E Pluribus Unum

A/N - And now for something competely different - LOL. Thank you Kate for your stalwart beta-ing, without you I would be lost, adrift and rudderless. Everyone thank her for astute plot hole filling!

Deblovesdragon - LOL - try to remember that Severus is nature\'s own pessimist.

Jeannette - Malfoy\'s really not feeling up to his usual standards right now and Helena Goyle is no ordinary eleven-year old, so there are extenuating umstumstances.

Len - They aren\'t going to be bestest buddies anytime soon, the Slyth/Gryff rivalry will still be there and he did almost get Kat killed last May, but the blind hatred has been put to rest.

Estrilda - Define friction and fireworks? Does it matter with who? I write about ten chapters ahead so any requests may take a while to show up.

Ghaeth - Aw, Shucks, honey child, you are making me blush! (don\'t stop)

Lady Aidil - It is always such a pleasure to hear from you. I hope your job gives you a vacation for the holidays. My resolution this year is to put out more and better stories in an effort to let you all kow how much I adore you. Thank you so much for your continuing support, I really appreciate it. Happy New Year!

Chapter 17 – A Day in the Life of a DADA Teacher

Kathryn woke to the sound of Ryan’s howls and dragged herself from bed with a weary sigh. She shuffled over to the bassinet and lifted the baby into her arms. She popped the warm bottle into his mouth as she yawned and waited for him to become involved enough in feeding that she could sit down and readjust him.

Severus cracked an eye open, his stubbled chin scraped the pillowcase with an audible rasp as he yawned and he slid from under the covers with a grumble and a groan. She watched with bleary-eyed affection as he stumbled into the bathroom.

Ryan re-claimed her attention and she kissed the top of his head as he suckled hungrily. He was almost three months old; she marveled at how quickly he was growing. He was also becoming more aware, paying closer attention to his surroundings and showing an inclination to wriggle his hands in front of his face and stare at them endlessly. He was dear and wonderful and she was madly in love with the little boy but she was also exhausted.

He still woke randomly in the night and there was no sign that he was ready to settle down into a regular pattern. Neither she nor Severus was getting enough sleep, but neither one of them was willing to give up the precious time they had with the baby either.

Ryan could obviously tell the difference between them and sometimes fussed for one or the other of them in particular. The first time he had calmed down in her arms after rejecting Severus’ attempts to ease him, she had felt needed and warm all over.

As far as she was concerned, Ryan was as much her son as Severus’ and even though they were not yet thinking about marriage and adoption, Severus agreed. She knew she wanted to marry Severus but neither of them had a clue as to what Voldemort had up his sleeve in regards to them. Until they did, the danger was too great to risk.

Severus exited the bathroom, looking cleaner and slightly more awake. She handed Ryan off to him for burping and she showered and changed while he took care of diapers and dressed Ryan for the day.

They switched again for the walk to breakfast; Kathryn bouncing Ryan on her hip while Severus strode beside her. They had decided early on that her dignity suffered less with a baby in her arms than his did.

They settled into their seats. Ryan had a little high chair that drifted beside the High Table; Filius had charmed it to float and it was incredibly convenient. She took turns with Severus at feeding the baby, allowing them both to eat as well and then Minerva whisked him away to be petted and cosseted. Kathryn had no clue as to how Ryan would ever take his ‘Aunt Minnie’ seriously as a transfiguration teacher in eleven years, but she had faith in Minerva’s ability to juggle the relationship well.

She herself wondered how she would ever manage to treat him the same as the other students. Minuet waved at her as she ate and Kathryn nodded to her with a smile. On the other hand, she most certainly liked certain students more than others and yet she managed, she hoped, to be fair and equitable in class. Ryan should be no different from Min, Draco, Harry or any of the others that she had grown close to.

The number of stares and whispers had died down significantly in the last two months; Ryan was quickly being sorted into the same category as the ghosts and the pictures -- just one more integral part of Hogwarts. The staff’s united front had helped as well; even the Lion Cubs could hardly insult the child while their Head of House was cooing at him. Albus’ obvious affection for the baby was the clincher though -- few were willing to say anything about Ryan after they had seen the Headmaster dandle the baby on his knee.

She supposed that it also helped that he was the most adorable child -- friendly, happy, outgoing and cute as a button. Had Severus been available, Ryan would have been the perfect ‘chick magnet’. As it was, even without Winky there would have been a surfeit of young girls who wanted to play with him and were more than willing to baby-sit.

Severus was finding that he was rapidly being reassessed by a segment of the female population and he hated it. The girls were divided between those that thought he was rapist (because that was the only way he would have gotten a woman into bed with him.) and those who thought that there was some unhappy romance behind Ryan. Since Severus’ relationship with Kathryn wasn’t generally known, it was seen as kindness on her part that she was helping him with the baby, which confused the issue even more since no one doubted that if he had been a rapist, she would haexedexed his balls off.

