the ritual. Do you have any criticism to make?”

“No. I won’t ask what ingredients you used. I am confident that you would not have betrayed your ethics by harvesting them in readiness.”

“They were things supplied by Voldemort. I keep it all powerfully warded. I think I have the strength to resist the temptation to renew my stocks. Part of me knows that an honourable man would have thrown them away but today I was glad I did not.”

“I make no criticism of you Severus. We don’t know yet what you rescued those babies from. Does Hermione know?”

“I don’t know if she realises. She will find out though. I didn’t hide what I was doing from Mike when I took his blood. I’m afraid I was rather indiscrete with the young Auror and Madam Minton.”

“Did they see you do it?”

“No. I announced my intention though. Young Franks and his partner are going to move into the Gatehouse. They were both injured by Dementors last year. It’s taken them a while to return to full health.”

“Tonks is trying to get permission to come too.”

“I’ll secure the breakables then,” said Severus, smiling weakly.

“How are you holding up, my boy?”

“It’s harder than I thought it would be. You’d think that this would be much easier than the things I’ve done in the past…”

“But?”

“Yes indeed, ‘but’! When I used to go out on my missions I was ready to die. Sometimes even wanting to die…to pay the ultimate price for my misdeeds. This however… I’m more frightened… more tense about losing even one of these children than I ever was about dying myself. Hermione has to give birth soon and I know that having twins will make it that much more difficult for her.”

“It’s a heavy burden for one man, I know. I have every confidence in your abilities Severus. If you don’t do this then no one could have.”

“You could have!”

“I’m an old man now. I have played out my role. Remember the Prophecy? This role is yours… yours and Hermione’s. What you’re doing must be important otherwise no one would be attempting to stop you.”

“That’s one way of looking at it I suppose. Why is it so hard?”

“It’s hard because you are in love with your wife. For years you lived with bitterness, loss and self-loathing. Now you live with Hermione and she has helped you learn to feel again… just like Olivia did when you were young.”

“Are you implying she’s made me weak?”

“She hasn’t made you weak, you foolish man. She adores you and she’s made you whole. Can you really not know that? The reason you feel the anxiety and tension so acutely is because you now have something to compare it to.”

“I know we love each other. She’s better at showing it… especially when there are other people present. I suppose I just didn’t make the connection between how I feel about her and the babies and the way I feel about everything else. That must seem foolish.”

“All wizards are foolish to a degree Severus. You’ve often remarked on it with the classes you’ve taught.”

“And most of my colleagues.”

“This foolish colleague is going to leave you and your wife alone now. Take some time to spoil her. You’ll miss her when she’s confined. I’ll let you know about the arrangements with Mr Ollivander.”

“I’ll see you out.”

“Stay here. Hermione will be back soon. Ah here she comes. I must be off Hermione. Take care of yourselves both of you. Good evening.”

“He was in a hurry,” she commented.

“He thinks I need to spoil you.”

“Any ideas?”

“A few. Come and lie down with me and I can try some out.”