Hidden Meanings

Disclaimer: Not mine, sorry. Most of the characters were dreamt up by Jo. I just stole her dreams.

Mary: Don't worry no longer...

koneko-chan: Oh really, why must you? Ok, here's more to satisfy you.

angel: I think that you are in for a bit of a shock.

ShilohDarke: Yes, what a place to stop indeed... oh and I love your cliffies. But this one I just could not resist. I hope that you understand. Oh as for Lucius, I beleive that Love is the greates redeemer.

Dee Dee: Evil moi? Okay I'll deal with it. I think you'll like this chapter then. But I am not so evil to keep you hanging on for too long.

JW: Yes, she was. She has her reasons though.

Citten: I think you'll like me, I am updating to give you a stress free life.

BuckyKattGirl: Oh well, it's official, I am a bitch... YAY! I couldn't keep you hanging forever though, as I know what that's like.

Explanations, Confrontations, and Revelations

Hermione looked at Lucius. She was gripping his hand so tightly he swore she was cutting off his circulation. Healer Thompson let a small smile creep slowly across her lips. Her eyes were shining and she looked down at her clipboard.

“Well,” Lucius growled, his eyes flashing; Hermione saw the look, and knew that if the Healer didn’t say something soon, Lucius might just commit an unforgivable.

“Well, do you want the good news or, perhaps, the even better news first?”

Lucius sighed with relief. At least there wasn’t any bad news.

“Let’s go with the good news,” Hermione said. She, too, was relieved.

“All right, well you are still going to have to decorate your nursery!”

Lucius closed his eyes and then opened them a moment later and gazed down on his lovely wife.

“The possibly even better news is, that you’d have to buy two cots!”

Hermione opened her mouth in astonishment, Lucius was just happy thinking that he’d still have a baby; it took him a few moments to register what the Healer said. When it did he gazed at her and blinked.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I said – that you would have to buy two cots – you, Mr and Mrs Malfoy, are going to have twins.”

Hermione gaped. She turned towards her mother and father.

“Are there twins our side of the family?” she asked.

“Yes,” Maria said. “My great aunt had a twin, although they were un-identical.”

“Are there twins your side of the family, Lucius?” Hermione asked.

“No,” Lucius said. “Malfoy’s are generally an unbroken line of one male. There has been the odd sister or two, but generally it’s always been a single male.”

Hermione nodded. “Well, that’s a shock.”

“But twins, Hermione, TWINS!” Lucius said. “All I wanted was someone to carry on the family name, and you – you have doubled it!”

“So, from now on, I don’t want you worrying about your manliness, okay!” Hermione exclaimed.

“The only thing I am worried about is you,” Lucius said. “Twins is going to be a huge responsibility.”

“Don’t worry, I can handle anything,” Hermione said. “How about you? Do you think you could handle twins?”

“Well, if Arthur Weasley can then I don’t see why I can’t!”

There was a cough from behind Lucius. Lucius turned around and he was face to face with Herbert. In his excitement, Lucius had forgotten that Mr and Mrs Granger was in the room.

“I want a proper explanation for this,” Herbert hissed. “And please, don’t leave anything out.”

“Well, it’s obvious that the four of you have a lot to sort out,” Healer Thompson said. She quietly slipped out of the room. She walked out of the room and walked down the hall to her office.

She opened the door and was just about to step in when a man walked up to her. He was a dark haired, dark eyed man. His skin was pale, but Healer Thompson appreciated intelligence when she saw it. And this man exuded intelligence.

“Is she okay?” the man asked; his voice was broken. His hair was tousled all over the place, and his robes were crinkled and he looked miserable. Healer Thompson felt her heart swell with pity for this tall, strange man.

“Whom are we talking about?” Healer Thompson asked.

“Hermione,” the man answered. “Sorry, Mrs Malfoy. How is she?”

“Are you a friend of hers?” Healer Thompson asked.

“I wanted to be so much more,” the man said aloud. “But, yes, she’s a friend. A very, very good friend.”

She narrowed her eyes at the man. “Don’t I know you?”

“I shouldn’t think so,” the man replied.