Kathryn glanced around at the tables, her eyes coming to a stop at thytheytherins. Draco looked tired and he was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle again today. They had settled into the role of permanent bodyguards since the ‘incident’ and no longer left his side. Helena was seated across from him along with Minuet and they were both defing ing attention away from him. A quick glance to the left and she could see Harry studiously ignoring the Snakes and she suppressed a tiny smile. He was at least working hard at being discrete.

After breakfast, Winky took Ryan, who was making happy gurgling noises, and then the two Professors went off to teach their respective classes. Kathryn had the students from her previous year trained into obedience and this year’s crop of first-years was learning not to mess with her. With both Harry and Draco on her side, she had little trouble with either the Gryffindors or the Slytherins; a frown or a tapping foot was enough to keep them in line.

Lunch was taken at the High Table again and Severus had a fierce scowl on his face that told her he had suffered some disaster or another, she arched an eyebrow at him.

“You would think the brewing of Veritaserum would be simple enough for seventh year Ravenclaws.” He snarled, his slender fingers curled around his fork as though it were a student’s throat.

“I take it that wasn’t the case?” She asked because it was expected, the answer was obvious in his expression.

“If it was, do you think it would have resulted in three cauldrons melting and two small explosions?” Obviously a rhetorical question and she smiled at him.

“Poor honey, you can at least look forward to a long peaceful evening curled up in front of the fire with both myself and Ryan in attendance.” This perked him up a bit and Kathryn was rewarded for her efforts with a little squeeze on her knee which promised pleasures more carnal as well.


The afternoon classes had just ended when the screaming be Kat Kathryn ran at top speed towards the sound of a high-pitched shrieking punctuated with Ryan’s howls. The baby’s shrieks sent her into a cold terror that propelled her at top speed. She leapt a banister and dodged through a clump of slow moving Hufflepuffs to find herself in the midst of chaos.

Winky was clutching Ryan against her while a rather singed and bedraggled woman with scarlet red robes and honey blonde hair was shrieking at the diminutive house elf like a fise. Te. The woman was hysterical, there was a smoking hole in the front of her robes, and she was gesturing to it and screaming in a pitch that only dogs could hear. Students clustered around staring with mouths agape.

“You stupid little bint! You give me that child and get your ugly face away from me!” The woman screeched.

“Winky.” Kathryn said calmly, Winky whirled and spotting her, rushed over gladly. Kathryn took the baby and held him to her. “You will cease that appalling noise, madam, and calm yourself.” Kathryn snapped at the stranger. The woman heaved her considerable cleavage and looked as though she was ready to burst forth with a stream of invective.

Kathryn silenced her with a wave of her wand and glowered.

“This is an institution of learning, madam. There are children present and your use of such uageuage is highly inappropriate.” The students were staring back and forth with interest as Kathryn calmed Ryan while dealing with the furious woman.

A tall saturnine man entered at that moment with another woman, this one small and dark, and a young girl who looked startlingly like Minuet. A dark suspicion began to rouse in Kathryn’s mind and she smiled with an evil expression that stilled the silently sputtering woman more thoroughly than any polite words could have.

“What have you done to my wife?” The man shouted and Kathryn was glad to see that Severus must indeed look more like his grandfather because his father, while a tall man with black hair, had tanned skin and the rugged look that years of doing nothing but playing Quidditch and bullying people gives you. The family nose was prominent on him as well, but Kathryn did not find it as appealing.

“I silenced her and I will do the same to you if you do not lower your voice. This is a school, not a pub!” She retorted sharply.

“Give me my grandson and go away, woman!” The man blustered and Kathryn prepared herself to hex the livinglighlights out of him. She had wanted to do exactly that for some time now and she knew that she would enjoy it immensely.

“Father.” Kathryn had never heard Severus’ voice quite so icy cold before. He swept into the front hall with an expression of forbidding chill. Kathryn gave a silent cheer as he came to stand beside her and accepted Ryan from her. Winky ducked behind Severus still looking terrified.

Wand held loosely at her side, Kathryn was ready to hex them both at his word.

“Severus.” The man replied with a sneer.

“Perhaps we can discuss whatever brought you here somewhere more private.” The raised brow and supercilious expression should have chastened anyone with an ounce of sense but Severus’ father obviously had no sense at all.

The interesting thing was how quickly his mother had deflated when her husband walked in. She cowered away from the man. All her bravado was gone the instant he appeared.

As the elder Mr. Snape opened his mouth to resume shouting, Kathryn silenced him and then put him in a full-body bind. The students cheered and laughed, but the crowd quickly dissipated and hurried away as Severus frowned at them.

Severus gave her an eyebrow as she proceeded to levitate the older man behind her leading them to one of the private lounges. The rest of the group fell in behind her and somehow, they all ended up sitting about a fireplace with tea and crumpets and Severus’ father trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey on the floor.

“Now, what brings you to Hogwarts?” Kathryn asked Mrs. Ravagienne, who had Minuet’s beauty but without the stubborn chin that gave her the personality and fire Kathryn so admired. Tina was watching the entire event from behind her mother’s voluminous skirts.

