Daddy Dearest - (No Update, Edit)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 12 ~ Facing Realities

Poppy started, blinking her eyes quickly. She was seated at her desk in her office. The medi-witch looked down at her unfinished paperwork.

"My, I must have dozed off," she said to herself, yawning. She stood up and stretched. "I'd better be off to bed then. I can finish this paperwork tomorrow."

Poppy exited her office, extinguished the torches then walked off to her private quarters to get some rest. She had no idea hundreds of memories had been removed from her mind.

She'd never miss them.

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Albus sat in his office deep in contemplation, his bearded chin resting on his hands as Fawkes crooned a soothing tune behind him.

It had taken the wizard three hours of arduously walking through Poppy's remembrances of healing Severus when he returned from the Dark Lord, and all references to his work for the Order to oblivate those specific memories. It was hard, cautious work, but he'd done it, carefully binding the remaining memories into a smooth tapestry, so no telltale gaps would remain. But a casualty of the targeted obliviation was that Severus would no longer have the close relationship he'd developed with Poppy over the years. The Headmaster mourned this, because the Potions Master did not have that many people he was close to, and Poppy had mothered the wizard, and he accepted it, although he complained horribly. Now that relationship was gone. Poppy would still be civil, but nowhere near as close as she used to be to the wizard.

One good thing, for the Potions Master anyway, was that Voldemort's new focus was less painful for the wizard. Severus rarely returned to Hogwarts in as deplorable a state as he did earlier in the Dark Lord's regime. Because of the influx of deatheaters in high positions, the despot had spies everywhere and knew what was happening in every area of the wizarding world. Probably the only organization that wasn't infiltrated was the Order itself. So he only occasionally called on Severus to find out what Albus was up to. The Dark Lord knew the old wizard was effectively being outmaneuvered. Severus only had to validate it, which he did.

Albus was toying with the idea of forming a kind of coalition group, promoting unity of all magical and non-magical peoples. But the wizard didn't have the resources that Voldemort did. It was said that the number of his marked political deatheaters was close to one hundred thousand individuals, each of which paid monthly membership dues that went to the Dark Lord's coffers. He used this money to maintain and promote his DKV organization as well as his other, darker interests.

Albus sighed. How he longed for the days of direct battle, when Voldemort's evil was above board and discernable. Then there was a tangible enemy that the people could see. Now the wizard was buried securely behind a shield of psuedo-respectablity and ideology. The Headmaster was waiting for the campaign to have Voldemort cleared of all charges against him so he could run for various positions of power simultaneously. He knew it was coming. There was too much acceptance for overturning his 'exile' not to be attempted. Exile indeed. The wizard was a tyrant and a mass murderer. He should be dead.

Fawkes lifted his voice, sensing Albus' despair.

And those horrible Marks. Merlin only knew what that monster was going to do with them if things didn't go his way politically. According to Severus, if Voldemort chose, he could throw the wizarding world into chaos right now, turning all one hundred thousand of the DKV members into killing machines.

Albus wished he had Hermione Granger working on the Mark. The witch had spent several weeks on the project, before pointedly being called back to the Ministry to focus on the Spells Department. Albus suspected Draco Malfoy had something to do with that. Those who had taken the Mark and were being examined must have told other members.

Then the Council passed the an inter-ministry regulation that no Ministry employee could be involved in any unofficial investigations or outside efforts to discredit the DKV which was a legal organization under charter, sufficiently blocking any further help from the witch. There were others who were working on trying to discern the spell, but it was becoming more and more difficult to find members of the DKV who were willing to submit to the testing. They were being warned that "outside forces" were trying to destroy the organization.

Plus, none of the other spells specialists were as brilliant as Hermione. But the witch had worked hard to secure her position. She couldn't be expected to walk away from the Ministry. She had a child to support and an established lifestyle.

