All That You Leave Behind

Thank you to our reviewers, especially akatryele. And, LordThingy69, we need your email address to add you to the update list! Oh, and by relationship we mean Ginny and Severus getting friendlier. Nothing else.



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Chapter Twenty-One



"Erm...right, I\'ll...I\'ll be right there," Harry said reluctantly, and Kingsley Shacklebolt\'s head disappeared in a flash of green flames. "Fuck!" He swore vehemently as he turned away from the fireplace. He stood there thinking furiously.



Kingsley had just, under the guise of an invite, ordered Harry to accompany him and some of the other Aurors on an investigation. This was part of his training; all of the Trainees had been told at the beginning of the week that they would be randomly called out, and Harry had been looking forward to it. Now, however, while he was still excited about the chance, this was a Hogsmeade weekend for Ginny, who would be arriving at any moment.



Harry had been anxious and a bit nervous about this first visit of Ginny\'s since Severus\' arrival. He desperately wanted it to go well, for Severus and Ginny to get along, so that her visits here wouldn\'t be tense and uncomfortable. He and Ginny had discussed through owl mail and agreed that these first few visits would consist of tea, and they would forego their usual activities. He wasn\'t exactly happy about that, it was bad enough being away from her one to two weeks at a time, but he was also anxious that Severus didn\'t feel he was intruding.



Harry sighed heavily. Well, there was nothing for it. There was no time to try and find Ginny now. The whole point of being called out randomly was to test the Trainees\' response time, and he estimated he\'d already wasted critical minutes mulling pointlessly. He was hurriedly grabbing his Auror robes when Severus reappeared from his room.



"I have to go, Severus," Harry explained quickly, "I\'ve been called out on a mission, and I don\'t have time to tell Ginny. She\'ll be here any minute. Please, tell her I\'m sorry, and I\'ll be back as soon as I can."



Before Severus could give voice to the scowl on his face, Harry said, "Just have tea as planned. Hopefully I\'ll be back before you\'re through, okay? It\'s work. I can\'t help it."





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Wonderful, thought Severus grimly as he watched Trainee Auror Potter disappear in a rush of green flame. He was already disgruntled at the thought of being forced to take tea with the boy and his girlfriend. He didn\'t know why they just didn\'t adjourn to Potter\'s bedroom and engage in what was obviously the point of this flat in the first place, rather than throw up false pretences. He didn\'t know who they thought they were fooling. They were teenagers, and engaged to boot. Of course all they wanted to do was shag!



Snorting to himself disdainfully, Severus stalked over to the sofa and sat himself down to wait for the girl. Perhaps with her paramour absent the girl would decide not to stay and he would be relieved of the obligation to make small talk over what would undoubtedly be an extremely uncomfortable tea. Damn Potter anyway! On the tail of that, he supposed it wasn\'t really the boy\'s fault after all. Damn Shacklebolt then!



He sighed, annoyed with himself. He could simply tell the girl that Harry had been called away on Auror business and send her on her way, but he felt obligated to deliver the boy\'s message as he\'d said, including that he hoped to return before Ginevra had to return to the school, and offer her the tea that was the "plan" for the visit. He didn\'t want the girl to tell Harry he had been unpleasant to her, although he\'d be damned as to just exactly why it mattered to him.



Because the girl is important to him, and he is important to you, a voice in his head told him. That voice, it always sounded like a certain meddling old man, and Severus mentally scowled at it to shut up. Leave me in peace, you old fool he added grimly.

He was interrupted from his internal grousing by the sound of a key in the lock, and breathed a sigh of relief, quickly followed by a small gasp of surprise, echoed by the slight figure who came through the doorway.



"Oh! Erm...Professor...." Ginny Weasley said, hitching up a hasty smile, "I...I thought Harry..."



"Yes," Severus drawled, attempting to rearrange his face in a more pleasant expression, "Unfortunately...Harry...has been called away by Kingsley Shacklebolt..."



"Oh," she said, "that...random thing. He told me about that. That they were being tested on readiness, but...right. Of course it would be today, wouldn\'t it?"



Severus couldn\'t help his mouth twitching at that, and she smiled in return.



"Okay, well...." she said uncertainly, "Erm...you probably have things to do. I\'ll...I\'ll just be going then."



Wondering what possessed himself, Severus stood and said, "Don\'t be silly, Miss Weasley. You came for tea, and tea we shall have. Harry expressed the hope of returning before you are obliged to return to Hogwarts. You wouldn\'t want to miss him if he should."



She couldn\'t hide her expression of surprise then, but it was followed by a genuine smile, and Severus told himself he could survive this. "Thank you, Professor," the girl said, "I\'d like that."



Severus fetched tea and they settled in the small living room with it while he cast about in his mind for some topic of conversation.



Silence descended as they both, somewhat desperately, struggled for something to say.



“Were you responsible for the decorations?” Severus asked at the same time as Ginny said,



“Our new Potions teacher is very different to you.”



They both stopped, stared at the other.



“After you,” Severus said courteously.



“No, after you,” Ginny said hurriedly.



Snape, aware of his position as guest – regardless of Harry’s nonsense that this was to be his home – wanted to make her happy. He considered the statement she had made.



“Slughorn is still potions master there, isn’t he?” A faint sneer was detectable in his voice.



Ginny nodded, an ambivalent look on her face. “He…runs this club for his favourites.” She paused, unsure how to proceed.



