Keogh

~***~



Lucius had offered the use of his army of barristers and to cover all the legal expenses. It was his opinion that the fact Hermione had been raised by Muggles when she clearly belonged in the magical world was unconscionable. As far as he was concerned, this explained her outstanding performance at school as well. Surely no mudblood could have ever been that clever or that powerful.



Narcissa had allowed her husband to go through his little tirade and then calmly became the voice of reason. Few understood just how much influence the elegant witch had on her husband, but even he had to agree with her in the end. Teenagers were an overly emotional lot at the best of times and girls were doubly so. Narcissa pointed out that Hermione was nearly fourteen and that the Grangers were the only parents she’d ever known. The adoption papers, a copy of which he had been provided, had been started before she’d been born so they had literally had her all her life. To tear her away from them would only lead to her resenting him if not breed outright hatred.



“But on the other hand, you can offer her something her parents cannot, Severus. They’re Muggles. They can’t possibly hope to understand the world she’s become a part of. As a wizard and a father figure, you can benefit from the events as they have unfolded. Let the Grangers be the ones to take on the bulk of the parental duties. You will be free to become her confidant and friend. You can be the one she turns to in all things dealing with our world.”



It was sensible, and preferable. He didn’t really want to deal with a hormonal teenage witch any more than he had to. He suffered their presence by the dozens every day during the school year. That was bad enough.



On the other hand, once the initial shock had worn off he couldn’t help but look at matters from a different angle. There was a blood connection between himself and Hermione Granger. She was the brightest witch in the school. Shining with talent and promise. Any wizard would have been proud to have brought such a girl into the world.



If he could only dissuade her from her current choice of friends.



He had read the ‘message’ from her birth mother, of course. He had shoved the name Kathryn St. James from his mind years ago. Lucius had called her his ‘Muggle Bed Warmer’. The Dark Lord had considered her his distraction, enough so that he had ordered her killed. The task had been given to Montague, mainly because the necromancer had a particular dislike for the woman. The feeling had been mutual.



Severus had been unaware of the order, of course. Lucius only told him after it was too late to do anything about it. By then he had already joined Dumbledore and was horrified that he had led a seemingly innocent woman to her death, but he had forced himself to show no emotion regarding it. They had been together for a little more than six months, though it was a relationship based mainly on physical release and not any real affection from either of them.



Still, there had been an emptiness after she was gone.



Not that he had proof Montague had killed her. Far to the contrary; it was Montague who had been found the next morning. Or at least, the pieces of him. His favorite method of torture and murder had been to call forth inferi, animated corpses to do his bidding. From what they had been able to tell his own creations had turned against him, tearing him limb from limb. There had been no sign of Kathryn. Lucius had accompanied Severus to her flat to find it barren; all her furniture and possessions gone. All that was there was a single, dark red rose left on a countertop in the kitchen. Not even a note of farewell.



In truth, it was not the first time he’d had reason to suspect that she wasn’t as much of a Muggle as she liked to claim, though he knew she wasn’t a witch. She’d always seemed to know just a bit too much. Had been unfazed by the revelation of the existence of magic and wizards. And how many Muggle women collected antique weaponry as a hobby, and knew how to use it as well?



Her letter had given him few answers other than why she had chosen the Grangers (Hannah Granger had been a friend of hers while attending the University and had been unable to have children of her own) and that she had suspected Hermione might take after him. She also admitted in her letter that she’d had no intention of ever telling Hermione the truth about her parentage until she had indulged in a desire to see the girl and had observed the first signs of magic when she had inadvertently fended of some would-be bully boys with a wave of sand from a play pit. After that she had thought it best to make arrangements should anything happen to her before the girl came of age.



There had been nothing else. No confession about how she’d escaped Montague, though he hadn’t really expected one. No apology for not telling him he was going to be a father, though he hadn’t really expected that, either. She had told him that she had not been cut out to be a mother and had thought him an even poorer candidate to be a father, and he was unable to disagree with her. The one confession she did make in her letter was that she considered her act of giving Hermione to a loving couple who would make her the center of their world to be the one truly decent act of her entire life.



Considering that the Kathryn he’d known had been just as disagreeable and cold as himself outside of the bedroom, Severus knew she was likely correct in her assessment.



