An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 49 ~ Aftermath

”Alsop went after Eileen,” Harry said, returning to the table, his eyes dark. “He Disapparated. I didn’t know he knew how to do that.”

”Disapparated? Aren’t you going to go after him, Harry?” Molly asked, standing up and picking up the huge plate of food she’d saved for Alsop.

Harry shook his head.

”No. I don’t know where they’ve gone, and they probably don’t want to see anyone else right now,” Harry said, sitting back down and frowning slightly at his mother-in-law. She caused this.

”Well, I’d better put his food away, then,” Molly said, heading for the kitchen.

With unspoken words hanging heavily in the air, everyone slowly began eating again, Lily slowly bringing her food to her mouth. She was staring down at her plate. She didn’t like what her grandmother said about her uncle. She might have ruined everything.

Molly came back and sat down, eating cheerily as if nothing of consequence had happened. But the chatter was gone now.

Hugo was frowning down into his plate, too. Grandmum shouldn’t have said what she said about Eileen’s dad. If anyone should be mad at him, it was mum. Not her.

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her chair several times, then piped up, “I don’t think Uncle Severus is a git. He waltzes with his daughter.”

She didn’t look up as she spoke. Everyone stared at her as if she’d just spun her head around.

”Uncle Severus?” Harry said to his daughter in amazement.

“Eileen is my cousin, so he’s my uncle,” Lily said, looking up at her father. “He told me I could call him that if I like.”

Harry looked at Ginny, then back at Lily as everyone continued staring at her.

”When did you talk to him, Lily?” Ginny asked him.

”When he brought Eileen to my tea tasting. I asked him if I could call him Uncle Severus, and he said yes—but—“

Lily faltered.

”But what?” Harry pressed, unable to believe this. He had wanted to have some sort of relationship with Snape for the longest, but the dark wizard made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with anything or anyone that reminded him of his past.

Harry had visited him at Spinners End, just before Snape had it razed to the ground. He tried to articulate how he felt to the pale wizard looking down his nose at him, completely unaffected. Finally, Snape held up his hand, stopping Harry’s attempt at making peace with him.

”I am not now, nor ever have been your friend, Mr. Potter. I am relieved to finally be free of both Voldemort and my debt to your father—do not darken my door again.“

And he closed the door in Harry’s face. Harry respected his wishes, and named Albus after him in order to honor what he’d done for him and the wizarding world.

But Harry knew Snape didn’t do what he did for his father, but for his mother. Still, Snape wanted no parts of him. Now, Lily managed to break through his walls? Amazing.

”He said he doubted the rest of the family would like it,” Lily finished as Harry continued staring at her.

Molly snorted.

”Well, I certainly don’t like it. That man is the scum of the earth,” Molly said, cutting into a savory piece of beef.

Lily frowned at her grandmother.

”He loves Eileen. He came to her first ball and danced a waltz with her, in front of everybody,” Lily said. “You shouldn’t talk like that about him like that in front of Eileen, grandmum. Even if you don’t like him, he’s her father and she loves him.”

Molly stopped eating and stared at Lily, flabbergasted.

”Lily Molly Potter, how dare you speak to me in such a manner!” Molly exclaimed.

Lily looked at her mother and father, who were just staring at their little girl, trying to get past the “Uncle Severus” disclosure.

”Honesty is the best policy, isn’t it?” Lily asked her, turning Molly’s words around on her. “That’s what I’m thinking and decided to tell you.”

Hermione just stared down at her plate. She was trembling slightly

”Well, you’re just a little girl. What you think doesn’t matter,” Molly huffed. “Really Ginny, you should teach Lily better than to talk back to her elders. And I wouldn’t have her around Severus Snape too much. You don’t know what he’s thinking or capable of doing to a little girl.”

That was it. Hermione stood up, throwing her napkin down.

”I’ve got to go. I can’t stand this any longer. Severus Snape did something reprehensible years ago, took Eileen from me without my knowledge, but now we’re trying to make some sense out of it, form some kind of understanding so Eileen will be able to have two supportive parents that aren’t pulling her in two different directions. Molly, I won’t be bringing her back here to the Burrow.”

”Not bringing her back? Hermione, you can’t mean that,” Molly said. “She needs to be properly socialized.”

”But I do mean it. I just listened to you call Severus a pedophile. I can’t have Eileen around someone that would say such horrible things about her father out of the blue. If anyone else wants to have a relationship with Eileen, you’re welcome to try, but Molly—for now, you’re out of the loop. I know this is how you are, and you really don’t mean any harm, but you just can’t disregard people’s feelings because you believe you’re right. You are the matriarch of the Weasley family, and they defer to you. But you aren’t the matriarch of my family. You were wrong to say what you did about Severus in front of Eileen, Molly. Dead wrong.”

