E Pluribus Unum

A/N - Thanks to you all for the sympathy and support. Thanks to KAte for being my wonderful Beta and friend. Thanks to Dana, Erin and Hayley, her kids for being the sweetest little muffins around.

Droxy - thank you

Jeannete - Pince had little to hope for and had failed against the Dark, not a recipe for cheer.

Deblovesdragon - yup, this story was going to be lighter and instead went way dark on me. Pinade ade me sad, it was the logical outcome of her personality, history and actions, but it was still sad. Harry, well, he\'s getting a crash course in perception curtesy of one Tom Riddle, poor kid.

Chapter 22 – A Glass Half Full

Kathryn sat in the Teacher’s Lounge feeling the whip of guilt lashing her. Some Auror she was, not to have seen this coming, not to have headed it off somehow. Irma’s body was in the Hospital Wing and Kathryn’s feelings of grief and failure were eating at her. Dolly, one of the Hogwarts House Elves, had brought her a tray of tea things -- scones, jam, butter, and a steaming pot of her favorite Yorkshire blend -- but it was tasteless. She forced herself to choke it down, needing its fortification. Pulling on her blood the way she had last night left her weak and shaking for days afterwards.

Poppy, her face grim, had been pouring Sanguineous Potions down her throat and Strength Potions as well. She had downed them without a complaint, too tired to resist.

They were fighting a losing battle here; she knew it in her bones. The Dark trio was both too devious and too subtle for them to fight against effectively. Severus was, she had realized, despite her earlier fears, probably the least endangered by the Dark right now. He had seen them first for what they were and this lessened their power over him. After her initial terror for him, she had to allow herself to truly think about his situation using the detachment that had once served her so well. Her panicked assessment of Voldemort’s plans for him had eased before the ruthless march of her logical mind and she had begun to relax.

“Kathryn?” Severus’ voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned and smiled at him with a pained air as he entered.

“Evening, Sev.” She was too rattled and the nickname slipped out. She expected the eyebrow but he merely sank into the chair beside her and let out a loud sigh.

“I should have followed her back to her rooms last night and talked to her.” He murmured almost inaudibly.

“You were watching over me.” Kathryn absolved him with a shake of the head. His silky black hair was hanging, shielding his face from view. She sighed; she hated it when he did that. There was something so self-protective about the gesture, as though he expected to be hit and didn’t want to see the blow coming.
“There were others here whose job it was to watch her.” Like Albus, she didn’t verbalize.

“Kathryn.” His head came up slowly and he was watching her with his eyes gone so dark they seemed like black pools, glinting in the firelight. “What happened last night?” His voice was academic but his eyes were watchful and she scrubbed her face with her hands. How do you answer that one?

“Okay, you know that I am descended from Morgan Le Fey, right?” She asked, using a more modern term for her atrestress. He nodded, remembering the tales told over last Christmas in Lieu D’Asile. “Well, most of the Elves withdrew from the world, departed and took with them their…power, grace, interest…it’s hard to describe. They withdrew themselves, not just from the world but from their half-blooded children as well. Morgan refused to abandon her children. She has stayed all these centuries, guarding and guiding us and because of our connection to her, we are all of us just a little more Elvish than the average Wizard or Witch.”
Severus raised the eyebrow and looked at her thoughtfully.

“What about Tali and Remus, what sort of children will they have?” The question took her by surprise; she hadn’t thought about the couple much since she had left Grimmauld Place.

“They will have true half-bloods. Their kids will make the Leblancs look very diluted of blood, no doubt.” She chuckled at the thought. She knew whatever children they did have would be highly sought after for marriage, their abilities would be extraordinary. Remus could marry them off to the highest levels of Wizarding society; it would no doubt annoy him to find himself much courted by those that had shunned him before.

“What about us, if we have children?” Ah, she thought, looking up at his half-lidded eyes, the real question comes out. She leaned back in her chair and studied him.

“Did you want more children?” She tried to sound nonchalant -- after the they weren’t even sure when a marriage between them would be possible. “More hostages to fate?” She added with a wistful tone that she couldn’t suppress.

“I once thought that I would find children an unbearable nuisance.” Severus leaned back in the chair and stared into the lounge’s fireplace with a pensive expression. “Since Ryan has been in my life -- well, honestly, since you have been in my life -- I have been changing my opinion of the matter.”

