An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 34 ~ Meetings

“And if the Board wants to have a hearing, it’s going to do it without interrogating my daughter! Now, I suggest you leave, Mr. who-ever-you-are Board investigator, or my wand is going to do the talking next!” Hermione snarled at John, who hastily backed away, afraid to turn his back on the angry witch. He backed up all the way to the double doors of the Great Hall, reached behind his back, caught hold of a handle and pulled one of the doors open, his eyes still on Hermione as she glowered at him. He sidled out of it.

Hermione turned to Minerva.

”Minerva, I can’t believe you’d allow something like this to occur without contacting me or Eileen’s father,” she said to the Headmistress, disappointment in her eyes.

”I’m sorry, Hermione. The Board instructed that I contact no one. You know I have to follow their directives,” the witch said, her eyes blinking wetly at her former student.

”Yes, but it doesn’t make it right,” Hermione said, turning to face the students, who were all staring at her. Her brown eyes swept the Gryffindor table and focused on her children.

”Rose and Hugo, come with me,” she said, marching back up the aisle.

Silently, Rose and Hugo got up, heading for the double doors. Hermione stopped in front of the Slytherin table and looked at Eileen, who was also looking at her with a bit of awe. What a display.

”Eileen, I’d like you to come with me too,” Hermione said softly. “Since this involves you as well.”

Eileen nodded and rose, following Hermione out of the door.

The Great Hall erupted into chatter about how Hermione bullied the Board investigator and ran him off. Wow.

”I wouldn’t want to be on the bad end of her wand,” one Hufflepuff said to another.

Hermione walked with her three children down a corridor, then stopped, turning to face them. Her face was black as she looked at Hugo and Rose.

”All right. Who told?” she asked them, scowling.

Both Eileen and Hugo pointed at Rose. Eileen wasn’t the object of Hermione’s wrath, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Hugo was right about his—well, her mum. Hermione really was a terror when she was mad. Eileen could easily see her hexing a number of bottoms. That investigator was lucky he wasn’t singed.

Hermione put her hands on her hips as she stared at Rose.

”Explain,” she said in a tight voice.

”Well, mum, it was like this—“ Rose began, retelling the story of the brawl between Alsop and James and how the only way she saw to stop the fighting about Eileen was to reveal to her cousins that she was her sister.

”It was the only way, mum. Believe me. James wanted to duel her. It would have gotten much worse if I didn’t say anything. But, we kept it between ourselves. At least James, Albus, Hugo, Lily and I did. I think Alsop told the whole story.”

”Alsop? Why would he do that?” Hermione asked with a frown. “He’s always been so trustworthy.”

Eileen spoke up.

”He did it because the Ravenclaws were calling you—well, saying bad things about your character. He couldn’t take it and told them the truth. That you weren’t an adulteress. He said he couldn’t stand hearing them talk about you that way. He didn’t mean any harm.”

Hermione blinked at Eileen, then sighed.

”All right. Now all of this is starting to make sense. There have been some complaints about your grades, Eileen. More than likely from the Ravenclaw parents. They seem to think that you’ve been magically enhanced in some way because of—of the fertility rite your father performed on the night of your conception. And those stuffed shirts at the Board are trying to appease them. They all act like stage mums when it comes to promoting their children,” Hermione said angrily.

”What?” Eileen exclaimed in disbelief. “They believe that rot? Alsop told me the Ravenclaws had been bouncing the idea around, but I didn’t think anyone would believe them! Are they all nutters?

Rose and Hugo looked at Eileen and were shocked to see just how much she resembled Hermione when angry. She was taller, fairer and her hair was darker, but they had practically the same scowl. How didn’t they see it before?

Hermione looked at her daughter.

”Apparently, they are. But don’t worry. I have an appointment with the Headmistress tonight to discuss your situation. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Hermione said. “If the Board of Governors tries to do anything to your marks because of this ridiculous claim, Eileen, they’re going to have a hell of a fight on their hands. Fertility rites are performed all the time in the wizarding world to help infertile couples. They’ve never been challenged before. This stinks of politics.”

”You have a meeting with the Headmistress? What about my dad?”

Hermione shrugged.

”Well, I imagine he was notified about your detention, so he’ll probably be there as well,” Hermione said.

Eileen’s eyes shifted slightly.

”Maybe,” she said quietly.

Rose and Hugo looked at each other. They knew that eye shift. It was a Granger trait. Hermione’s eyes always shifted when she was deceiving someone. She wasn’t a very good liar. Hugo and Rose suffered from the same malady.

Eileen’s eyes normally didn’t shift when she was deceptive, but this was her mum and it was a guilt response, because Hermione had no idea how her daughter had used her to avoid her father’s wrath.

Hermione took her reticence as disappointment that Snape might not be there.

”If he isn’t there, Eileen, I promise I will give him a Pensieve of the meeting. All right?”

Eileen looked up quickly.

”No. No, that’s fine. I’m sure you can handle it,” she said, a little tremor in her voice.