“Yes, I DO. I know you, you’re Severus Snape. I’m Lily 2. Remember me, Lily 2, everybody called me that because of Lily Evans, and we were best friends. Remember! You called yourself the Thorn amongst the two Lilies.”

The man narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman again.

“It is you,” Severus said. “I remember Lily 1 saying that all we needed was a Hufflepuff.”

“And you said that you’d leave Hogwarts rather than hang around with a dunderhead.”

“I did say that didn’t I,” Severus said, grinning.

“Do you know Sirius Black asked me out, but I said I was waiting for someone else to ask me out. That someone never did.”

“Who was the fool that didn’t notice you?” Severus replied.

“You,” Healer Thompson said sadly. She turned away from him.

“No,” Severus said, as he grabbed her by her elbow. “YOU actually liked me?”

“I saw beyond the greasy hair, and the sallow skin. I actually looked at you closely, and realised that you were a deeply intelligent, handsome man. In fact Lily 1 and I actually fought OVER you.”

“LILY EVANS LIKED ME?” Severus said stunned.

“Oh yes, but you never asked her out either. That’s why she went out with James. She couldn’t hang around forever. But I could.”

Severus shook his head. He looked at her and he bowed his head shyly on the carpet. Healer Thompson thought he was still wonderful.
“I guess I should stop hankering after girls that don’t want me,” he sighed. “Healer Thompson can you forgive me for what I did?”

“I forgave you straight after, and you can call me Lily you know.”

“Well, in that case, you can call me Severus.”

“Good, Severus. Oh this is great. It’ll be just like old times.”

“Not exactly, you won’t be able to humiliate Black anymore,” Severus replied.

Lily Thompson smirked. “Although I am sort of sorry that he’s dead, I am even more relieved that you’re still alive. And you’re right; without daily Black humiliation it won’t be the same.”

Severus smirked in reply. “So, Hermione will be fine.”

“Why don’t you go see for yourself,” she said. “Oh, and Severus, despite what the Daily Prophet say’s about you, I can’t believe you killed Professor Dumbledore out of true hatred. You hero-worshipped the guy when we were kids. Every five minutes it was, Dumbledore this, Dumbledore that!”

“I loved him, Lily, loved him like he was my father.”

Lily Thompson rubbed Severus arms in a friendly gesture.

“Okay, you go to your new friend.”

Severus smiled at her. “I’ve always thought you were pretty, Lily.”

She smiled at him and he smiled back. He walked away from her office and towards the young woman. She watched her old school friend walk towards his new friend. How come is it that Severus did this to her? She had liked him forever, and even with the hint that she gave him he didn’t ask her out.

She threw her file on the desk in frustration. MEN! She fumed. Was there any hidden meaning in her statement that he didn’t get? She thought about that, and no. The conversation was pretty straightforward. Well, if Mrs Malfoy is friends with him then maybe she might be able to help. She liked Mrs Malfoy. She was a bit like Lily Evans.

~*~*~

Herbert sat down on one side of the bed, and Maria sat the other side of the bed. Lucius was pushed to one side. He felt angered at this, but they were his wife’s parents. And they hadn’t seen her for a while. He couldn’t help being selfish; it was the way he was.

If this was the way that it was going to be everytime when her parents came over to the Mansion – he tried not to shudder at that thought – then it was going to be torture for him. It was bad enough when they went to Grimmauld Place and Molly IMMEDIATELY hogged Hermione.

She was HIS wife damn it! HE should be able to hog her all the time. Yes, he had problems with jealousy, but he had a lot to discuss with his wife, and he couldn’t whilst her parents expected a long detailed explanation of the past three months.

“So, missy, what have you been up to?”

“Well, I told you. I was engaged to Ron. Ron was captured on his first assignment with the Order. He was partnered up with Tonks. He got captured and tortured by the Dark Lord. Tonks came back to tell us that he refused to betray us. And especially refused to betray me. Tonks decided to go back with Remus to get some more information; they separated and she was captured. Remus found her dead body later. It was discovered she was raped, viciously on the spot, and then killed.”