A child that now attended Hogwarts. A child who was the unrecognized offspring of Severus Snape, and was in the house of Slytherin. A child who would probably prove to be one of the most powerful wizards Hogwarts had ever produced.

There were going to be problems concerning Mathias Granger. Albus could feel the power radiating off the boy the moment he walked into the Great Hall. It was only an inkling of what was to come. He was young yet. Albus was concerned however. If Voldemort got wind of the boy, even without knowing his parentage, he might make a concerted effort to draw him into his ranks. When Mathias found out the truth about his parentage, and Albus was sure he would, he might rebel and turn to darker influences, much like Severus had turned when he sought to belong to something he hoped would make him whole. The Headmaster prayed this wouldn't happen.

It would make a difficult situation only more difficult.

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Jasmine Malfoy flipped upside down in her four-poster bed, invoking the two-way mirror her father Draco had provided her. He doted on his daughter even more so than his infant son, Lucius Jr. And Jasmine knew how to work her father. He denied her nothing she wanted.

Draco's handsome face appeared in the mirror.

"Hello, kitten," he said, smiling at his daughter. "How was your first day at Hogwarts?"

"Hello, father. It would have been dreadful if not for the excitement a boy here caused," she responded. "He hexed the Bloody Baron, beat up Boyle, hexed a sixth year so badly no one could remove the spell but him, then hexed the entire house of Gryffindor, turning their breakfasts over on their robes."

Draco's eyebrows rose.

"Is this boy a first year, Jasmine?" he asked her curiously.

"Yes, sir. He is. He's kind of somber, but was nice to me," she said.

"He'd be a fool not to be nice to you, Jasmine," her father replied, "What's his name?"

"Mathias Granger. His mother is a Spells Mistress," Jasmine replied.

"Granger? And he's a Slytherin?" Draco asked his daughter, incredulous.

Jasmine nodded.

Draco burst into laughter. Hermione Granger, the consummate Gryffindor birthed a son that was a Slytherin. Everyone must be completely appalled. Draco knew she had a child but had never investigated it further than finding out the child was born out of wedlock and had no father. Knowing Granger, the impregnation had to be an accident, and she was too Gryffindor to get rid of the child. He must have been the product of a one-night stand. If she had been in a relationship, the father most likely would have claimed the child.

But the blonde wizard soon sobered. The boy seemed to be quite powerful and quite brave. Draco couldn't recollect anyone ever hexing the Bloody Baron. That was quite impressive in itself.

But damn, he was the son of a mudblood. More than likely his father was a halfblood at least, which would make Mathias a halfblood as well, since his mother was an actual witch, although badly tainted by muggle blood. The boy sounded interesting. The fact he was in Slytherin suggested the boy had a dark nature as well. Wouldn't it just destroy Hermione if her son were tempted into serving the Dark Lord?

"Jasmine, Mathias' mother is a mudblood," he told his daughter, whose face screwed up in horror at first, then confusion.

"But why is he in Slytherin then father? I thought only halfbloods and purebloods were sorted here." she said.

"Well, Mathias has no father…at least no father that claims him. He's a bastard, Jasmine. Illegitimate. But obviously his father was at least a halfblood. His mother is a tainted witch with dirty blood, which gives him dirty blood, but she is still a witch. So he is a halfblood and technically qualifies to be accepted into Slytherin house," he said evenly.

Jasmine looked at her father.

"Should I shun him, father? He is not one of us after all. I don't want to be tainted," she said frowning.

Draco looked at his daughter. She was a Malfoy all right.

"No Jasmine. Dirty-blooded or not, the boy might end up becoming a powerful wizard. He could one day renounce his parentage and become acceptable if not wholly one of us. You might even influence him to do this when you are older and he is more, shall we say 'susceptible' to your charms," her father said.

Jasmine blushed. She was a Malfoy female and fully knew what that meant. Females in her family were schooled early and subtly in the attracting and subsequent manipulation of males. She was only eleven, but knew she was to be a femme fatale when she got older. Making Mathias like her now would make her job easier should she be required to turn him later on when they matured.

