Bound in Leather

well, once again we find ourselves standing here, waiting for the bus to come along and take us away. too bad, wrong stop. it\'s not happening. this be the cya bus. you know... the cover your ass. or, more specifically, my ass. i want it to be known far and wide that while i tend to play with the characters a bit.... play, hell, i have an unnatural obsession with the snarky potions master. while i play with them a bit, i promise i will return them to j.k. rowling. when i\'ve finished using snape to take over the world! ~evil laughter echoing in the empty stone corridors of the dungeons~ oy! pay attention! right.... as i was saying, not mine. not making any money on them. will give them back. eventually. i think.

also, i don\'t know that there will be smut in this chapter but, on the off chance there is... you all have been warned.

finally, if you like, drop me a note and tell me. as well, if you have helpful suggestions and all that, let me know as well. i should hate to do this wrong. please, no flames. i will use them to roast your ass with. and i hate to tell you this, but the monkey is back. he\'s been off at a camp, learning how to be a merc. he\'s now armed and dangerous. if the dragon doesn\'t get you, the monkey will. had to warn you.

Chapter Fifteen: A New Beginning
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

\'Dude, you look like shit! Have you slept?\' Deek said as he dropped into the seat next to Severus. The dark man barely acknowledged his presence, which actually bothered the blonde drummer. He laid a hand on Snape\'s shoulder and leaned in. \'What ever it is, you can tell me. I won\'t tell the others. Did Alasdair toss you over?\'

\'No, she did not,\' Severus snapped, then sighed and lifted the glass to his lips. Deek watched him consume a full glass of rum, not stopping once until the ice clattered noisily in the empty glass. Whatever was bothering his lead singer, it was serious. Setting the glass on his tray table, Severus ran his hands through his hair, then turned to look out the window.

\'What\'s going on, Severus? What\'s happened?\' Deek asked, his tone now full of worry and a seriousness that one rarely heard from the man. \' I like to think that I\'m your friend. I know something has happened. Go ahead and tell me. I won\'t tell anyone else.\'

\'Alasdair\'s step father has been abusing her,\' he replied, not looking away from the window. He heard Deek mutter a curse under his breath.

\'Do we need to go kick the fucker\'s ass?\' Deek asked, and it was plain to see that the man was serious in his offer. Severus turned and looked at him, some unreadable emotion swimming in the fathomless depths of his black eyes. The drummer drew back, his face caught with surprise a moment. The look he found in his singer\'s eyes was truly scary, and Deek decided he didn\'t want to know what it meant. After a few moments of silence, he finally shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly. \'No, I can see we don\'t need to. How is Alasdair? She\'s not beat up too bad, is she?\'

\'She was in hospital when I arrived. A friend of hers took me to see her,\' he replied in a near whisper, his jaw tensing as he recalled his first look of her laying in that bed.

\'The hospital? He beat her that badly?\' Deek was now furious. Severus could hear it in the way the other man bit off his words. If he hadn\'t taken care of Kevin Marks himself, he was more than certain that the blonde drum god would willingly do it for him.

\'She was bleeding, Deek. She.... miscarried a child,\' the words came out in a whisper so low, they both had to strain to hear it.

\'Oh man. Not...\' Deek said, but Severus didn\'t allow him to finish.

\'She lost my child,\' he confirmed.

\'Dude, I am so sorry. I wish... \' he trailed off and looked back to where Clarette sat. Severus was sure he knew what was going on in the young man\'s mind. He glanced away, then lifted a hand to wave at the other man.

\'Go away now. I wish to be alone to think,\' he ordered curtly. Deek nodded and left the seat he\'d occupied. Severus knew he went back to sit with the woman who had captured his heart. He also knew that Deek had meant his words and he wouldn\'t tell anyone what he had confided. It was this alone that gave him enough peace of mind to go back to brooding about what had happened.

