Utterly Convincing

To the brilliant Madbrilliant, many thanks, hugs and chocolates!

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Chapter 13 - Utterly Convincing

The Christmas holidays were fast coming to an end, and work was beginning to become the major priority once again. People returned to the Ministry from their vacations and to their homes that had become dusty from unuse, and for the wealthier families who had house-elves, they had taken them along with them and let the houses become as aforementioned. Stephen Snape knew that the time to return to Jersey would be soon, as he couldn't spend too much longer in England before he became attached again.

He had seen Severus and Hermione only the evening before for dinner and had mentioned that he would be leaving soon, but that he would return to visit them at Hogwarts sometimes when work wasn't so consuming.

There had been many times in the last couple of weeks that he had considered transferring to Britain from Jersey. As a Gringotts curse-breaker and master, he had been stationed in America for more years than he could remember, removing dark curses and other wards, hexes, and traps from ancient Magical areas for research and the collection of artifacts and profitable items.

He knew that he could just as easily return to Britain, as there were enough people on his research team that had elevated sufficient enough to take over his work there. None of them were brilliant or even as smart as he was, but they were good enough that, with practice, they could become even more adequate. Severus had been urging him to stay, but he didn't know if Julia was interested in him enough to stay.

Stephen sat in silent contemplation. How did things get so out of hand for him? In the end he gave up thinking about it all together and decided to focus on enjoying his last few days in his home country. It was entirely too depressing to think about, after all.

"Mr. Prince, sir?" squeaked a tiny voice from beside his chair.

He turned and looked down to see a pair of golf-ball sized eyes staring up at him nervously. "Yes, Lindy? What did you want?" he asked quietly, but politely.

"Is sir finished with his breakfast?" she asked anxiously.

This particular house elf was by far the most timid and afraid of all the elves he employed at his London home. She was loyal and true, so he had kept her and decided that perhaps he should take her with him to Jersey so that she would be more accustomed to serving him.

Sighing, he nodded and dismissed her with a wave of his hand once she had collected his breakfast tray. He got up from his seat and dragged himself to the bathroom to clean his teeth before getting on an appropriate coat for his outing that day. Earlier that morning, he had planned to explore a bit of Muggle London and was starting his little adventure with a trip to the London Zoo's new tiger exhibit and polar bear Park.

He walked through his back door to the yard and Apparated to an alley near the entrance to the zoo, walking to pay for his entry from there. He had never been overly interested in any creatures, other than fierce non-magical predators and dragons as a child, but he felt that he needed to get in touch with all of those things he had missed out on when he was young and find out if he actually would have liked visits to the zoo at any stage.

If he liked it, perhaps he would consider bringing his children there at some point, if he ever did get around to finding the right woman. He realized that he was slightly jealous of Severus for having Hermione in his life, but he knew that one day he would fall in love and become as soft as his older brother was fast becoming because of his witch.

He paid entry and strolled inside and along many winding footpaths to the "big cats" exhibit. He had always liked panthers as he had always felt an affinity towards them, not to mention that his Patronus became a panther as opposed to a magical creature.

"So, you like big cats?" asked a soft, somewhat familiar female voice from beside him.

Stephen turned his head to look at the woman without moving away from the railing and was startled to see Julia looking back up at him with cheeks pink from the cold and sparkling eyes. "Hello to you too," he said with a small smile.

"Fancy seeing you at a London zoo," she commented.

"It has been a while, Julia. How do I find you?" he asked politely with a fractional inclination of his head.

"I'm very well, Stephen," she replied with an enigmatic grin. "I hope I find you well too."

He nodded. "I have had a quiet break since leaving Suffolk," he replied, the corner of one side of his mouth twitching into a lopsided grin. He couldn't help but smile at her.

Sure, she was a few years older than him, and although the lines of her age were just beginning around her eyes from smiling, she was absolutely beautiful to him. He had never been so enchanted, so challenged to achieve higher by a woman before. He didn't know much about her, but he wished that he could stay to get to know her.

"What brings you to Muggle London?" she asked, sensing that it would become awkward if she gave up on conversation.

"I should ask you the same thing," he replied, trying to dodge the question, lest she laugh at him.

"I came here to visit my family in London for the New Year and promised to bring my niece and nephew here for the day," she replied, nodding her head in the direction of two fairly young, blonde children. "Emily is five and Thomas is seven."

"I see," he said simply, trying to avoid her gaze.

"How much longer will you be staying in London?" she asked curiously, hoping that he would be staying awhile.

"Not long," he answered. "I have to get back to work at some point, and there's no use avoiding the inevitable."

"Would you like to have lunch with us today? After we leave the zoo that is – only if you're not busy," she said hurriedly.

He smirked in a very Severus-like manner and nodded slowly. "I would love to have lunch with you, Julia," he said in a soft, slightly gravelly voice. It was unfortunate for him that he had not inherited Severus' silky voice because that could have sounded so much more seductive.

She blushed and he held out an arm to escort her to her niece and nephew, only to find them a few feet away, watching and pointing at the big cats in awe. When they stood beside them, the boy, Thomas looked up at Stephen, giving him a suspicious look. Emily smiled brightly, however, and shyly ducked behind her aunty.

"Who's he?" she squeaked.

Julia smiled and shook her head at the children affectionately. "Thomas, Emily, I would like you to meet Mr. Prince," she announced softly.

Stephen stepped forward and held out a hand to Emily who immediately took it and shook it enthusiastically. Thomas was slightly more reserved from experience, but shook it nonetheless. "It is nice to meet you both. You may call me Stephen," he said with a smile.

"That's my middle name," Thomas announced with a half-smile.

"It's a good name," Julia insisted. "Now look, you both have the same name in common."

Emily stepped forwards boldly and took one of Stephen's hands with her own small one and gave it a squeeze. "My middle name is Rae. It's not the same as yours, but I like it anyway," she said with a grin.

Stephen couldn't help but to smile back at such an affectionate little gesture from a girl he had only just met. Then again, Emily did look quite a bit like Julia. "I think it is a lovely middle name," he reassured her, making her beam even brighter.

"Will you have lunch with us?" Thomas asked, taking his hand on the other side with a wide smile on his face.

Stephen nodded and looked up to see Julia smiling at the picture he presented with the children. She could see him being a wonderful dad someday, and she wasn't just thinking that because she was attracted to him. "All right then, let's go and have lunch," she announced.

They walked back along the pathways together, this time with Emily holding one of Stephen's hands, Julia holding the other, and Thomas holding her free hand. They looked exactly like a happy family, he mused. He could also get used to holding her hand in such a fashion.

"Stephen, how long will you be staying here?" Emily asked softly as they walked along to find a place for lunch.

"I'm... not really sure. Why?'

She shrugged and grinned. "Aunty Julia told us about you before, and she smiled more today than she has all holiday," she said simply.

Stephen looked to see Julia blushing a little and he smiled. "I think that I could manage to stick around a little longer," he said, giving Julia's hand a small, affectionate squeeze before leaning in and kissing her cheek.

"I would like that," she admitted, making his heart swell.

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A/N - Please review! I am an addict!