Hermione’s brow furrowed. There was something Eileen wasn’t telling her. She was hiding something.

”Hugo, Rose, go back to lunch,” she said, not taking her eyes off Eileen. “I’ll see you when you come home on holiday.”

Rose and Hugo both walked up and kissed Hermione on the cheek. Hermione gave them each a soft, loving smile in return.

”See you, mum.”

”Bye mum. Bye Eileen.”

Hermione watched them walk back to the Great Hall, then turned to Eileen. Her throat tightened a bit with emotion as she prepared to talk to her daughter alone for the first time. She swallowed down the intense feeling.

”I’m sorry, Eileen. This wasn’t the kind of first meeting I envisioned for us,” she said softly. “I was hoping for something more—peaceful.”

Eileen quirked her mouth to keep from grinning. That entrance was as far from peaceful as possible. It was like witnessing a small war.

”Well, sometimes a grand entrance is best,” she replied.

Hermione studied her.

”You’re tall, like your father,” she said.

Eileen nodded, looking at Hermione’s hair.

”But I’ve got your hair,” she replied with a slight smirk. “Just darker.”

”Not entirely. My hair was never really curly in school. It was more like a bottlebrush. I never could do anything with it until I reached my sixth year and learned some taming spells. Your hair is beautiful.”

Eileen blushed a little at the compliment.

”You’ve got a temper,” Eileen said, trying to push away the emotion she felt at hearing her mother say she found something beautiful about her. She knew her dad thought she was beautiful, but he never said it. It was always in his eyes.

Hermione smiled.

”I try to keep it in check, but yes—I have my moments. Do you have a bad temper?”

”Sometimes. I keep it in check, too. I usually verbally express myself when I get angry—“

“Like your father. He could cut a person to ribbons with his comments when we were at school,” Hermione said softly.

”His blade hasn’t gotten any duller,” Eileen said, then she looked sober. There was something she needed to say to her mother, something important to their relationship, if they ever had one.

“If this—if this is going to work between us—and everyone else, I want to make it clear that I don’t want to hear anything bad said about my dad. I mean, they can talk about him when I’m not around, but I’ll not stand for it. He’s my dad and he’s been a good father to me and I won’t listen to anyone put him down. I wouldn’t be here if not for him.”

Hermione gave her a soft smile.

”Neither would I, Eileen,” she said. “He saved my life.”

”And he gave me mine.”

Mother and daughter gazed at each other, silently comparing themselves while thinking what they both owed Snape. Their very lives. It was a sobering thought, but true. Neither would exist without him.

Eileen spoke again, a pensive look on her face as she addressed Hermione.

”I—I don’t know what to call you. Mum sounds so strange—“

”How about Hermione?” Hermione suggested.

Eileen shook her head.

”That’s not respectful,” she said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling you by your first name as if you were my equal. You’re older than me, and my mother. I can’t call you by your name.”

Hermione lifted an eyebrow. Obviously, Snape had instilled some sense of propriety in her daughter.

People began leaving the Great Hall. Hermione looked at them, then looked at her watch. Eileen had to go to class.

”I tell you what. You just think about it for now, Eileen,” she said softly. Then, hesitatingly she brought one hand to her daughter’s cheek and rested it there for a moment, feeling her warm, living flesh against her palm. Eileen didn’t recoil from the touch. It was warm and caring. So were Hermione’s eyes.

”I’m glad to meet you, Eileen,” Hermione said softly. “You were unexpected, but you are so—welcome. If you need anything, anything at all—just owl me, all right?”

Then Hermione’s eyes went hard as she removed her hand.

”And don’t answer anyone’s questions! Not a one!” she snapped angrily.

Eileen did smile then.

”I won’t. I promise,” she said softly.

”Good. Now, go to class,” Hermione said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Eileen hesitated a moment, then walked away, her backpack slung over her shoulder and robes billowing slightly. A perfect mix of witch and wizard.

Hermione looked after her with glistening eyes, feeling protective. There was so much more to say between them, but it would be better to take it slow. She’d extend an invitation after Christmas, figuring she would want to spend the day with her father.

As Eileen walked up the marble staircase, she looked back at her mother, who was still standing in the corridor, looking thoughtful. She smiled a little, then headed to class.

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Snape billowed down the corridor that led to the Headmistress’ office with a black scowl on his face. He was going to get to the bottom of this Board of Governors business.

He found the Grinning Gargoyle already moved aside, the statue’s eyes following him as he ascended the spiral staircase, walking up despite its twisting. He arrived on the landing and knocked heavily on the wooden doors.

”Come in,” Minerva’s voice rang out.

Snape stormed into the office and walked toward Minerva’s desk. Two high backed upholstered chairs rested in front of them.

”Minerva, I want to know immediately what the hell is going on here! Some idiot from the Board came to my shop—“

Snape was about to sit down, then suddenly stopped ranting, made speechless for a moment as he looked at the other chair. He pointed a long accusing finger at it.

”What are you doing here?” he snapped.

Hermione scowled up at him.