*~*~*~*~*

Severus stared down at Alasdair\'s face, his frown so deep that it etched lines into his face. She had not woken yet, thanks to a simple sleeping draught he\'d slipped into her water. She\'d roused briefly a few hours earlier to ask for a drink. He\'d gotten it for her, adding the potion to ensure that she would sleep deeply for a while longer. To help her heal, he\'d told himself. He\'d not been willing to admit that he wasn\'t up to facing her.

\'She\'ll be fine, Severus,\' Poppy insisted for what seemed the hundredth time in the last two hours. Her hand curved over his shoulder. \'She\'s young and healthy, all things considered. Her mind, from all you\'ve told me of her, is strong. I don\'t think she will wither and die.\'

\'That is certainly good to know,\' he replied curtly.

\'Don\'t blame yourself. There was nothing you could\'ve done,\' she whispered, staring past him to the slight girl in the bed. Poppy had been amazed when she\'d gotten Severus\' owl, insisting she meet him here at the Snape family manor house. Shock was a mild word to describe her reaction when she\'d arrived and found both women in his home. She couldn\'t recall ever having known of women in residence at the Onyx Fortress, the ancestral seat of the Snape family, since Severus had taken it over from his father.

\' I could have kept him from laying a hand on her,\' he ground out, his voice a low growl.

\'And that would leave you with a child on the way,\' Poppy pointed out. \'Are you ready for that? Children are not easy. Not even at birth. You, yourself, have seen how they grow up. And the child of a Muggle? There\'d be no guarantee that the child would be magical. Is that what you want?\'

\' I honestly cannot say what it is that I want. I only know that I should have done more to help Alasdair. And I failed to do so. It is as much my fault as it is hers or her step fathers,\' he snapped, then turned to look at Poppy. \'There are things in that man\'s mind that no person has a right to think about another human being. And he thought them of Alasdair. He was intent on killing her mother so he could have her. I may have been a Death Eater, Poppy, but I was never so degrading as all that.\'

\'Severus, calm down. There\'s nothing you can do about it now. Getting angry will do you no good. Be thankful that she\'s not in worse shape than she is. That unto itself is a miracle, given the state of Muggle medicines. And, perhaps someday, the two of you will once again start a family,\' she added softly. He glanced at her with a scowl, which brought forth a chuckle.

\'Perish the thought,\' he remarked dryly. Poppy only laughed harder for a moment or two, then sobered and gestured to the bed.

\'Remus and I can care for the girl. I know you have commitments to tend to. I should hate to think that you would stop being Severus Snape because of some Muggle woman. What is the world coming to when you might dare to care about a mere human being?\'

\'Were anyone else to speak to me in such a manner, I would surely hex them. As it is you, Poppy,\' Severus drawled. \' I shall merely ignore your inanity and pretend that you have not spoken to me at all.\'

\'There\'s the Severus I\'ve known and disliked for years,\' she grinned at him. \'Go. We\'ll take care of her. And should something happen, Remus will contact you immediately. I swear it.\' He turned to scowl at her, his black gaze boring into hers for several long moments spent in silence. Then he did something he\'d never done in his life. He offered her a slightly up tilted lip meant as a smile.

\'Thank you so much, Poppy. I cannot say what it is about Alasdair that captivates me so,\' he told her simply, his tone conveying so much. \'But I can say thank you to what I would imagine one would normally call a friend. I am glad that you came when I called.\'

\' I\'ll always be here for you, Severus,\' she replied, a ghost of a smile playing about her lips for a few moments. \'Hogwarts has not been the same without you.\' Before he could see the smirk on her face, Poppy walked away and left him with the unconscious girl. Severus watched her sleep for a few moments before portkeying to the hotel, arriving only moments before they were scheduled to leave.

