The Expectant Detectives
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
31
Views:
15,568
Reviews:
165
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
31
Views:
15,568
Reviews:
165
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the writing of this story. Though Lord knows I wish I did.
Chapter Eight
Thank you everyone that has taken the time to read, not to mention, review my story. I eat up the reviews with a spoon and although I my not answer them all the time, I do pay close attention to what you have to say.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!
***
Chapter Eight
Theo Nott sat back casually sipping on his fire whiskey, the finest money could buy, and stared at the two men as if they were mad. Since the end of the war, he had come into his rather large inheritance and thus became his own man. He lived very well and didn’t mind in the least telling all others just that fact. And according to the glare he was giving them at that moment, “living well” didn’t include attending a carnival of any sort, nor apparently, did it involve cavorting with the muggle freaks—a name he gave them even before he had found out that they were unusual even for muggles.
“Why are you asking?” Theo asked casually. “It must be important. You’re here, Lucius. Something you didn’t even do when Draco was tossed into Azkaban.”
“Why would he have been over here?” Severus asked him. “You aren’t even close to being a potions master.” Theo glared at him. “Draco brewed that potion and suggesting anything else is ludicrous. Especially this late in the game, Nott.”
“Stop,” Lucius muttered. “We aren’t here to discuss my son. Have you seen anyone about that is out of place? It’s a yes or no question, Theo.”
“No.” His voice was clipped and hard. “I haven’t seen many people at all here. I keep to myself when I’m not attending university.” When Severus’s eyebrows shot up, he laughed quietly. “What can I say? I was growing bored with my sedate life. I began taking courses last fall.”
“And you’ve seen no one out of place?” Lucius asked.
“No,” he sighed. “Like I said, I keep to myself. About the only people I chat with are the birds I’ve been…” He cleared his throat and finished with, “…entertaining. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” he said as the two older wizards got to their feet. “Sorry to bother you…”
“Wait.” He sighed rather dramatically before saying, “I thought I saw someone…” Theo pursed his lips. “But that was impossible. There’s no way it could have been the wizard I thought it was.”
“Why not?” Severus pressed.
“Because he’s dead.” Nott finished off his whiskey, muttering hoarsely, “Or at least that’s what my father always claimed.”
“And that would be?” Lucius pressed.
“Regulus Black,” he drawled. “I saw him in an old photo of my father’s way back. The old man said Black died.”
“How did he come to that conclusion?” Severus asked.
“No one back in the first war left the dark lord’s service unless they were dead,” Nott told them to which they only gave a nod. “My father was sure the man was murdered by the dark lord for one reason or another.” Nott shrugged. “Who knows? It wasn’t as if that megalomaniac had logical reasoning by any stretch of the imagination even by the time I came around. Regulus could have been killed for having sneezed at the wrong time for all anyone knows.”
***
Gregory Goyle magically set the tea tray in front of them, serving each their tea quietly. Since the war, he too had inherited his family’s large holdings. But unlike Nott who reveled in it, Goyle lived a very sedate life in the country just outside of Oxford. He lived and kept to himself.
“Today is my personal house elf’s day off,” Goyle said quietly, handing them their tea. “What can I do for you two this morning? It must be important for you to come out here.”
Severus blinked at him a moment. He was so un-Goyle. This wizard in front of him was so unlike the flunky from his school days that the older wizard was tempted to test him for polyjuice potion.
“We need to know if you’ve seen anyone out and about in Oxford that wouldn’t belong,” Lucius told him. “It’s very important that you tell us.”
Gregory took a sip of his tea and murmured, “Can’t say as I have. With the exception of the house elves I keep in residence and the whores I keep about, I have no visitors at all.” He looked over to Lucius. “How is Draco?”
“As well as one can be in Azkaban,” the blond wizard groused.
Goyle made a quiet tisking noise. “I told him not to even think of brewing that poison. That even if he didn’t use it that the aurors would know that it would take longer to brew than most and that in itself would prove intent if the day came that he did put it to use.” He sighed heavily. “But Draco has never been one to take unsolicited advice.”
“True,” Severus said with a nod. “So Draco used to come out here to visit you?”
The younger wizard nodded. “Every now and again. Chances were that he was visiting for the female company that is here all the time at my beck and call than my own sorry self.”
“What happened to you?” Severus asked him.
Goyle put down his tea. “I lost my best friend, my mother, and just about my mind. That’s what happened to me.” He stood up. “That’s more than enough to make anyone change, don’t you think?”
Severus stood up. “You shouldn’t isolate yourself like this, Mr. Goyle.”
He stood there looking at him for a time. “I heard through the few people I still communicate with that you are to be a father.” Snape nodded, making Gregory smile to himself. “Do me a favor?”
“If I can.”
“Be a better father to your child than mine was to me.”
***
Severus came into the sitting room, collapsing onto the sofa next to Hermione. She looked up from what she was reading, smiling when he threw his arm across his face dramatically. Smiling Hermione set aside her book and curled up next to her husband, rubbing his chest.