“Ah, the infamous ‘Slug Club’. And he is cultivating your presence?” Severus considered for a moment. “For yourself or for your known association with one Harry Potter?”



Ginny nodded again, pleased he understood. “Because I know Harry. I’m going along with it because he – Slughorn, I mean – knows Gwenog Jones, and he introduced me to her. You see,” she flustered a little then hurried on, “She’s been sort of mentoring me. She thinks I’ve got a real chance of playing professionally. I…I haven’t told Harry yet, in case nothing comes of it.” She chewed on her lip for a moment before rushing on, a harsh look on her face. “I want more than my Mum had. She is a great Mum, but that’s ALL she is.”



“So you don’t want to fill the Halls of Hogwarts with the next generation of pranking Weasleys?” Severus’ words were teasing, but his tone was serious. He was surprised at the knot of tension in his stomach as he contemplated Harry and Ginny’s mythical offspring.





Ginny blushed prettily. “I’d like that. But it depends on Harry. His job is quite dangerous, and I don’t want to try and raise a brood all alone. But I definitely want at least four.”



Snape, who had just been sipping his tea, took a too large gulp and nearly burnt his mouth. He coughed, eyes streaming, and shook his head when she offered assistance. “I’m fine,” he rasped. Then coughed painfully.



Ginny eyes him dubiously, the corner of her mouth twitching suspiciously.



“Go ahead and laugh,” he said tiredly, “Harry would have done.”



Ginny shook her head, although tears were streaming down her face. “Sorry,” she wheezed, wiping her eyes. “Anyway, I guess the idea of lots of children shocks you, especially given that I want to be a professional Quidditch player?”



“Not shocked,” Severus croaked; eyes narrowing as Ginny looked like she about to giggle, “just surprised that you know your own mind so thoroughly. Somehow, Miss Weasley I made the error of underestimating you.”



She sighed. “Lots of people do. ‘Cos I’m the only Weasley girl, and ‘cos I was always better at hiding my mischief than Fred or George, everyone just kind of assumed I was quiet and happy with whatever life threw at me. Mum and Dad were always busy chasing after the twins, and I kind of got, not forgotten, exactly, just…”



“You were low maintenance.” Severus put in. “I understand.”



She glanced up at Severus, saw an odd expression in his eyes. “Are you all right, sir?”



At once his eyes became inscrutable again. “I’m fine, thank you. And, as I’m no longer your teacher, ‘sir’ is hardly appropriate, is it?”



Ginny opened her mouth to speak. What the hell could she call him? Mr Snape seemed too formal considering he was going to live with them, and Severus? Well, she wasn’t ready to call him that, she wasn’t as close to him as Harry was.



He seemed to have appreciated the problem as well.



“Ah,” he said, “yes, perhaps ‘sir’ or ‘Snape’ is best. At least until we feel more comfortable with each other.”



She nodded and drained her cup. “I hope I’m not speaking out of turn here, sir, but I feel sure that one day I will call you Severus.” She stood up.



“Leaving so soon?” Severus asked, aware that there was still plenty of time remaining before students were expected to return to the school. He felt a small warmth in his heart at her words. He was quietly proud with the way their conversation had gone. Ginny was a strong young woman, who would make Harry very happy. He was surprised at how unsettled that thought made him.



“You’re sure you won’t wait for Harry?”



Ginny shook her head. “No. He could be hours yet.” She moved to the front door then turned around. “Could you tell him I’ll see him next time?”



He nodded, and watched her leave.



Alone in the house, Severus sat down in the chair he had just vacated and pondered. It seemed he was indeed going to stay here, with a newly engaged couple. One of the pair – Harry – he knew and knew he could trust and rely on. The other – the girl – he wasn’t entirely sure. He had a sneaking suspicion that he would get to like Ginny, and that he would eventually trust her.



How long he sat, musing, he couldn’t have said. He came back to himself with Harry’s arrival.



“Hi,” he said breathlessly, a smudge of ash smeared across one cheek.



Severus felt ridiculously pleased to see him. However, he merely raised an eyebrow at Harry’s dishevelled appearance. “I see you saw some action.”



“What?” Harry went over to the mirror. “Oh.” He said and began to rub the black mark off. “How’d it go?” he asked, deceptively casually, as he scrubbed at his skin.



He waited for a response. When none was forthcoming he turned around, mouth open, ready to start giving Severus a piece of his mind. But the soft, indulgent look in Snape’s eyes stopped him.



“It was fine.” Severus said quietly. “Surprisingly, I had a pleasant afternoon. Miss Weasley was most hospitable.” He quirked his thin lips into a smile. “You never told me you intended on having four children.”



“FOUR?!” Harry yelled. “We haven’t discussed it, not properly.” He paused, “She told you that?”



Severus nodded.



“She must trust you.” Harry said musingly. “That’s a good thing.”



Severus felt he had to tell Harry, “And,” he began, “I think I might be able to trust her.”



Harry gaped. Severus didn’t trust lightly or easily. It was a huge compliment to Ginny that the other man was saying that.



“Thank you,” he said quietly. Not quite sure what he was thanking the older man for. He sat down on the couch, next to Severus. His clean cheek pink and shiny.



“Thank you, Harry,” Severus replied, leaning in to rub at a spot Harry had missed. “At long last, I’m almost beginning to see this second chance as a good thing.”