Molly looked around the table. Everyone had been staring at Hermione, but they all started eating again, focusing on their food.

”Isn’t anyone going to speak up for me?” Molly asked her brood.

No one responded.

”Arthur?” Molly asked, looking at her husband.

Arthur really wanted to stay out of this, but everyone was looking at him. He loved his wife, but sometimes she was less than tactful, speaking to others as if they were all her children. They weren’t. He sighed and put down his knife and fork. He’d pay for what he had to say later, he was sure of it. But right was right.

”Hermione has the right to make the rules concerning her daughter, Molly, and you disregarded those rules. She’s Eileen’s mother and has the right to expect you to respect her wishes. You didn’t do that, Molly. You purposely insulted that girl’s father.”

”I didn’t insult him. We all know what he did, Arthur,” she argued.

”Molly, Severus is Eileen’s father. You insulted her by saying she was raised wrongfully when you don’t even know her, or how she was cared for. She seemed perfectly fine until you said what you did. It was an embarrassing statement to have to hear in front of people who are for the most part strangers. Then, you had the gall to say we all felt that way. Lily just proved we all don’t.”

”Lily’s a child,” she sniffed.

”Out of the mouths of babes,” Arthur replied, his brown eyes narrowing.

Hermione stepped over the bench and looked at Ron.

”I’m leaving. Ron, you and the children can stay if you like, but I’ve got to get out of here,” she said, walking through the kitchen and rifling through the coat rack to find her traveling cloak, hat and gloves.

“Mum, are you going after Eileen?” Hugo asked her.

If she was, he wanted to go with her.

She shook her head.

”No, I’m sure Eileen needs time to cool off, Hugo. I’m going home to think up a suitable apology,” Hermione replied, shrugging on her coat, then pulling on her hat and gloves.

”We’ll be along in a bit, Hermione,” Ron said, looking at his wife sympathetically.

What a mess this was.

Hermione exited the Burrow, closing the door. The crack of Apparition followed.

Ron turned narrowed eyes on his mother. He’d changed his mind about taking her to task. She needed a dose of reality, and a big one.

”Mum, after supper I was to have a sit-down with you—in private,” he said evenly.

”Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of family, Ronald,” Molly replied, frowning at him.

”No. Not this time, mum. It’s just going to be you and me. You always avoid one-on-one confrontations and use the family as a buffer. But not this time. And if you won’t do it, I promise you, this is the last time I or my children will sit down at this table. I mean it, mum. We’re going to talk like adults, or not talk at all,” Ron said, his blue eyes sober.

It was as if everyone at the table were holding their breath, with the exception of Arthur Weasley, who nodded slightly at Ron’s statement. He wasn’t a little boy anymore and as a man, and a husband, needed to stand up for his wife. It was time for Molly to get a bit of tough love from one of her children. She dished it out, now it was time to suck it up.

”That’s blackmail,” Molly hissed at her son. “I can’t believe you’d hold my grandchildren over my head like this, Ronald.”

”I just want to talk to you alone, mum,” he replied. “If we don’t come back here, then it will be your fault, not mine. I’m not going to go through this again. You hurt Hermione badly.”

”Fine,” Molly sniffed. “After I help clean up the dinner dishes.”

”No, that’ll take all night. You can get to them later. Fleur and Ginny can do that,” Ron said.

”And zee men as well,” Fleur interjected. “It eez not fair only witches clean up. Bill, Charlie, Harry, and Percy you will help too. James and Albus, also.”

The males just looked at each other and shrugged as Fleur smiled victoriously.

”Fine, Ronald,” Molly said bad-naturedly. “But I don’t know what you think you’ll accomplish just talking with me. We’ve always talked as a family.”

No, they always listened to Molly talk as a family. Mum was going to listen for once.

”We’ll see,” he said shortly, returning to his meal.

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A/N: Sorry it’s so short, but I’m not doing much writing right now. It’s too hot where my computer is located. My a/c went out and I live in a mobile home. It gets hot and stuffy quickly and I’m hiding out in my daughter’s room for the most part. I purchased a new capacitor and fan blower motor but it still isn’t working. I am trying to raise money to have it serviced. The contractor who I purchased the parts from gave me a flat price on servicing, but I’m tapped and live on a fixed income. So, I’m having a little fundraiser on the Burning Pen offering access to a lot of original works and naughty areas for a contribution. It’s not going too well. Times are tough for everyone. So, until I get this fixed, I’m going to be writing in spurts, but I’ll do as much as I can. If you’re interested in contributing and getting unlimited access to some very yummy original content, visit theburningpen dot com. And thanks for reading.