“How in the name of Merlin do you do it?” he asked her, not lifting his arm up.
“What would that be?” she asked him, lifting his arm slightly in the attempt to see his face.
He removed his arm and looked at her. “Question all those idiots.”
“Not all of them are idiots,” she murmured. “As for the questioning, more times than not, I’m not questioning the suspects, but the evidence. And unlike the suspects, the evidence doesn’t tend to lie.” Hermione reached up and caressed his hair out of his face. “Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he told her.
“Me neither,” she murmured. “I only know a few things with certainty.”
“What are those, love?”
“I hope they get your eyes,” she whispered.
“Really? I was hoping they got yours,” he sighed, caressing her face. “Along with your nose.”
“I hope they get your teeth,” she muttered.
“They can always be fixed if the poor child gets your teeth and, Merlin help them, my nose,” he assured her.
“What about the hair?”
“Given how both of our hair is, it is my hope that they’ll end up with normal tresses.”
This made Hermione chuckle. “Severus?”
“What?”
“Are you really happy that I’m pregnant? I know we didn’t plan it, but I’m happy that it’s happened.”
“I know we didn’t plan for it,” he sighed, his hand going to her slightly rounded belly. “But I’ve had time to think it through…”
“How long?”
“Two weeks,” he admitted, as he made her look him in the eyes. “When we took our vows, I thought that perhaps one day this would happen. Then I realized that day was now, I have to confess that it did scare me. But, love, there is no other person, living or dead, that I rather be going through this with than you.”
Hermione smiled slowly. “You wrote that speech didn’t you?”
“A week ago, just in case.” He studied her a moment. “Did it work to calm your concerns?”
“Almost as well as a potion,” she said, standing up. “This can only be made better by a rousing bout of sex.”
“Hermione…” Severus started thinking back to the last time they had sex with a slight fear the pregnancy would do him in if his witch kept that pace.
“I’ll let you tie me up.”
Getting up quickly, he said, “If you insist.”
***
Hi! It's time for my favorite game, the Review Sing-A-Long! The answer to the last one was "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann. This commencement speech done to music is some of the best advice one could get. So if you have a chance, find and listen to it. Cookies go out to Narcissas Sister and Catiie for getting it right! If I missed you, I'm sorry.
Time for the next song! "Now you step inside, but you don't see many reviews/ coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down". Okay, here's your clue. Best known for their songs about wanting a certain music channel and about the boys of summer, I remember them more for their great guitar work and awesome lyrics. There you go everyone. Try to play. Remember this is for fun! Have a great day!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!
***
Chapter Eight
Theo Nott sat back casually sipping on his fire whiskey, the finest money could buy, and stared at the two men as if they were mad. Since the end of the war, he had come into his rather large inheritance and thus became his own man. He lived very well and didn’t mind in the least telling all others just that fact. And according to the glare he was giving them at that moment, “living well” didn’t include attending a carnival of any sort, nor apparently, did it involve cavorting with the muggle freaks—a name he gave them even before he had found out that they were unusual even for muggles.
“Why are you asking?” Theo asked casually. “It must be important. You’re here, Lucius. Something you didn’t even do when Draco was tossed into Azkaban.”
“Why would he have been over here?” Severus asked him. “You aren’t even close to being a potions master.” Theo glared at him. “Draco brewed that potion and suggesting anything else is ludicrous. Especially this late in the game, Nott.”
“Stop,” Lucius muttered. “We aren’t here to discuss my son. Have you seen anyone about that is out of place? It’s a yes or no question, Theo.”
“No.” His voice was clipped and hard. “I haven’t seen many people at all here. I keep to myself when I’m not attending university.” When Severus’s eyebrows shot up, he laughed quietly. “What can I say? I was growing bored with my sedate life. I began taking courses last fall.”
“And you’ve seen no one out of place?” Lucius asked.
“No,” he sighed. “Like I said, I keep to myself. About the only people I chat with are the birds I’ve been…” He cleared his throat and finished with, “…entertaining. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” he said as the two older wizards got to their feet. “Sorry to bother you…”
“Wait.” He sighed rather dramatically before saying, “I thought I saw someone…” Theo pursed his lips. “But that was impossible. There’s no way it could have been the wizard I thought it was.”
“Why not?” Severus pressed.
“Because he’s dead.” Nott finished off his whiskey, muttering hoarsely, “Or at least that’s what my father always claimed.”
“And that would be?” Lucius pressed.
“Regulus Black,” he drawled. “I saw him in an old photo of my father’s way back. The old man said Black died.”
“How did he come to that conclusion?” Severus asked.
“No one back in the first war left the dark lord’s service unless they were dead,” Nott told them to which they only gave a nod. “My father was sure the man was murdered by the dark lord for one reason or another.” Nott shrugged. “Who knows? It wasn’t as if that megalomaniac had logical reasoning by any stretch of the imagination even by the time I came around. Regulus could have been killed for having sneezed at the wrong time for all anyone knows.”