He had waited patiently for the Grangers to return from their holiday in France before approaching them. Lucius had offered to go with him, but he’d thought it best to do this on his own. He’d found Hannah and Jacob to be surprisingly intelligent but a bit too accepting. He doubted that, had their roles been reversed, he would have been so willing to discuss a contested child. True to Narcissa’s view of the matter, however, the fact that they came from two separate worlds did help. They understood that they were ill prepared to counsel their daughter on magical matters and agreed that it would likely beneficial for Hermione to have an adult she could go to in the magical world. They were willing to let him pursue a possible relationship outside that of teacher.



The only obstacle was Hermione herself, for which Severus knew he had only himself to blame. To his relief, the Grangers had raised a respectful and (mostly) obedient daughter. She heard her parents out and agreed (reluctantly) to give him another chance. The first test would be to accompany him to Diagon Alley. She had to purchase her school supplies and there was the matter of an inheritance left to her by her birth mother.



That had surprised Severus. Apparently after learning that the child she had brought into the world was a witch, Kathryn had made arrangements to have her estate liquidated and the assets moved from Muggle banks to Gringotts in the event of her death. She’d even secured a wizard barrister to oversee the process. Adam Dawlish met them at the bank and, along with a representative from Gringotts, sat with them in a small office off to one side to complete the paperwork.



“Now, Miss Granger, Ms St. James had a sizeable estate at the time of her passing. She apparently made her living in the Muggle entertainment industry writing books and scripts under various pen names. However she was jealous of her privacy and hired individuals to pose as her public faces. Her will stated that the estate was to be liquidated and divided in halves. One half is being dispersed between her staff and her surrogates as payment for their services. The other half has been transferred to our world in your name.”



He removed copies of the documentation; one for Hermione, one for Severus and one for the Gringott’s goblin. “We’ve already deducted the required taxes and fees, including the fees for my services. The remaining amount is yours in its entirety.”



Severus flipped to the back page and froze. Hermione’s voice sounded from off to his right. “Is… is this figure correct?”



The goblin cleared its throat. “Our accountants have double checked the figures twelve times, Miss Granger. And please allow me to extend our welcome to you on behalf of the bank. Gringotts looks forward to helping you manage your investments and finances and has several programs you might find beneficial to growth. Once you have healed from your period of mourning, of course.”



Beneficial to growth? How much gold did the greedy little bastards think one witch needed? Severus was looking at a figure that was larger than the fortunes held by many pure blood families. Had Kathryn been this well off while they were together? He’d known she’d never wanted for anything, but she had never struck him as ‘wealthy’.



He looked over at Hermione as she signed the papers confirming that she’d been given the information no her accounts. He was to sign them as well, since he was here as her magical guardian. He was relieved to see a lack of any greed or excitement in the girl. In fact, she looked somewhat ill at ease at the prospect of being responsible for such a large sum of money. Hopefully she would keep that level headed view throughout her life.



They rose from the meeting table, shaking hands with Dawlish. The wizard went to put the signed forms into his briefcase and seemed to remember something else. “One more thing, Miss Granger. Ms. St. James also left you this. She said that you would figure it out in time.” He handed her an envelope that matched the one Kathryn had left for him. Hermione took it, staring at the neat hand writing on the back curiously, but not opening it just yet.



They’d made a quick trip to her vault before leaving the bank, securing the gold she would need to purchase her school supplies. Her account took up one of the larger vaults, deep underground where the names were few; Malfoy, Black and Parkinson being the most prominent ones. She’d been frozen in shock at the sight of it all, eventually only daring to venture in as far as was needed to fill her bank bag and quickly retreating. Severus glanced at the new name plaque over the top of her vault, stating GRANGER in tall, gold letters.



So much for keeping this out of the gossip parlors. She wouldn’t have a vault down here unless she had the galleons to fill it, and there were no other Grangers in their world. Having a clever and powerful daughter was bad enough. Now he had fortune hunting blackguards to look forward to as well.



Conversation was sparse while at the bank, and continued to be so as they first stepped into Diagon Alley. He concentrated on keeping his tongue in check, which was quite difficult when he was surrounded by idiots. As the time passed, however, Hermione relaxed somewhat in his company and it struck him that she might be as nervous as he.