*~*~*~*~*

Severus hated that he was here at the moment, sitting on a plane half a world away, when he felt he should be at Alasdair\'s side. She was going to be very confused and upset when she woke. He thought she would likely need and want him. But he wasn\'t certain that he was ready for that. Still, he couldn\'t believe that Alasdair had been carrying his child. He couldn\'t recall ever being so stupid as to not take a contraception potion or use a spell or something to avoid just such a happenstance. Then again, no other woman could make him want to lose control the way Alasdair did.

He couldn\'t say just what it was about her that drew him to her so. She was smart and she treated him like a real person. She did not fawn over him and act as if he were anything more than what he was. A man who happened to have a talent. She spoke to him the same way she spoke to the people she served at the diner. She simply saw him for what he was. A human being. It was perhaps that, more than anything, that kept him gravitating toward her when he knew he should have left her without a second thought.

Now, so much had happened and changed in the span of a few short hours. They had gained and lost something that neither of them could get back. He was fairly certain he knew how he felt about the lost child. He thought he might know how Alasdair would react. She struck him as the type of woman who would be slightly hysterical over the loss. Women were generally such emotional creatures. He\'d yet to see Alasdair get so impassioned about anything, but he felt that the time for her steadiness was rapidly drawing to a close. He didn\'t know how he was supposed to deal with that. He had very little experience with women.

He could only hope that she would not curl up and withdraw from him and the rest of the world. He knew that some women had a tendency to pull away from the world when they were confronted with a tragedy. He wondered if Alasdair was that type of woman. He was almost completely confident that she was made of sterner stuff. If she floundered, he was determined to aide her in whatever way he could. Even though he wasn\'t entirely certain what that would entail. He was not so weak of will to see it through, once he put his mind to it.

Turning to look out the window of the plane, he heaved a sigh and wondered how he had gotten himself into this mess. All he had done was pick a woman out of the audience for a night of uncomplicated pleasure. Now here he was, sitting on a plane nearly a quarter of a year later, wondering how the hell he had gotten to this point in his life. Somewhere, deep inside of his blackened and twisted soul, he wondered what he really felt about all of this. Was it so bad to want to have a normal life? To spend his time with someone who cared about him. Not for what he could give them, but for no other reason than they wanted to be with him. For him.

The eternal cynic in him snorted. A life? With a wife and children? Was he out of his mind? He had to be, as he seemed to be thinking more and more along the domestic lines lately. His mind was slowly revolving toward the eternal trap of hearth and home. That was no life for Severus Snape, reigning bastard of the free world. He should be thinking of taking any woman he wanted with a free spirit and a clear conscience. Not thinking of spending the rest of eternity with a woman who had no idea just who and what he really was. He certainly had no business thinking that he wanted children.

Damn his stupidity in thinking that he could have anything more than what he already did. Alasdair was no more for him than was teaching at Hogwarts. He should accept nothing more than being the free spirit he currently was. \'Merlin\'s balls, I am one of those fucking sheep I so detest!\' he pronounced with a snarl, then promptly signaled for more rum.

~*~*~*~*~

Al came awake slowly, her mind feeling heavy and foggy. As if she were wrapped in thick cotton and trying to push her way through it. It seemed an eternity before she was able to lift a singular eyelid to look about. The room was odd, something she\'d never seen before. How she\'d gotten here, she didn\'t know. Struggling to move, to find a more comfortable position, she was assaulted by a dull, throbbing pain. She knew the pain, was very familiar with it. And the remembrance of the pain brought back to her the memory of how she came by the pain.

Kevin had been furious, and his fists had been everywhere at once. She\'d somehow made it to work, where Brenda had demanded that she call the police. Al had shaken her head no, insisting that she would wait until Severus had arrived. She\'d insisted to her friend that she had to talk to the man. But then the pain had started, sharp and biting. It had been bad. So bad that Al had fallen out of her chair to the floor. But she\'d never felt the pain of impact. She\'d slipped into unconsciousness before she\'d even made contact with the cold linoleum.