“So, how does this tie in with your inappropriate marriage to – to him!” Herbert was shaking with barely controlled rage; his finger was trembling as he pointed at Lucius.

“First of all, there is nothing inappropriate about our marriage,” Hermione said. “I love him! Get used to it! Second of all, I think Lucius has the right to explain himself.”

Herbert shifted position to look at his – he mentally choked on the phrase – son-in-law. Good God, the man was only two years younger than him!

“Well?” Herbert asked coldly.

Lucius stared Herbert squarely in the eyes. He had no reason to feel uncomfortable. He had no reason to feel shame.

“I was in Azkaban for two years after almost killing some children.”

“Yeah, one of them MY daughter,” Herbert growled.

“Believe me, I wasn’t going to harm her,” Lucius said. “I know this might sound sick to you, but I was developing feelings for her then!”

“You’re damn bloody right it sounds sick!” Herbert exclaimed. Lucius sighed; he wished that the mother would say something.

“BUT, because of these feelings, I wasn’t going to hurt her. I would have stunned her, and apparated her out of the Ministry. I would have – have protected her.”

Maria was looking at her daughter all this time. She was a woman, and women could sense things that men could not. Maria sensed Lucius was being honest, truthful, and genuine. She respected that.

“Anyway,” Lucius sighed. “I was put in Azkaban for two years. The Dark Lord wanted to punish me for my mistakes. So, he used Draco, a boy I thought was my son. Draco was asked to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn’t do it. Because of this I was left in Azkaban whilst some others were saved.

A year after that debacle my now ex-wife came to visit me in prison, and she told me the truth! Draco was not my son but he was the son of her cousin, Sirius Black. She also told me that she didn’t love me, at all. She wanted a divorce. So, I gave her the divorce.

The next day, Hermione comes to visit me. She say’s that she’ll help me, if I help her. I said that I’d help her ONLY if she becomes pregnant within six months of our marriage. She agreed. We got married with the help of Severus Snape, and Arthur Weasley. And I truly love her!”

Hermione smiled at Lucius. She was so proud of him at the moment. The pride shone in her eyes.

“Dad, he hasn’t hurt me or insulted me. In fact he’s wildly jealous every time I talk to another man.”
Lucius knew only one way out of this. He had to invite them over to his Manor.

“Mr and Mrs Granger,” he said. “I would like to invite you over to my Manor. You can see for yourselves.”

“Well,” Maria said. “We can’t. You see, we have clients; we have a schedule. At the moment it’s pretty jam packed.”

“Where do you live?” Lucius asked.

“Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire.”

“Hmm, that’s pretty far to travel by Muggle car isn’t it? I live in Wiltshire.”

“At least a few hours drive,” Hermione said, cottoning on to what Lucius was doing.

“And you would want to be near your grandchildren wouldn’t you?” Lucius asked.

Maria’s eyes had misted over. “That would be nicer, but our practice?”

“What’s more important to you? Your career, or your daughter?”

Maria exchanged looks with Herbert. She then glanced at Hermione. She felt she had missed out on so much of Hermione’s life since her only child went to Hogwarts. She didn’t think she could bear missing out on anymore of it.

“What are you trying to say, Mr Malfoy?” Herbert asked irritably. He sighed.

“What I am trying to say, Herbert, is this. Why don’t you move into the Mansion? Don’t worry, it’s big enough for us not to get into each other’s hair too much, although I could build a little cottage somewhere on my land for the two of you to live in if you’d rather?”

Maria was practically drooling; she had always wanted a small cottage in the countryside. One with a white fence, and thatched roof, this man was painting an irresistible picture.

Herbert narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Do you think I am a fool, Mr Malfoy? I will not be bought!”
“Dad, Lucius isn’t trying to buy you.” Hermione said. “He’s only trying to make things easier for us.”

“Oh, is he indeed?” Herbert snarled.

“HERBERT!” Maria shouted. Herbert jumped and he faced his wife. “Shut up! Lucius is only trying to make things easier, and I’m sorry, but I am sorely tempted to take him up on his offer. I want to be near my daughter. I don’t care what you think, and I don’t give a damn about your pride. Hermione is our only child! And I’m sick and tired of being the last to hear what she’s been up to! I am her mother for crying out loud and I want to be near my daughter for the time when she needs me!”

