Rihanna's Son

He came awake without opening his eyes or moving a muscle, a byproduct of his decades of spying. The door leading to his son’s room was opening and he opened his eyes to slits, looking at the boy standing in the full moon light of the slightly open door. He had a bedraggled blue teddy bear’s ear gripped in his left hand, dragging it on the floor, while his left thumb was firmly planted in his mouth.

Severus considered pretending continued sleep until he heard the slight snuffle. In the few days the boy had been in the house, he’d spent more time with Remus than him. But then he’d never been comfortable with young children. The werewolf had the room on the other side of the boy, but this was the first night of the full moon phase. He was locked up in the basement, at his own insistence, knowing that his nephew was in the house he refused to just take the potion as he usually did.

“What are you doing out of bed?”

“Bad dream. Can I sleep in here, Daddy?” Although he looked and sounded older than his true age, Severus had to remind himself that his son was really only four years old.

“Come here.” Severus pulled his blanket back in invitation. The boy smiled a little and ran to his father’s bed. This was the closest they’d really ever been since Damien had come to England. The boy climbed up into the bed and instead of taking the pillow and side of the bed his father had prepared for him, he snuggled up against his father’s side and sighed in contentment. Severus lay there stiff for a few moments then loosened up and put one arms around him awkwardly.

“What did you dream of, little one?”


“Bad man. Snaky faced wiff red eyes. Is that the boogie man?” Damien popped his thumb back into his mouth, looking up into his father’s face in the pale moonlight. Severus took a sharp breath. He wondered if that dunderheaded Golden Trio had been telling the boy stories about the Dark Lord. He’d have Weasley’s and Potter’s balls nailed to his wall for this!

“Do you think it’s the boogie man?”

“Dunno. Never seed the boogie man before.”

“Seen, not seed. A seed is something you plant in the ground.”

“Kay. How come you gots owies on your tummy, Daddy?”

It was the first time Severus had been shirtless in front of someone other than Hermione and he cursed under his breath at his own inattentiveness. He resisted the urge to roll away from the child. He wasn’t being mean or spiteful, just asking questions like any normal child.

“I have a very hard job and my…boss is sometimes cruel.”


“Is he like the boogie man?”

“He’s what makes the boogie man afraid, little one.” Severus gave the boy a half smile. He covered the two of them up and awkwardly snuggled with the child.


“Ain’t you ‘fraid of him, Daddy?”

“Terrified. Sometimes so much that I’m afraid to stand in front of him. But he’s a bad wizard and we…the people who are living here…are trying to stop him before he becomes even badder. So that children don’t have to fear going outside to play.”

“I can’t go out cause of him?”

“Yes. That is why you have your little garden out back and can’t leave it ever.”

“Oh.” Damien thought for a moment, and then turned his face up to his father’s. “Does that mean you’re a boogie man, too?” He was worried. Of course, he was only a little child, but he needed to reassure his son.

“Sometimes, I do scary things, little one, but I am trying to stop the Dark Lord. I would never hurt or scare you.”

“Hermy said you was scary when you teached her.”

“Miss Granger said I was scary when I taught her.” He tried to correct the boy, but knew at this time of night and his attention span it was virtually a moot cause, but his inner professor wouldn’t let him allow the boy to make those grammatical errors.

“Oh, yeah. But she ain’t scared of you no more. She likes you. She made cookies for me yesterday, and then she let me take Crooks outside and chase garden gnomes.”

“Oh. Miss Granger is less of a dunderhead than her two friends.”

“You like her. Oh.” His little face frowned and he clutched his teddy bear harder. “You don’t like kids, huh?”

Severus frowned and tightened his uneasy hold on his son. The boy thought that he didn’t like him, and after thinking back on his actions toward the child, he realized that it seemed like that’s the way he was acting toward his own child.

“I don’t like some people who aren’t children. It’s because of whom
they are and not what they are. I like you, little one. I’m just not used to young children. I teach, used to teach, children a few years older than you.”

“Ron saids you was a greasy git. What’s that mean?”

“It means Mr. Weasley and I are going to have a discussion when he returns to the house tomorrow. Don’t worry about that, little one. Are you ready to get some sleep? I might let you come down into the basement while I work tomorrow, providing I get enough rest tonight.” Severus smirked into the darkness as he felt the boy’s head nod vigorously. He held the child close, feeling something toward the boy for the first time, and closed his eyes.

“Night, Daddy. I love you.”

“Good night, little one.” He whispered into the hair so like his own, but fine and baby soft.

Within minutes, the two of them were asleep, snuggled together.


The door to the hallway slammed open and Lupin ran into the room.

“Severus! Damien’s not in his bed and the girls can’t find him!”

“Shut your gob. He’s asleep.” Severus kept his eyes closed as he spoke, pulling the blanket away from his son’s face. Remus stepped back, and blinked in surprise.

“Oh. Ok.” He backed out of the room and closed the door, and then he let himself grin. Severus was finally getting to know his son. He hurried down the stairs to the kitchen where Molly and Hermione were preparing breakfast.

“Where’s the little scamp? He’s going to miss his eggs and bacon.” The boy loved her cooking but just couldn’t seem to gain weight, something he’d inherited from Severus also.

“He crawled into bed with Severus last night. I think today might be a good day to leave the two of them alone.” Remus grinned at them.

Hermione sipped her coffee and smiled. Severus would never know what hit him when he had to take care of his son all by himself, but at least he’d be spending time with the child.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, don’t you, Mrs. Weasley?”

“It’s about bloody time too. Boy should know his father and vise versa.” Molly finished their food and served the platters to the two houseguests. She had a long list of shopping she had to do and she had planned on taking Damien, but with him here with his father, she’d get done that much faster. And she’d be able to visit Arthur at the Ministry before returning to headquarters. “Yes, we’ll head out as soon as we’re finished the dishes. I’ll leave a list of things he has to do for Damien during the day. Good thing there’s some leftovers in the ice chest, he needn’t worry about feeding the boy, at least.”

“We don’t want to make it too easy on the old boy, Molly!”

“I think giving Damien a bath on his own should qualify as enough training!”

Hermione laughed. She completely agreed. That boy loved to play in the water and splash whoever was washing him. And heaven forbid you turned away from him longer than a second. She smiled at the thought of Severus Snape bathing the four year old boy. Before either of the Snape men could catch them, they left the house, intent on doing their own thing, but also to see how the potions master would do with his son alone.

a/n~~sigh.....ok, trying to make his succinct. probably won't be action story, just a feelings rollercoaster lol...getting closer to sev/hermione lemons, I promise.

until next time,

marti !!!

ps>>thanks for the reviews, and encouragement. i really am working on this one, but i want to spend some time on 'Hermione's...." and get that going where i want it...

Yay! I'm going to finish this one! I hate having unfinished business, ya know? well keep reading and reviewing, I love hearing from everyone!
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