She had to be in the hospital. But no hospital she\'d ever seen housed such a bed as the one she lay in. The mattress beneath her was so very soft, yet terribly firm. The pillows under her head were full of goose down. Above her was a flat canopy of pale green velvet that was supported by thick, heavy wooden columns. They were carved with figures that she couldn\'t really see. She knew, though, that there were all kinds of things worked into the big-as-tree trunk posts. A slight cramping dragged her attention back to her aching body, and Al knew in a moment what the cramps meant. A soft sob broke from her throat.

\'There, there,\' a soothing woman\'s voice filled the silence a moment before she saw the concerned face move into her line of vision. Al knew that tears trickled down over her cheeks, but she couldn\'t seem to stem the flow. The woman, wearing clothes the likes of which Al had never seen before, settled on the edge of the bed and placed the back of one hand on Al\'s forehead a moment. \' Its alright, dear.\'

\'Who are you?\' Al asked, her gaze locked on the woman above her.

\' I\'m a friend of Severus\'. You can call me Poppy. He asked me to look after you while he\'s away,\' she told her softly. \'How do you feel?\'

\'Stiff and sore. And.... \' Al shook her head. \'Lost. I feel very lost at the moment. Where am I?\'

\'Severus\' estate house. He brought you here to recuperate,\' she said, standing to move to a heavily laden table on the far wall. Al watched her, noting the long skirts the woman wore. She had an apron tied over her dress while some sort of odd looking hat sat on her head. It reminded Al of the photos she\'d seen once of nuns from a time long past.

\'But... That would mean I\'m in England,\' Al protested, shifting so she could sit up in the bed. She groaned, which earned her a nasty glare from the woman on the other side of the room. \'How long have I been asleep?\'

\'When Severus told the doctor that he wanted to fly you here, it was suggested that you were kept sedated for the journey. Severus followed his wishes,\' she replied. \'So you have been asleep for some time. You needed it, as your body needed to heal itself. I would recommend that you not shift much. It will not help speed the healing process.\'

\'Are you a nurse, then?\' Al watched her as she hustled about the table, topped with bottles of various colored fluids. The woman turned to look at her, a curious expression plastered on her face.

\'After a fashion,\' she nodded, then turned back around.

\'Poppy, I need a draught of...\' the voice was a familiar one, and Al had to smile.

\'She\'s awake, Remus,\' the woman\'s voice cut curtly into whatever request he was going to make. The tall man stepped into the room, surprise plain to see in his eyes as he looked to the bed where Al sat. She offered him a smile, glad to see a friendly face.

\'So I see,\' he nodded, then moved further into the room. He made his way toward the bed slowly, stopping at the edge of the bed. Al patted the mattress, indicating she wanted him to sit by her side. He settled next to her gingerly, as if afraid of disturbing her. He examined her for some time before returning her smile. \'Well, you look much better than when I last saw you. How do you feel?\'

\' I\'m fine,\' Al shrugged, not ready yet to dissect or discuss the new emotions she found herself saddled with. She wasn\'t about to let Remus know that she suddenly felt like she was less than what she used to be. He nodded at her response though he knew that there was more to it than that. It was wise, however, to let her come to grips with her feelings on her own. She would tell him how she felt in time, when she was ready. He was farily certain that her mind was a jumble of thoughts and she needed to sort them out on her own before sharing them with others.

\'Then I\'m glad to hear it,\' he replied with a faint smirk. \'Severus was quite worried about you, you know.\'

\'Was he?\'

\'Yes,\' Remus nodded, watching her face closely. The tears were close. He could smell them on her like rain in the air. She was hanging on by a thread. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. \'He\'ll be back when he gets the chance. He would\'ve stayed, but he has commitments.\'

\' I know. The band,\' she returned, her tone slightly melancholy. Both of them searched for something to say, bringing to life an uneasy silence that filled the room. It made them both uncomfortable, as they weren\'t sure how to break it.