Kathryn fought the urge to laugh. He was just so English sometimes, stiff and formal when his emotions were deeply affected. How this man who sat there discussing their future and his deepest feelings with an almost prim tone could be the same man who made her heart race with his kisses would always baffle her.

“I love you, Sev.” This time she used the nickname deliberately, looking him in the eyes as she spoke. “You are the only man I’ve ever met whom I would be willing to marry and to have children with.” His eyes lightened from a deep black of night to a lighter shade of rich mahogany and she knew that despite his austere expression that he was moved. “However, I think that now is not the time to be thinking about this. Not until we have finished with Voldemort.”

“You’re wrong, Kat. Now is precisely the time to discuss this. In the middle of death and despair is the best time to think of life and hope.” His use of her family’s nickname for her made her pause. She was surprised to hear such words from the perpetually pessimistic Severus.

“Wait, Mr. Doom and Gloom is preaching hope?” Now she did laugh, but it was a merry sound and not meant to ridicule.

“Perhaps you should not expect this attitude to be a common occurrence; however what I saw in Irma’s face has made me reconsider certain thoughts.” She stayed silent, watching him. The firelight played across his features -- the prominent nose, the sharp cheekbones, all the hollows and planes she had learned by heart. “I have realized that despair is an entrance for them into your soul. I don’t want to give them anything they can use against me.”

“Severus Snape, you are right and I was wrong. Mark this day in your calendar.” He chuckled and she tucked her feet underneath her, getting more comfortable in the ugly floral chair. “I do want children with you.” She admitted almost shyly and his answering smile made little frissons of delight run up and down her spine.

“How many would you like?” She was startled by the question, she hadn’t really thought this far ahead. She had been so caught up in the day-to-day struggle that she simply hadn’t thought past Voldemort’s defeat. He was right, she had let herself stop thinking about the future while she concentrated on this war; it was time to hope again.

“Well, less than seven.” She admitted. Growing up in a crowded joyhoushouse had been wonderful but the competition for her parents’ attention had been intense. Her father had been loving and warm, but her mother’s coldness had made them all desperate to receive her acknowledgement; with seven children that had made for some cutthroat politics.

“Less than seven… six then. So with Ryan, that would really only mean five for you.” Kathryn found herself laughing; there he sat, adding up children on his fingers, as though he were working on a on pon plan. “I am willing to have another son, just to keep my parents away from me, but the rest should be girls.”

“Magnanimous of you, Severus. How do you intend to ensure genders?” She sipped her tea, finding it to be quite tasty really.

“Potions most likely; I am sure I could brew something appropriate.” He waved an airy hand, mimicking Grand-mére’s gesture with a smile. Illumination dawned in her; he was trying to make her laugh, to cheer her up. She set her teacup down and pullerseerself out of her chair. To his obvious delight, she crawled onto his lap and curled up against him.

“It’s working, love, I feel better.” She whispered as she kissed him.

“Good. This is not your fault, Kat. She was a hundred and twenty years old and she’d had all that time to become embittered and miserable. Whateve. Fe. Fenchurch saw in her, whatever secrets and fears she harbored, they all existed long before either one of us was born. I regret the lack of foresight that made me blind to this last possibility but neither of us is responsible for her choice.” He had wrapped his arms around as as he spoke and Kathryn wondered if there was any better place on earth to be than in his arms. Probably not, she decided and snuggled more deeply against him. “We have other and more important things to think about right now. Draco is still not completely recovered from his experience, Fauna is fragile, and Minuet and Harry are in a precarious situation.”

“Anything else for us to worry about, my love?” Kathryn kissed him and smiled.

“Yes, when are we dueling for your job?” His wicked laugh made her shiver in delight.

“What are your plans for this evening?” She murmured suggestively.

His answer was a kiss -- deep, passionate, and full of life, a direct contrast to everything that had been happening around them of late.

Classes were cancelled for tomorrow, but all the teachers would be in their offices all day. Comforting a school-full of traumatized children would be hell. She knew Severus would be woken up several times tonight to tend to his Snakes; the chimes in his rooms went off when one of them was crying or distressed.

But for right now, they had each other -- she had the surprising, rewarding, difficult, brilliant man that she loved, and they had a future to discuss.