Maternal Instinct

Severus could hear the sound of arguing coming from another room as he stepped out of the fire. The raised voices gave him a strange pleasure; just knowing that Hermione Granger was giving Viktor Krum a piece of her considerable mind made the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.

A door was pulled roughly open and... Sweet Merlin! Was that Hermione Granger?

To say that she scrubbed up well was a complete understatement. She was wearing a blue dress and, if it was doing anything at all, it was showing him that she had, indeed, grown up. Her lipstick was wearing off, but it only made her look more... could he use the word beautiful? Should he use the word beautiful?

She frowned when she saw him, "Professor? What on earth are you -?" She stopped when Krum came up behind her, slapping his hand away from her waist and moving further into the living room, hissing, "Will you leave me alone!" She turned back to Severus, "What are you doing here?"

"The real question is, when will you be leaving?" The man behind her sneered.

Severus sneered back and then turned to the person he had come to see, "I need you to come and see Corrin."

He had expected her to argue, like she had with Amy, but she smiled and nodded, "Alright -"

"You cannot, Hermione." Krum’s said. It seemed he had finally learned to say her name, "I am sorry Professor Snape, but we were about to -"

Miss Granger turned and shrieked, "I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH YOU TONIGHT!"

She apperated. Severus knew Krum saw the smug look on his face before he followed her.

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Hermione stroked Corrins hair away from her face, saying softly "Alright, sweetie. It's alright. I'm going to go and talk to your daddy, ok? And we'll see what we can do. Do you want anything?"

Corrin sniffed and coughed, and finally managed to wheeze, "Drink... please...?"

Hermione nodded, "I'll get you a drink."

She got up and left the room. Looking over the banisters, she could hear the sound of 'blasting' coming from the living room. Quietly, she went down and found Snape levitating tiny pieces of what looked like a letter into the air, before aiming and shooting them down again.

He didn't even spare her a glance, as he blasted another bit of parchment, "Amy's not coming back for three days."

Hermione frowned, "Professor, I’m not being funny, but Corrin is really ill. I'll be happy to stay and look after her, but Amy should be here." She sat down slowly on an arm chair opposite him, sighing, "You've always been brutally honest with me, Professor, so now it's my turn. Your wife is... horrible. She is the most... horrible woman I’ve ever met. Well, not ever, but she is the most self-centered person I’ve met in a long time. I'm sorry, but she's just... infuriatingly fake!"

He looked at her, then. His eyes were... sad.

He nodded, "I know she is."

Hermione shook her head, wondering why she was feeling so sympathetic to a man that seemed like he would be suited with a wife like Amy. "I'll stay if you want. You... um... look tired. I can look after Corrin."

"I would be... grateful, Miss Granger," He sneered and blasted another bit of the letter, "Because to be honest, I have no idea how to look after a child."

"Professor, you work with children." Hermione reminded him.

He glared at her, "Thank you for that valuable contribution, Miss Granger, but I think I know that already... I mean looking after sick children."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well I’m no Medi-Witch, but I know something about illnesses. You certainly must."

Snapes hand curled into a fist as he growled frustrated, "I think you are missing the point, Miss Granger... When Corrin told you she felt ill, what did you do?"

"I got her a d-"

"No! The very first thing you did. What was it?"

"I checked her temperature..." Hermione frowned, confused.

"And then..." he prompted.

"I talked to her... Oh!" Hermione finally caught on. It was the simplest thing in the world, to comfort somebody, so it was no wonder she had over looked it. She frowned again, "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I’m joking, Miss Granger?"

No. He didn't.

Hermione thought for a moment, "Well... would you like me to show you? Don't just sit there glaring at me! You have a problem, Professor, a big problem. Your daughter needs you more than ever, because her mother doesn't seem to care about her! Just come with me and watch... just sit by her! She's five; she won't want great long winded conversations or anything... Just your presence... Will you try?"

Hermione knew what it felt like to want to be a parent and sat in a patient silence as he thought, his eyes flicking around the room, until they rested on her again. He nodded slightly and Hermione smiled, "Right, lets go and get her a drink and then we'll see how she's doing."

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Severus watched from just inside the door as Corrin sat up with the help of Miss Granger.

It seemed that Amy had not done that much damage to his ears, a he heard his daughter say quietly, "Why's... daddy... here?"

The woman smiled, "He's come to make sure you're alright...”

The girl smiled, "Really?"

Granger nodded, "Yeah..." She lowered her voice so that Severus couldn't hear.

When she was finished she stood up from the edge of the bed and Corrin looked up at him, "Daddy... will you come... and sit with me?"

Severus glared at Granger; what was she playing at? But she only smiled and made an encouraging motion with her head. Vowing that he would get revenge, Severus moved to sit gingerly in the space that she had vacated.

Corrin shifted down in the bed and suddenly latched on to his arm. Severus sat, tense, glaring up at Hermione Granger.

'Relax' she mouthed. Hardly believing he was listening to her at all, Severus made himself a little less stiff. Granger beamed at him and sat on the chair at the end of the bed.

By the time Corrin was asleep, Severus was more relaxed than he had expected to be when she first curled her hands around his arm. Deciding that, perhaps, now was the time to leave, he untangled his arm from his daughters and stood up, stretching slightly.

When he looked over, he noticed that Granger wasn't moving and, upon closer inspection, he realized she was asleep. Silently, he left the room.

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A/N:Thanks for all the reviews from every one!

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