\'He\'ll come visit you whenever he can. He told me this,\' Remus finally said after some time. She nodded at him, settling back against the pillows with a sigh. The conversation seemed to be sapping her energy. Al closed her eyes, trying to hide the yawn. \'You should rest. Severus would kill me were he to know that I was keeping you from getting better.\'

\'That he would, Remus,\' Poppy said as she moved over to stand by the bed. She held a cup in her hands, which she offered to Al. \'Drink this, Alasdair. It\'s chamomile tea. It\'ll help you relax.\' Al nodded and took the cup, sipping at the contents slowly. It was nice and hot, with a sweet flavor to it that she couldn\'t place. About half way through the cup, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. A thought occured to her just then, and it took all her willpower not to simply drop off.

\'My mother. She...\' Al slurred the words slightly, as if she were drunk. She gazed up at Remus with blurry eyes. She could see the smile on his face clearly enough, though.

\' Is across the hall, Al. She\'s resting and well. Don\'t fret and sleep. I\'ll be here when you wake,\' his voice was barely a whisper. She offered him a slight smile, then slipped off into a deep sleep. Poppy took the cup from her hand and sighed, then looked at the man sitting beside her.

\' I don\'t know what is wrong with Severus. I\'ve never seen him like this before, Remus. You\'ve spent a great deal of time with him lately. Whatever could he be thinking?\' Poppy asked the man, not looking away from her slumbering charge.

\' I cannot be certain, but I would hazzard a guess and say that Severus has finally found something to care about other than his own miserable existence,\' Remus replied, looking up at Poppy with a smile on his face.

\'Well, its about bloody time!\' the Medi Witch snapped, then turned and stalked away from the bed. Remus chuckled as he watched her go, then turned his attention back to the sleeping Alasdair. He sighed, hoping that Severus would indeed come and visit. Alasdair needed him now. They both needed to come to terms with this tragedy, before it did terrible things to them. Remus knew without a doubt, despite his general dislike for all things living and breathing, Severus would realize just what he had lost. Whether the man wanted a child or not, Severus would feel the loss deeply. He would never be the same again.

~*~*~*~*~

The next time Al woke, there was light streaming through the large wall of windows on the right side of the bed. Each panel of glass had sheer curtains that were overlapped with velvet drapes in the same color as the velvet over her head. Each set of draperies were pulled open wide to let the sun pour into the otherwise dark room. She heaved a sigh, still feeling as though she were wrapped in cotton. It lead her to believe that she was under the influence of some sort of drug. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she took a moment to study the room.

It was large and spacious, almost as big as one entire floor of the house she\'d shared with her mother and Kevin. The furniture looked old, as if it had been in the room for many long years. There were a pair of chairs sitting before a large fireplace. They were made of heavy, dark wood and cushioned with a deep emerald green velvet. A small table in a matching wood sat between them. The lamps looked like something that Tiffany and Company would kill to be able to make, all finely colored worked glass and delicately wrought metal. Thick rugs were scattered over the floor, and there was a settee in one corner. A long series of shelves housed books that looked old, even from where she lay on the bed. It was, all in all, the bedroom of someone of the upper class. Someone from the nobility.

That thought brought forth a gasp from Al\'s throat. \'Ah, I see you\'re awake once more. Good. I should like to look you over,\' Poppy\'s voice brought Al from her thoughts with a start. She looked up at the woman with a faint smile. \'Well, sleep must have agreed with you. You don\'t appear as pale and fatigued as before.\'

\'Then I must have been asleep for years. I\'m always pale and fatigued,\' Al told her, laughing at her own statement though it was not funny in the slightest.

\'Your health is no laughing matter, child. If you are not healthy, you will never heal,\' Poppy told her, moving over to sit on the bed. She put a hand on Al\'s head again, and Al decided that Poppy was making sure there was no lingering fever.

\'Yes, ma\'am,\' Al felt as if she were six and being scolded by one of those nasty, domineering old grandmothers that everyone seemed to have. Poppy smiled at her. Even like that, she somehow made Al feel as if she were a small child once more.