***
Gregory Goyle magically set the tea tray in front of them, serving each their tea quietly. Since the war, he too had inherited his family’s large holdings. But unlike Nott who reveled in it, Goyle lived a very sedate life in the country just outside of Oxford. He lived and kept to himself.
“Today is my personal house elf’s day off,” Goyle said quietly, handing them their tea. “What can I do for you two this morning? It must be important for you to come out here.”
Severus blinked at him a moment. He was so un-Goyle. This wizard in front of him was so unlike the flunky from his school days that the older wizard was tempted to test him for polyjuice potion.
“We need to know if you’ve seen anyone out and about in Oxford that wouldn’t belong,” Lucius told him. “It’s very important that you tell us.”
Gregory took a sip of his tea and murmured, “Can’t say as I have. With the exception of the house elves I keep in residence and the whores I keep about, I have no visitors at all.” He looked over to Lucius. “How is Draco?”
“As well as one can be in Azkaban,” the blond wizard groused.
Goyle made a quiet tisking noise. “I told him not to even think of brewing that poison. That even if he didn’t use it that the aurors would know that it would take longer to brew than most and that in itself would prove intent if the day came that he did put it to use.” He sighed heavily. “But Draco has never been one to take unsolicited advice.”
“True,” Severus said with a nod. “So Draco used to come out here to visit you?”
The younger wizard nodded. “Every now and again. Chances were that he was visiting for the female company that is here all the time at my beck and call than my own sorry self.”
“What happened to you?” Severus asked him.
Goyle put down his tea. “I lost my best friend, my mother, and just about my mind. That’s what happened to me.” He stood up. “That’s more than enough to make anyone change, don’t you think?”
Severus stood up. “You shouldn’t isolate yourself like this, Mr. Goyle.”
He stood there looking at him for a time. “I heard through the few people I still communicate with that you are to be a father.” Snape nodded, making Gregory smile to himself. “Do me a favor?”
“If I can.”
“Be a better father to your child than mine was to me.”
***
Severus came into the sitting room, collapsing onto the sofa next to Hermione. She looked up from what she was reading, smiling when he threw his arm across his face dramatically. Smiling Hermione set aside her book and curled up next to her husband, rubbing his chest.
“How in the name of Merlin do you do it?” he asked her, not lifting his arm up.
“What would that be?” she asked him, lifting his arm slightly in the attempt to see his face.
He removed his arm and looked at her. “Question all those idiots.”
“Not all of them are idiots,” she murmured. “As for the questioning, more times than not, I’m not questioning the suspects, but the evidence. And unlike the suspects, the evidence doesn’t tend to lie.” Hermione reached up and caressed his hair out of his face. “Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he told her.
“Me neither,” she murmured. “I only know a few things with certainty.”
“What are those, love?”
“I hope they get your eyes,” she whispered.
“Really? I was hoping they got yours,” he sighed, caressing her face. “Along with your nose.”
“I hope they get your teeth,” she muttered.
“They can always be fixed if the poor child gets your teeth and, Merlin help them, my nose,” he assured her.
“What about the hair?”
“Given how both of our hair is, it is my hope that they’ll end up with normal tresses.”
This made Hermione chuckle. “Severus?”
“What?”
“Are you really happy that I’m pregnant? I know we didn’t plan it, but I’m happy that it’s happened.”
“I know we didn’t plan for it,” he sighed, his hand going to her slightly rounded belly. “But I’ve had time to think it through…”
“How long?”
“Two weeks,” he admitted, as he made her look him in the eyes. “When we took our vows, I thought that perhaps one day this would happen. Then I realized that day was now, I have to confess that it did scare me. But, love, there is no other person, living or dead, that I rather be going through this with than you.”
Hermione smiled slowly. “You wrote that speech didn’t you?”
“A week ago, just in case.” He studied her a moment. “Did it work to calm your concerns?”
“Almost as well as a potion,” she said, standing up. “This can only be made better by a rousing bout of sex.”
“Hermione…” Severus started thinking back to the last time they had sex with a slight fear the pregnancy would do him in if his witch kept that pace.
“I’ll let you tie me up.”
Getting up quickly, he said, “If you insist.”
***
Hi! It's time for my favorite game, the Review Sing-A-Long! The answer to the last one was "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann. This commencement speech done to music is some of the best advice one could get. So if you have a chance, find and listen to it. Cookies go out to Narcissas Sister and Catiie for getting it right! If I missed you, I'm sorry.
Time for the next song! "Now you step inside, but you don't see many reviews/ coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down". Okay, here's your clue. Best known for their songs about wanting a certain music channel and about the boys of summer, I remember them more for their great guitar work and awesome lyrics. There you go everyone. Try to play. Remember this is for fun! Have a great day!