Well, of course she was! He as the Potions Master, enemy to all Gryffindors. He’d never shown the girl one ounce of kindness nor had he ever praised her brilliance as the other teachers had done on a regular basis. He’d called her ‘silly’ and ‘foolish’, even when she had brewed a successfully polyjuice potion just last year, her only mistake being not to check her final ingredient a little more closely. That deed alone proved her to be his daughter. He had seventh years who couldn’t have pulled that off.



He accompanied her to the potions supply shop and kept her from being taken advantage of by over-inflated prices. He’d even been patient and tolerated Madam Malkins as she was fitted for new robes (she’d grown a bit since last time). At the book shop, however, he became a bit concerned.



“Why do you have all of these books on your list? Some of these classes overlap.”



“Oh, well, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to take, so I just signed up for everything.”



Severus arched a brow at her. “Everything? Did Professor McGonagall not double check your list?”



Hermione nodded. “She did. We talked about it and she said that she thought she might know a way to get around it and left it as is.” The girl gave him a somewhat bashful smile and a shrug even as she tried to keep her Monster Book of Monsters from biting her arm. Severus took it from her and ran a finger down the spine. The book shuddered, and then fell open with a purr.



Hermione grinned and thanked him, taking the book back. Doubtless she’d been worried that she wouldn’t be able to get it open so she could read the text inside. After all, she couldn’t very well have all the answers if she couldn’t read, now could she?



Still, the list was too much. “You will work yourself into madness with a course load like this. Some of the classes you should be able to do without easily enough. For example, I can assure you that you will not like Divination. It’s too shadowy and insubstantial a subject for an analytical mind. And although I’m certain that like any young girl you would enjoy learning about animals, I do not foresee that any eventual career path you might be drawn to would require you take Care of Magical Creatures.”



She looked up from her book with a curious expression. “You think so?”



He nodded. “Your basic courses should stand; Potions, Transfiguration and Charms. I would think you’d enjoy arithmancy. It is the type of subject matter someone of your intelligence would find appealing, and it would allow you to exercise your logic skills.”



She seemed to be seriously considering the matter when her name was called. Both of them turned to see Molly Weasley approaching, her school-aged brood close behind. Distrusting Gryffindor eyes studied him as Molly hugged Hermione to her. “There you are, Dear. Did you have a nice summer?”



Hermione nodded. “Very nice, Mrs. Weasley, thank you.”



Molly turned her attention to Severus. “Professor Snape, it’s good to see you outside of the school.” It was just a pleasantry, of course, but the niceties had to be observed. He inclined his head politely. This had been part of the agreement as well; he was to remain with Hermione until such time as she was to be passed off to the Weasleys. She would journey to the school train in the morning with them and Potter. Safety in numbers given that Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.



Sirius Black. There was a name he’d hoped never to hear again. Couple that with Dumbledore giving the DADA position to that flea bitten werewolf and this entire school year promised to be a living hell.



Severus gave a cursory glance to Hermione’s friends. They were better than some of his Slytherins he supposed, but he still would have rather the girl had been sorted into Ravenclaw. A better class of students and more chances that her friends would at least be her intellectual equals. “I believe it is time I took my leave of you, Hermione. We will speak again when you arrive at school.”



His daughter gave him a nod of understanding. “Yes, Sir. And thank you for coming with me today. I didn’t really want to go through all that on my own.”



He could understand that. Though she’d never met Kathryn, she was still connected to her. It was a loss even if it wasn’t a sharp one. He looked at the bulging bags containing her school supplies. “Do you have a book you wish to keep out to read? If so, I can shrink the rest to make them easier to carry with you.”



She blinked, surprised by the offer. With a longing glance to the monster book in her hands, she considered the question. A second later she closed the book and placed it into her bags, pulling out her arithmancy text instead. Apparently his suggestion did sink in. With a wave of his wand he shrank the bags of books so that they’d tuck nicely into the bag containing her new robes and making a much lighter, more easily carried burden.