\'Poppy, when the devil?...\' the dark voice broke in to Al\'s thoughts. She sighed, feeling the tears well up in her eyes once again the moment she recognized it. A moment later, Severus stalked into the room in a flurry of motion. He halted when he saw Al staring at him. His face was, as usual, devoid of any emotion. But it warmed her heart all the same. \'Ah, I see. Never mind, then. Alasdair,\' he said softly. Flatly.

\'Hello, Severus,\' she whispered just as softly. She shifted in an attempt to pull herself up against the pillows further.

\'You will desist that unnecessary movement at once!\' he snapped at her. She froze and blinked at him. She hadn\'t heard him speak so sharply to her since.... She didn\'t know when he\'d ever used such a tone with her. Before she could stop it, a tear trickled down her cheek. She watched in complete surprise as Poppy threw herself off the edge of the bed. Whirling to face him, she settled balled fists on her hips.

\'Severus Snape! Don\'t you dare snap at the girl like that. She\'s been through an absolutely horrid experience and you will not treat her like you did your students,\' the woman barked crisply. Al was surprised, as she\'d never heard anyone speak to him in such a manner. \'She needs just a little compassion. Perhaps you can find some of that particular emotion locked away inside that miserly heart of yours and offer it to her! Now, since you obviously cannot behave, you can just step out that door and allow me a few moments alone with her. I\'ll let you back in when you can be nice. Now go on. Out!\'

Al watched as he stared at Poppy a moment or two, his scowl deepening. Then he nodded curtly and turned for the door. His body was stiff with anger. Al was shocked to see him just go. She didn\'t think anyone could make him do something he didn\'t want to. She certainly never expected to see anyone stand up to his nasty temper. And yet, this woman had put him in his place as if he were merely an errant school boy. Not a full grown man who was known through out the music industry as the biggest prick in showbiz. \' I don\'t believe it,\' she whispered.

\'Oh, pay Severus no mind,\' Poppy turned with a half smile. She once more sat on the edge of the bed, her hands shifting the blankets down to Al\'s waist. She laid her hands over Al\'s belly, her fingers moving slowly over the soft flesh beneath them. Al wasn\'t sure what she was doing, but she figured that the woman knew what she was doing. \'Things feel fine. Nothing seems to be out of place. That\'s good.\'

\'What do you mean, pay him no mind?\' Al asked, curious about the statement.

\'Severus Snape has the worst temper of any one person I\'ve chanced to meet. And I\'ve met my share of people. I\'ve known him for a very long time and he is, without a doubt, the biggest bastard on the planet. But the git is a friend. And he is, in his own way, concerned about you.\'

\'He has an odd way of showing it,\' Al remarked.

\'Severus knows no other way. He\'s never been a terribly soft person. The fact that he brought you here is a sign that he cares. He has never brought anyone here since his father\'s passing. This is his private domain, and he doesn\'t care to share it with the outside world,\' Poppy told her with a gentle smile. She stood and straightened her skirts. \' I\'ll be off now, and I\'ll let the royal pain in the arse in to see you. I\'m sure he\'s chomping at the bit to do just that.\'

Alasdair watched her as she moved for the door, opening the thick wooden panel and stepping out into the hall before pulling it shut behind her. There was some low murmuring from the other side, then it opened and Severus once more stepped into the room. She watched him as he made his way across the floor. He stopped next to the bed, staring down at her for a few moments before taking a seat on the mattress next to her. \'Poppy tells me that you are doing well,\' he began, his tone lacking any emotion.

\'She would know. She\'s the one with the medical knowledge. Not me,\' Al shrugged.

\'You will listen to her. If she tells you to do something, you will do it. She is the best at what she does. I would trust you and your health to no one else,\' he said quietly.

\'Alright,\' she nodded, then looked to her lap. His heavy sigh brought her gaze back up to his face, and she saw that he was tired. There were faint circles under his eyes, and the lines about his mouth were deeper than usual. It looked as if he was suffering from some sort of strain. \'Severus?\' she asked tenatively.