”I was contacted about our daughter,” she told him pointedly. “I am her mother after all.”

Snape turned accusing eyes on Minerva.

”She is her mother, Severus. Now, stop blustering and sit down!” the witch hissed at him, not up for his nonsense.

Snape dropped into the armchair, furious and unsettled at the same time. He never had to share Eileen before. No one else had any input up until now. He was used to his word being law. He wasn’t going to hand over control so easily.

“What is this nonsense that Eileen may be magically enhanced in some manner?” Snape growled at Minerva sullenly.

”That is what I am about to ask the both of you,” the Headmistress replied coolly. “There is something about her conception that the parents of our Ravenclaw students have demanded be investigated. Eileen has consistently made excellent marks from her arrival here at Hogwarts, beating out every student in her grade year after year. The Board, in its infinite wisdom—“

Here, Minerva’s lip curled distastefully.

”Has decided to kowtow to these parents and have a hearing on it. Now, please, tell me what in the world could they possibly focus on? What is so different about Eileen’s conception, other than both of you conceived her outside of your marriages, although I can’t for the life of me see how you managed to hide it from your spouses, particularly you, Hermione.”

Hermione reddened, and Snape just smirked unpleasantly.

“I didn’t commit adultery if that’s what you mean, Minerva,” Hermione stated. “I wasn’t married when Eileen was conceived. I was still in school.”

”What?” Minerva exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at Severus, who shrugged.

”She owed me a Life Debt. I collected,” he said simply. He didn’t work for Hogwarts any longer.

”Sex? You had sex with a student, Severus? That’s unconscionable!” Minerva exclaimed.

”She was nineteen. Technically, if not for the final battle, she would have been out of school, but that’s neither here or there. Still, it was more than sex, Minerva. I didn’t lust after Mrs. Weasley. I had a purpose in mind and she was the most suitable witch to breed with in order to fulfill that purpose.”

”Breed with?” both Hermione and Minerva exclaimed indignantly. Snape straightened in his chair and scowled at both witches.

”Yes, breed with. And let me inform you right now, if there is ANY assault on my person, I fully intend to retaliate,” he warned them. “Positions of authority and sex will not be a deterrent either. My nose has suffered enough.”

Both Minerva and Hermione managed to restrain themselves, although both witches’ fingers flexed reflexively.

”But, that’s impossible. Eileen would be much older if she was conceived while Hermione was in school,” Minerva said, frowning.

”He performed the fertility rite of Cernunnos at the Spring Equinox, then took my fertilized egg without my knowledge. He stored it somehow until he was ready to have the baby. He used his wife as a surrogate. She didn’t know either.”

”Severus! You—you cad!” Minerva gasped at him as Hermione frowned.

Snape simply looked tired.

”I know, I know. Scum of the earth and all that. Now, let’s just get back to the matter at hand, and that is Eileen and these insane accusations. What are we to do about them?”

The mention of Eileen immediately cooled Hermione down as she looked at the man who fathered her child.

”We fight, of course,” she said softly, but her eyes were hard as diamonds. “They’re not going to take a thing from our daughter. Not one, Severus. I promise you that.”

Snape studied Hermione and saw the fierceness and determination in the witch’s eyes. Her protectiveness concerning Eileen was almost palpable, and he realized that he had a loyal ally in Hermione Weasley.

She might not know her daughter, but obviously she had strong maternal feelings for Eileen now that she knew she existed. As much as he hated to admit it, in this situation, that was a good thing. Hermione was a powerhouse when she took on any cause, and Eileen was more than a cause. She was her flesh and blood. So what if sixteen years had passed before she knew it?

She was here now and ready to be a mother in every sense of the word.

Suddenly, some of the jealousy drained out of Snape. Not a large amount, but there was a small space, a tiny opening inside the wizard’s hard heart. He was willing to let someone else in for the sake of Eileen. He loved her far too much to risk not providing her with the very best protection, and she did need protection.

Snape was a good father, but he was volatile. He could be eloquent, but his rage could get in the way of that. If he faced the Board alone, the result could be he’d be arrested for blasting them in outrage, and that wouldn’t help Eileen in the least. He needed someone in her corner with a cooler head. Someone who could logically pick apart their case with skillful arguments. He could retain council, but Galleons couldn’t compare to care—or love as an inspiration to succeed.

His dark eyes washed over the witch he’d deceived so many years ago. Maybe, maybe it had been a mistake. Maybe he should have told her his intentions after the conception was successful. It was clear that Hermione had the kind of character that would have made her a good mother, even at her young age. But, Snape wasn’t looking for a woman’s love. He didn’t believe he could inspire it and really didn’t want to work for it. He was just too cynical for romance, too damaged, too bitter to give a woman what she needed from a man. Delores was proof of that.

But, this was no time to feel regret or remorse. His daughter needed him—and needed Hermione. He realized that much as he met the witch’s brown eyes, eyes so much like Eileen’s beautiful eyes. His harsh expression softened a bit.

”Yes,” he said softly. “We fight.”

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A/N: Thanks for reading.