Maternal Instinct

Severus hadn't seen her, at first.

He had still been at Hogwarts. Amy, his wife - if she could even be called that - had decided that she needed to hire some one to look after their five year old daughter, Corrin. He had refused to be part of it, knowing that he wouldn't be able to help being rude to a person who might be good with children.

Amy had flooed him one day, in the last week of the school year, saying that she had found the perfect person. He had rolled his eyes and turned away.

When the summer holidays started, he had gone home and heard the most peculiar sound. Laughter. No one in the house ever laughed. Amy was always so snappy with Corrin and... Well, Severus never really had much time for his daughter.

This laughter was... weird... musical... almost nice.

He had followed the strange sound to the living room. The door had been closed. Silently, he had looked in. The hair may have been less frizzy, but there was no mistaking Hermione Granger.

Corrin had carried on laughing and doing whatever they had been doing before he had come in, but Granger looked up at him, almost daring him to say something.

Severus had never seen his daughter laugh like that before, so he had left the room as silently as he had come.

That night he had had tried to ask his wife what on earth she was thinking, hiring some one like Granger, but she had rushed out of the house.

"A party!" she had shouted before she disapperated.

Granger had left late that night, putting Corrin to bed first. She had gone home silently, not even acknowledging him, or his earlier presence.

For a week it had gone on like that. Amy would go out. Granger would stay later and later. Corrin would laugh more and more.

Now, Severus was wondering if Granger had known she would be working for him when she applied for the job. She had to have known; there weren't many people called Snape around.

Severus put his empty cup on his desk and stood up. He could hear that laughter again. He turned to the open window of the library, looking out over the garden outside. Corrin was running around, giggling, while Granger was flat on her back panting and laughing weakly.

"You've been trained to run that fast." Granger accused, "I know you have."

Corrin shook her head, flopping down on her knees beside the older woman, still giggling, "Haven't!"

Severus shut the window. Amy never made Corrin giggle like that. His daughters’ laughter disturbed him for some unknown reason.

He left the room to find Amy. She was painting her nails in the kitchen.

The butter-blonde woman looked up as he entered, "Oh, it's you."

She went back to her nails.

Severus rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth against a sarcastic remark. When they argued - which was more often than not - she screeched like a banshee, and Severus was sure she had done permanent damage to his ears. Any nasty comment he could give her wasn't worth the head ache she gave him back.

Instead he got straight to the point, "Do you even know the slightest thing about that..." It was hard for Severus to call a person that he had seen as a child, a woman, but that was - technically - what Hermione Granger was, "... that woman out there?"

Amy huffed, casting a drying charm on her nails, "I don't care who she is. Or what she's done. I have parties to go to and just because I have a... child," She shuddered slightly, "It doesn't mean I have to give up my own life. You certainly don't offer to look after... It," Her nose twitched in barely disguised disgust, "So why should I have to stay at home? And I have to keep up appearances! All you do is... snark! I have to make up for your lack of personality, you know! I have to put up with the fact that you're a social piranha! Literally! Your bark and your bite are the same thing! I'm the only one in this family who cares about our public status! ..."

Severus left the room, his head already beginning to pound.

Social piranha, indeed!

Severus was sure he was more of a shark...

""""""""""""""""""""

Hermione was sitting in the garden, watching the five year old run around. She was a wonderful girl, considering her parents. Severus Snape was... well, he was just Severus Snape, wasn't he. And Amy Snape... It was not Hermione place to say, but the woman was not fit to be a mother. She was superficial and emotionless, always worrying about what people thought of her. The woman was a bitch... to put it simply.

Corrin had said - more than once - that she wished her dad would be around more. Hermione had the impression that the girl didn't like her mother very much, but didn't know her dad enough to have an opinion on him.

That was sad. Hermione had noticed Corrin craved her attention.

Victor wanted a child. His family were very old fashioned; they wanted heirs, boys. Hermione wanted a girl, but Victor wanted her to be pregnant before he married her. So they were trying.

And they had been for a year.

Victor was getting impatient, blaming it on her. But Hermione knew she could have children. She had been pregnant, when she was with Ron.

She had miscarried.

It had been hard on both of them and they had spilt up, but they were still friends. Very good friends. The Healers at St. Mungo's had checked her out after; they had reassured her that everything was in full working order. That she had lost the baby probably because of stress.

She hadn't told Victor. She never would. She had been told that she would be able to have children and that they would live, so it was no business of Victors.

That and the fact that he had a nasty temper.

He had never hit her, but she had been forced to buy more than a few new plates in their time together. He was lovely most of the time, though. Really romantic and sweet.

And when they had a baby of their own, Hermione hoped that he would be satisfied.

Corrin came bounding up to her, whining, "Come and play with me!"

Hermione groaned; the girl was just one big ball of energy!