\'Much as I am loathe to admit it, you scared ten years off my life. When Brenda told me there was something wrong, I imagined the worst. Why did you not tell me?\'

\' I was going to. That night. But you weren\'t there when....\' she began. He interrupted her with a curt gesture of his hand.

\' I mean about what Kevin subjected you to. No man has the right to do such a thing to another person,\' he snapped at her, all the while aware of the hypocrisy of that statement. Having been a Death Eater, he\'d done so much worse in his life. But never had he possibly cared about any of his victims like he did Alasdair. That one small fact changed so much. He could admit to himself that he perhaps had feelings for the girl. And he was witness to what abuse could do to a person\'s mind. He wanted so much more for Alasdair than what he\'d had as a young man.

\' I was afraid to tell you,\' she admitted, glancing at her knees. \' I thought that you would...\'

\'That I would what?\' he questioned, lifting her chin with one hand so that she had to look at him. He saw the disgust in her eyes, the embarrassment. \'There is nothing that you cannot ever tell me, Alasdair. You are not to blame for anything that Kevin did to you. Kevin Marks is a sick bastard who was in need of a taste of his own medicine.\' She was surprised that, for a statement meant to be gentle and kind, his tone lacked emotion of any sort at all.

\' I\'m sorry. I meant to tell you. I was going to tell you the other night, when we were supposed to meet. And I was going to tell you about the baby. I\'d only found out about it that afternoon. When I got home, I was so excited that I told my mom. Kevin overheard me and he.... \' she whispered the last, feeling the tears come once more.

\' I know well enough what he did to you. And I made sure to point out to him the error of his ways,\' Severus assured her, his tone still containing no feeling at all. She said nothing, bringing a hissing sigh from his lips. \'There is no reason for you to be ashamed or embarrassed about what happened. There are so many people in the world who suffer abuse daily. And it is not their fault. No one asks to be throttled to within an inch of their lives in such a manner. You are a victim, and you are not to blame for what Kevin did to you.\'

When all she did was nod, his gaze narrowed on her. He waited for some moments, anxious to see if she said or did anything. His patience was already at an end, and he wanted nothing more than to snap at her and berate her for her foolish emotions. This was a scene he could do without. It was why he had stayed away from her side for so long. He was not a man given well to dealing with a weeping woman, and that did not change just because the woman was Alasdair.

\'Do you hate me for losing your child?\' she whispered the question, her gaze once more on her lap. All Severus could do was stare. How could she think that he hated her? Did she not understand that no other woman in his life, save his mother, had ever seen his home? His hand once more found her chin and lifted her eyes to his. He saw something swimming in her eyes that he had never thought to see there. Uncertainty.

\' I cannot tell you how I truly feel about the child. Poppy and Remus will both happily tell you that I despised children when I taught. In point of fact, I still do. I have never cared for the company of others, and it took me some time to come to terms with you. It will take me time yet to actually come to terms with how I feel about almost having been a father,\" he told her, his tone blunt. She swallowed and nodded, but said nothing further.

\' I\'m sorry,\' she whispered again.

\'There is nothing to be done about it now. You will stay here and recover, as will your mother. When the tour is completed, I will be back to stay for a time. Until then, I will visit when I can. Remus will stay with you in my absence, and Poppy will check in on you from time to time once she has decided that you are well enough to not need her night and day,\' he informed her, his tone brisk and business like. \'When the time comes that she tells you walking about is permissable, you may make yourself at home. Any room that you should not be in will be kept locked. I value my privacy, Alasdair, and I will not have you snooping in places that you have no business being in. Is that understood?\'

\'Yes, Severus,\' she nodded, feeling like she was four again. There was silence for a moment, the odd kind of silence that comes when something huge builds between two people. At the sound of the knob turning, they looked up at the door just as it swung open. Remus stood there, supporting Aletha with one arm. Mother and daughter smiled at one another, then tears flowed. This time for an entirely different reason. Severus slid from the bed and moved away from it. Remus nodded and helped Aletha over to sit by her only child.

