All the way II: And Even Further

Lucius pulled Annie down on to the bench next to him. They had left the Hogs Head for the park. The fired up red head pulled her bag from her shoulder and threw it half way across the grass with a growl.

Lucius summoned the bag back and planted it in her lap, putting his arm around her.

"What was he doing?" She hissed, "Why couldn't he just leave us all alone?"

"Sshh," he said quietly, "Don't let him upset you. Snape'll sort Ron out if he ever finds out that Hermione met up with him."

"Good!" Annie huffed, "I hope he does find out and I hope he does this -!" She threw her fist into the air in front of them, "And this -!" She grabbed hold of an invisible neck and squeezed so that her knuckles were white, "And this -!" She curled her hands around something that wasn't there and twisted in two different ways.

"What's that meant to be?" Lucius asked skeptically.

"A Chinese burn." Annie said, as if Snape would actually do it to the other man. Lucius would have laughed if he wasn't so worried.

"Who'd you reckon that man was?" He asked.

"I don't know, but do you think he was telling the truth?" She moved closer to him unconsciously, "About Voldemort?"

"No," Lucius sounded more confident that he was, "No way. Voldemorts dead. Buried. Gone. That old tramp was obviously a nutter. Don't worry your pretty little head about it." Lucius kissed the top of her head.

"At least I have a little head," the smirk was in her voice.

"What are you implying, Weasley?" He squeezed her shoulders.

"Nothing, Malfoy."

""""""""""""""""""""

Auntie Tonks and Sirius stepped back through the fire. Eileen looked around the living room and when she found it empty, she shouted for her mother.

"I'm just coming out of the shower darling," Her mum shouted back, "Wait a second!"

Eileen went into her mothers’ bedroom. There was a lump in the bed. Curious, Eileen jumped onto the mattress and crawled over to the breathing mound. It was a person with their back to her. Silently, she looked over a shoulder...

... And scream! Eileen jumped from the bed, yelling, as a strange man with horrible grey hair jerked into a sitting position.

""""""""""""""""""""

Hermione grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around herself. How could she have forgotten Bill?

She rushed from the bathroom and picked Eileen up, rocking her slowly. "Sshh, baby, Sshh." She cooed, "Don't be scared." She sat Eileen on the edge of the bed. The girl looked suspiciously at the man.

"Who's he?" She asked.

"This is Bill," Hermione explained, "I'm just looking after him for a while."

Eileen’s shoulders lost their tension and she slumped, rolling her eyes. "Another of Mummy’s strays." She stated to some one over Hermiones shoulder.

"Indeed," the person sighed, "Hermione, get dressed!"

Hermione smiled, turning to her husband, as Bill finally spoke up in a cheerful voice, and “It's nothing I haven't seen before, my good man, for I have a daughter!"

Hermione put her hand to her mouth to try and stifle her laughter at the look on Severus' face.

"If you have seen it before, you will never be seeing it again!" Severus growled, making Hermione snort inelegantly. Eileen just looked vaguely amused, as if she knew something funny was being said, but she didn't quite get the joke.

"There is no reason to be worried, young man," Bill continued, "I was quite the charmer in my time, but alas, old age has taken its toll on my handsome face!"

Severus made a face, and then gave Hermione a pointed look. Smiling, she went back to the bathroom to get changed.

""""""""""""""""""""

As Eileen followed her father out of the bedroom, she realized that this was the first time she would be totally alone with him since she saw his mark.

She wasn't scared, exactly. He was her Daddy; he wouldn't hurt her. He had never hurt her. She had never seen him hurt any one, but if he had that mark...

Eileen climbed onto the sofa and watched him. He was doing nothing in particular, just standing there, then walking around a bit, then picking something up and putting it down again.

She went over to her father and tugged on his arm. He looked down at her, surprised.

"Daddy..." She wanted to ask him why. Why he had that mark. Why he had been a Death Eater. But he was nervous, she could see that. Best stick to something safe, "Who is that man?"

He sighed, his shoulders relaxing, "I don't know, Eileen. Just one of your mothers finds."

"You said Mummy was a magnet for vagrants." Eileen accused.

"Will you please stop repeating what I say?" Her dad stressed, pushing her towards the sofa, "If your mother hears -"

"- it'll only encourage her." Eileen finished his quote as she jumped onto the sofa.

He slumped down next to her with a resigned sigh.

Eileen was confused. This was her dad. Her normal dad. The dad she had always had. She had expected him to be all nasty and snappy, but he was just... normal.

Her daddy

Her ordinary daddy.

""""""""""""""""""""

Severus was taken aback when Eileen launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly arm his neck.

"You're my best daddy!" She proclaimed.

"I'm your only daddy!" He hissed, making her giggle.

"Not if mummy finds a stray daddy!" She laughed.

"Then I shall have to lock your mummy up." He growled.

Eileen leaned back a bit and said seriously, "She would like that; I heard her talking auntie Ginny."

"She was talking to Ginny about me?" Severus asked, interested.

Eileen nodded earnestly, "Ginny asked mummy if she was getting bored, and mummy said you aren't as old as you look, and then they laughed."

"How do you find all this out?" Severus wondered allowed.

"I use my ears for a start." She answered cheekily.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Did they say anything else?"

"Ask me nicely..." Eileen pouted.

"What else did you hear, my dearest darling daughter?" Severus played along.

"That's better," she smiled, "Well, Auntie Ginny said 'Harry won't experiment' and mummy said 'well, he's very... old fashioned' and then Ginny said 'And old Sevvie ain't?' and then mummy said 'We did it on a sofa. That's enough experimenting for me'"

Severus was so surprised that Eileen could hear things like this and not know what it meant.

But then again... it was good to know that he kept Hermione happy more than Harry kept Ginny happy... very good to know...

... And good for his ego, too.