He gave a polite nod of his head to Molly and wished her a good day and safe journey. Molly invited him to stay and have dinner with them at the Leaky Cauldron, but the glint in the Weasley Twins’ eyes warned him that would be an unwise move. He gave a polite refusal and took his leave.



It was hard, walking away from the girl. She’d just started to open up to him and show him some glimmer of the bright girl inside. The clever little witch that he’d helped to create, even if he hadn’t had a hand in raising her.



Patience, Severus. That would have been Narcissa’s advice. He needed to exercise patience. He was suffering under a thirteen year disadvantage, but for the next nine months he would be the closest parental figure to whom she could turn.



~***~



Hermione didn't care what Ron said. She thought Crookshanks was gorgeous. She'd had a little money her parents had given her birthday. At first she had thought she'd like an owl, but the massive cat with ginger fur was just too clever to pass up.



And, honestly, what did Ron expect a cat to do when presented with a rat?



“Did the git do anything mean to you, Hermione?” That was Fred’s first question after they’d sat down for dinner.



“We’ll be happy to get the bastard for you if he did.” Trust George to put his two knuts in.



“Actually, he wasn’t bad at all. It was a great improvement over that day at the Ministry.”



“You mean when he was pushing to have you chucked out of school for trespassing. Had nowhere to go but up from there.” George nodded in agreement with his brother as they passed the rolls her way.



“I still can’t believe you’re Snape’s daughter.”



“Ron, don’t talk with your mouth full.”



“Sorry, Mum.”



“I’m not his daughter. Not really, anyway. Mum and Dad are my parents. I just… have an extra one is all.” Hermione gave a nervous look over at Harry. Ron had had most of the summer and a trip to Egypt to wrap his mind around the discovery, but she’d never figured out how to tell Harry in a letter. She imagined it had been quite a shock. “Are… are you all right, Harry?”



Green eyes peered back at her from behind his wire rimmed glasses. Then the puckish face split into a grin. “Am I all right? I’m not the one who’s half-Snape. Are you all right, Hermione?”



Ron grinned. “Not gonna turn into a bat on us, are you?”



“Not gonna try to take off points?”



Something tense inside her relaxed a bit. “Prats.” There was no heat in it. Ginny giggled at her elbow.



“Careful or she’ll throw you in detention!”



The children all broke into laughter. Molly and Arthur watched them fondly before encouraging them to eat up. They were going to be rushed in the morning. There would be little time for breakfast.



After a good meal and some rather excellent pudding, Hermione went up to the room she was sharing with Ginny. The other girl was too busy distracting Percy long enough for the twins to nick his Head Boy badge to pay any attention to her. It allowed her to pull out the envelope Mr. Dawlish had given her.



She sat down on the bed and looked at the vellum colored paper. She’d never met Kathryn. She hadn’t even seen a picture of her because her Mum was still trying to figure out where she’d packed all that stuff away. Still, there had been this stranger who gave birth to her but who had decided she couldn’t be a mother to her. Since learning about it Hermione had been flip-flopping between feelings of anger, rejection and sadness. She just wasn’t certain what she was supposed to be feeling.



She opened the envelope carefully and pulled out the folded paper inside. She’d expected a letter of some sort. Perhaps some explanation as to why she’d been given up. Instead she found a sheet bearing a set of rather complex looking equations.



A frown creased her brow. Her mum had told her Kathy was quite sharp. They’d both been at the university together studying forensic medicine, but her mum had quickly learned she had no stomach for it and had switched to dentistry. Kathy had carried on with it and they had believed she had eventually ended up working with law enforcement somewhere in the states. Never had the concept of her writing books and movie screenplays for a living entered into the thought process.



The equations weren’t solved. Was that what Kathy had meant for her to do? If so, what was it about them that she was supposed to understand? Still, it was a puzzle and Hermione did enjoy a good puzzle. She looked at them again, but didn’t bother to take out any parchment or quill to get started trying to solve them. She just looked at them and tried to work it out in her head.



Thirty minutes later she had a massive headache and felt as though her eyes were going to cross. With a sigh she returned the paper to the envelope and tucked it inside her arithmancy text. She’d work on it properly after she got to school. For now she needed her sleep and Ginny had just come back into the room, grinning like a fool. Hermione had to wonder just what the twins had done this time.

~***~