“Um, well…Malingus and Fern heard from Minuet’s letters that Severus had a baby and they decided that they would like to come see him.” Malingus? Whoever named the men in that family, Kathryn thought with some horror, had a sick sense of humor. It certainly explained their sour temper
“H
“Had I thought that my son was any business of my parents’ I would have informed them myself.” Severus replied in frosty tones, his eyes fixed on a distant point over his mother’s head.

Kathryn cancelled the charm on Fern Snape, feeling that being married to a man named Malingus was punishment enough.

“Not our business, Sevvie? But, he’s our grandson, the next Snape!” Kathryn winced; no one called Severus by diminutives and lived. She only got away with it because he was rather fond of her but she didn’t push it either. There was a world of difference between Sev and Sevvie.

“Actually, Mother, he is not the next Snape, he is the next Black.” Severus informed her with icicles hanging off each word. Kathryn nodded slowly to herself; yes, he would be, wouldn’t he, what with Sirius dead and the line going to the oldest son of the next generation. “He is Bellatrix Lestrange’s child and therefore heir to the Blacks. He has nothing to do with the Snapes.”

Fern looked rather shocked by his admission and her husband was glaring fiercely in an obvious rage from the floor.

“Bellatrix Lestrange, but isn’t she married?” Kathryn gave Severus’ mother another look. The woman finds out her son has had sexual relations with the most infamous of the Death Eaters and all she can comment on is her marital state? She must be mad, or else criminally stupid.

“Yes, Mother.” Severus agreed without additional comment. She could see where the habit came from; why bother explaining anything to people who wouldn’t listen to you no matter what you said?

“Well, she is from a good family.” His mother conceded somewhat at a loss for what to say. Kathryn tried to put the words ‘Black’ and ‘good family’ together in her mind and failed. She wondered what realm of imagination Fern Snape existed in because it certainly wasn’t the same reality as the one Kathryn lived in.

Severus buried his head in his hands for a moment and then straightened.

Kathryn released the binding on Malingus Snape at Severus’ signal, but with reluctance, for she found the man much more bearable when bound and gagged.

“You fucking whore! How dare you!” He raged. She gave him her coolest aristocratic sneer.

“Mother was obviously right about the Snapes, more money than breeding. How ever did you come out so well, Severus?” She eyed the older man with distaste.

“Your mother? Some mudblood gutter trash no doubt!” Malingus spat with contempt.

“Actually my mother is Georgiana Leblanc, neé Laveau.” She informed him with a small frown. His mouth shut tightly, the unspoken rule of ‘never offend a Laveau’ hitting his consciousness with great impact. Few were stupid enough to make an enemy of Grand-mére Marie, and never repeated it if they did.

“I met her at your Grandmother Olivia’s some years ago, charming woman.” Mrs. Ravagienne smoothed the moment over with a nervous smile and Kathryn gave her a gracious nod that she copied from Grandmother Olivia. It worked just as well second-hand, she noted with some amusement. She still wanted to hex the bullying bastard but Severus had a tightness to his jaw that told her he was feeling rather fragile.

“He is still our grandson and we should have been informed of his birth; there are papers to be drawn up…” His father began, but Severus cut him off with a swift chopping motion.

“This is the extent of all contact you will ever have with my son.” He informed them coolly. “In case of my demise, Professor Leblanc will receive custody and in case of her demise, custody will go to the Weasleys along with maintenance monies and…” He was cut off by a howl of rage from his father. Ryan, who had calmed by then, began to cry again and Kathryn lost her temper.

“Shut up, you insufferable man!” She raged. “What the hell makes you think you have any rights here? You are a miserable excuse for a father and you are lucky Severus is too well mannered to let me hex you into the next century! I would like to turn you inside out for what you’ve done to him! You will march yourself out of here and don’t you dare come back or I swear I shall curse you in ways that even St. Mungo’s cannot cure!” As she spoke her voice dropped lower and lower until she was simply snarling the last sentence. His parents were shell-shocked and white, but Mrs. Ravagienne had a tiny smile on her face, quickly hidden.

“Very well, we will go, but we won’t take care of your problems anymore either.” Mr. Snape jerked a thumb at Mrs. Ravagienne and Tina, who was peering out wide-eyed from behind her mother.

“Well, I have trespassed on your hospitality long enough.” Mrs. Ravagienne responded with a polite smile, as though the Snapes had behaved with perfect propriety. Kathryn studied the other woman with some curiosity; there was more there than met the eye.

“I am more than capable of seeing to Mrs. Ravagienne’s requirements.” Severus replied equally graciously. Malingus grabbed his wife by the wrist and dragged the rather wilted Fern from the room.

“What happened to her dress?” Severus asked.

“Winky was defending Ryan from her.” Kathryn answered with a smile.

“Remind me to buy Winky a dress towel.” He muttered.

Tina and Mrs. Ravagienne sat quietly on the couch watching them both with expectant eyes and Kathryn wondered just how large this circle of dependants was going to grow to.