Lucius smiled. He walked up to his wife’s mother and took her hand in his.

“I hope that we can come to some sort of comfortable arrangement. When shall I expect you to move in?”

“We have a few things to do first,” Maria said. “I’ll send word to Mrs Weasley, who visits sometimes. I hope for it to be soon.”

Lucius grinned, as he picked up her hands and kissed the back of them. Maria’s eyes widened at the rough contact of this man’s lips on her skin.

“Good,” he said. He turned to Hermione. “I’ll go to make the arrangements.”

“See you later, dear,” she said. He nodded.

Lucius opened the door, and Severus walked in. He looked from Herbert to Severus again, and shook his head.

“How are you?” Severus asked rushing to Hermione’s side immediately.

“Fine, and I am pregnant with twins!”

“Twin Malfoy’s?” Severus asked. “Why can’t you just for once do something average? Why do you have to go beyond everyone’s expectations?”

“This just happened. Must have been all the sex we’ve been having.”

Herbert spluttered at the way his daughter had turned out. “Stop that talk immediately, Missy, and I am sorry Maria, but we are NOT moving in with THAT cradle snatcher!”

“Who are these people?” Severus whispered in Hermione’s ear.

“Oh, mum, dad, meet Professor Snape,” Hermione said.

“You let this happen?” Herbert asked.

“I couldn’t exactly stop it,” Snape replied smoothly.

“If you two don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Hermione on her own.”

Severus grinned at the woman. She was pretty, but attached. If this was what Hermione was going to become when she was older, Lucius was one lucky bastard.

“Of course, Mrs Granger,” Severus replied oozing charm. Maria rolled her eyes and giggled. Severus squeezed Hermione’s hand once and walked out of the room with Herbert Granger in tow.

~*~*~

“Well, young lady, you certainly know how to go from one extreme to the other, don’t you?”

“Mum, he’s changed. Please believe me.”

“I do believe you, Hermione, I only briefly met him before, and that was probably not the best he’s been. Today he was much better.”

“What are you going to do about dad?” Hermione asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about your father; he’ll come round. He still thinks you’re six years old you know.”

“I know,” Hermione sighed. “Are you serious about moving all the way to Wiltshire for me?”

Maria smiled. She stroked her daughter’s face and looked into her daughter’s eyes.

“Deadly,” Maria said. “Listen, I’m sorry about our lack of attention, but I want things to be better between us.”

Hermione nodded. She felt her eyes go heavy.

“I’m tired,” she said yawning.

“Okay,” Maria said.

She got up off the bed, and plumped up the pillows behind Hermione’s head, and then watched her daughter go to sleep. She crept out of the room, and found Herbert and Severus in a discussion. As she walked nearer she realised they were comparing muggle chemistry to Wizards Potions.

“Maria, we are not moving to Wiltshire.”

“Oh yes we are, Herbert. If you’re not going then I am,” Maria said. “Right, now how do we get out of here. I have some packing to do.”

Severus decided to show them the way out. Once the three of them were out in the fresh air, Herbert turned around and shook Severus hand.

“I don’t believe I am going to say this, but I think I’d have preferred you.”

“Lucius is an acquired taste,” Severus replied sardonically.

Herbert smirked, but Maria elbowed her husband in the ribs.

“If Hermione likes him, then that’s good enough for me.”

Herbert grumbled. Severus shook his head, and stared at the dummy. He bowed his head. He knew he should have asked Lily Thompson out, but he was too scared to. He knew he was insecure and he didn’t want to foist that on another person.

~*~*~

Hermione was tossing and turning in her sleep. Sweat was pouring from her. Her neck was wet with the liquid.

“Children? Oh, how sweet of Lucius to invite muggles to his manor,” the voice was cold and nasty.

“It is so,” another voice said, one that Hermione was startled to hear.

“Don’t worry my slippery friend, you’ll get what you want.”

A/N I hope you liked that one... and what do you think of Severus know? I normally don't go in for OC but I'd rather that than him with Ginny... so, do you think he's a dope?