"I'll be his friend then, father," she said, smiling.

Draco nodded.

"Good girl. Now tell me about your classes…"

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Hermione apparated to her flat, furious at Justice. How dare he assume she was fucking someone else just because she was upstairs in the Three Broomsticks? Plus, he made a public scene. He was cut off. Off.

The wizard had acted as if he owned her, and no one owned Hermione Granger. She was a self-made witch. Just because she had an intimate relationship with the Auror, didn't mean he had a right to take her to task over her perceived actions. He had acted like a brute. She didn't do brutes. He had crossed the line when he grabbed her and accused her. Just his grabbing her was enough to turn her off to him. That could be a sign of possible violence later on. She wouldn't deal with that.

The witch walked into the kitchen and put a pot of tea on to help calm herself. She felt the pensieve Severus had given her bounce against her leg, and removed it from her pocket. She stared at the package for a moment then set it on the kitchen table.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to see what was in it. Surely it showed them intimately involved. Watching herself fuck Severus Snape wasn't on her list of things to do. She took off her robe and draped it on the back of her chair, then retrieved her tea, pouring it into a cup and carrying it to the table. She sat down at took a sip, staring at the wrapped package again.

Hermione set her cup down and picked up the package. Slowly, she unwrapped it, revealing the bawdy, pink, purple and yellow colored bowl.

"He should have added a pair of sunglasses with this thing," Hermione muttered, looking at the swirling silver liquid inside. It had been sealed, and she took out her wand and removed it. She then picked up the instructions.

"Sensate Pensive," she intoned, "A Weasley Wizarding Wheezes Product."

Ah, that explained the colors.

Hermione read over the instructions. Levels? There were levels of viewing? She read the warning. Dear gods…at level two she could experience the pensieve.

Hermione blinked at the bowl. So she could experience having sex with Severus? She felt a small pulse in her lower belly.

"That's preposterous," she said, ignoring the pulse.

For a moment, she remembered the terrible crush she had on the Potions Master in her seventh year, as well her first year of university. She had even browbeaten herself for not letting him know how she felt before she left Hogwarts. And gods, the fantasies she used to have…of being ravished by him in the dungeon corridors, his classroom and numerous other locations in Hogwarts.

The witch shook her head. So she finally had sex with him and couldn't remember it. She had been horrified the next morning, pulling the covers off the bed to cover herself as she stared at the blood in the bed and the pale, naked wizard who lay smirking at her, his arms crossed behind his head and dark eyes glittering.

What was worse, Severus left without a word.

Did she really want to see this?

A small, very sick part of her did…badly.

"I can view this. I'll keep it at level one and be an observer. I know it's probably going to be horrible, but I have to know what happened. I have to," she told herself as she finished her tea.

Hermione rose from the table, put her teacup in the sink, then retrieved her robes, the pensieve, lowered the torches and walked into her bedroom. She put the pensieve down on the nightstand, hung up her robes, took a quick shower and changed into her nightclothes.

The witch approached her bed, her eyes on the pensieve.

"I can do this," she said to herself, climbing into the bed and sitting up against the headboard.

Hermione looked at the swirling liquid that represented Severus Snape's memories of the night he seduced and deflowered her. She lifted her hand, her index finger extended, ready to place it inside.

She hesitated.

"I'm a Gryffindor! I can do this!" the witch hissed, then thrust her finger into the bowl.

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A/N: Hm. Poor Albus. He's facing so much and feels at a loss as what to do. Voldemort is truly taking over. Poppy doesn't seem worse for wear, though it is sad she and Severus will no longer be close. Draco and Jasmine are something else. Femme fatale…lol. That's going to be really interesting when Mathias is older. And poor Hermione…she's scared to death about what's in that pensieve…but…on the bright side, I can put in some lemons now. Heh heh. So what if they're past lemons? Well, anyway, please review.