\' I must be off,\' Severus announced. They all looked up to him. Remus nodded silently, conveying a message in the singular head movement. Severus returned it, then looked to Alasdair and Aletha. Both women were clutching one another in a tight hug as they stared at him. While Alasdair was frowning, her face cast in sadness, Aletha was smiling at him. Tears shone in her eyes as she gave him a thankful smile.

\'Thank you, Severus. I am so happy to have my daughter back. It wouldn\'t have been possible without your help,\' Aletha beamed at him.

\' I do not know how much help I was,\' he replied. They all could hear doubt in his voice. Alasdair sniffled, and Aletha dragged her child closer to her. Alasdair put her head on her mother\'s shoulder, her hair slipping down to hide her face from the room. Severus watched as her shoulders shook with silent tears. Remus moved up to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

\'Come along, old man. Let me escort you to the door,\' Remus told him softly. The dark head nodded. The two men slipped out of the room, leaving the women alone. Aletha turned toward her daughter. One hand lifted Al\'s face, and she saw the anguish there. She offered her child a gentle smile and wiped a tear from her cheek.

\'Oh, my poor Dare,\' she whispered, then dragged her weeping daughter to her. \' I\'m so sorry. I should never have done that to you. I thought Kevin would take care of us. I didn\'t know that he would be so terrible to you. I\'m so sorry.\'

Al made no reply, merely clung to her mother all the tighter and let go some of the sadness consuming her. Aletha simply held her daughter, sharing in the grief. A grandchild that she would never know. The fact that a man she\'d married out of love was responsible for so much pain and suffering made her ill. The idea that he had done such a thing to Alasdair was enough to make her want to strangle him. In the silence of the room, the two women held one another and cried out their loss.

~*~

Severus stared at the door, vaguely hearing the sound of sobbing coming from the other side of the wooden panel. Remus patted his shoulder gently. Severus scowled at the man and stalked up the hall. Remus followed him.

\'They need this time, Severus. She will turn to you for comfort when the time comes. For now, she needs her mother. This is something that requires a woman\'s touch. You will be glad of that in the future. For now, go and do your thing. The world is awaiting Severus Snape, the Rock God.\'

\'As you say,\' he sighed and turned to look back down the hall to where the closed door was. \'However, I cannot help but think there is a world here that needs me.\'

With a muttered, curse he was gone. Remus stared at the empty spot where he had stood for several long moments, then smiled. Severus was in it so deep, he couldn\'t even see that he was caught. It would be most interesting to see what came of this as time passed. Remus was suddenly very glad that he had managed to slip back into Severus\' life as he had. He was bound to have a very good seat for the show.

end chapter fifteen.
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many heartfelt thanks to madamshark and to red for giving me their honest opinions on this chapter. i apologize at how long it took, but i found myself nearly done and thinking it needed to be scrapped. it was pointed out to me that this was a different feeling chapter than any previous. far more serious. so here it is, as i wrote it. i hope you enjoy.

now, three more things.

to jeanette: i had originally planned to have kevin under the imperious curse and then severus would force the shite to turn himself in. then i realized that severus really wouldn\'t have that much regard for muggle laws, so he would do his own form of vengence. death wasn\'t an option, as kevin needs to suffer for his crimes. killing him wouldn\'t let him do that. hopefully the coming chapters will be more lighthearted.

to Red: i\'m glad you liked what the two of them did to kevin. he did deserve it. such a prick he was. and i\'ll see what i can do about hooking aletha and remus up. he needs some loving too, don\'t you think?

to star: glad you got a chuckled from it. also, i think you\'re right. the master of snarkasm is definitely in love. now he only need realize it. let us hope that this chapter is the only really nasty one.