A Family Discussion

Disclaimer: Except for OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

Severus stepped all the way into the aisle, bringing Katherine out, too. Walking toward her from the door were her uncle and a couple of wizards who looked like they ate whole livestock for dinner.

Sonny grinned. "I'm going to smile and change the subject. Let's get you kids home."

Sonny was no more forthcoming when they reached the Snape's apartment than he had been at the Ministry. Severus sat a dispirited Katherine on their living-room couch and directed her uncle to a nearby chair. He had questions that he wanted answered.

"You wanted us to get home, Sonny, and now we're home and safe. Now tell us, what interested you in Sylvia?"

Katherine's uncle looked at his fingernails and then back at the Snapes. "I don't care to discuss anything else on this topic."

They looked at each other and then back at him again. "Uncle Sonny, that's a dangerous witch out there, and it seems she wants to hurt me and especially the baby."

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I've told you all I can. What little I could tell you is of dubious use in solving your case, and you could be in danger from that as well."

"Why don't you tell us and let us decide?" When the other wizard only stared back in response, Severus stood up. "Do you mean to tell us, after all we've done for you, you're not going to help us understand what that witch has been doing? How can we anticipate what she will do next?"

Sonny sat back in his seat and looked up calmly. "I promise you that I've said all that's important to your investigation. If I keep any secrets, it's for my own very good reasons, and I'm not going to be dictated to by a boy like you."

Severus's face turned red. "A boy, am I? Well, sir, at least I'm trying to take care of my family, to protect my wife and daughter..." He was stopped when the beefier wizard stood and met him face to face.

"I'll have you know that the secrets I keep are exactly to protect your wife, and her mother. Should I tell you everything, she would be in even greater danger! And you will NOT. TELL ME. HOW TO MANAGE. MY AFFAIRS!"

"Stop, please." Katherine said it so quietly that they both looked over at her. "Severus?" She motioned him over. She reached for his hand and put it over her tummy. She had just reached a stage when others would wonder if she was merely gaining weight or pregnant, but Severus was able to tell what disturbed her. The muscles under his hand were rock-hard.

He took a deep breath and let it out to calm himself. "It's probably nothing. How often are you noticing it?"

"Three times in the last twenty minutes."

Her uncle was forgotten in the need to take action. Severus helped Katherine up and into their bedroom, where he made her comfortable in their bed. Then he turned and saw her uncle.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper. I know you wouldn't do anything to harm Katherine or the baby."

"You're distraught. It's how I killed two men and ended up imprisoned at St. Mungo's."

Severus ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "She needs to see a Healer."

"I can think of a Healer whom you should probably speak with. Shall I bring her here?"

Understanding dawned in Severus's eyes. "Yes, I think that's a good idea."

If Sonny wouldn't talk, he at least would bring someone else they could question.

When Sonny returned with the Healer a half-hour later, Katherine was dozing and the contractions had ceased. The two wizards decided to start with a conversation in the sitting room. Severus frowned when he looked at the witch he once considered to be his friend. "You tried to kill my wife."

"If you only knew..." She wrung her hands.

"Why don't you explain to me why someone I considered a friend would take steps to kill my wife and our child."

"They threatened me, and promised me..."

"Who? Who threatened you, and who promised you?" Sonny Andolini's voice was barely above a whisper, but the witch answered immediately with wide eyes.

"Gustav Weatherfield." Snape raised an eyebrow and she continued. "He threatened to make certain facts about my accreditation known, and then he promised that after his daughter was married to you and pregnant..." She looked up and blushed. "He said the family wouldn't mind if I became your mistress, Severus."

Sonny chuckled hollowly. "You weren't to have any say in the matter, I see, Severus."

Severus looked pained. "Just exactly what was supposed to happen?

"If the aborting potion didn't kill your wife," she swallowed hard, "I was supposed to give her a potion on her next visit that would damage her completely. The counselors would see to it that at the very least she would release you from your marriage."

"Yet suicide would not be an undesired outcome." Sonny was furious.

"We have need of a Healer, but under the circumstances, I cannot let you touch my wife."

The witch looked up uncertainly. "I'm sorry, Severus, I would never hurt you...I care for you..."

"Don't."

She stopped and looked from one wizard to the other. Their faces both looked murderous. Severus finally shook his head and spoke to Sonny. "There is no way I'm going to let this woman near my pregnant wife."

The older wizard nodded in agreement. "It's simply not appropriate."

The witch suddenly allowed her eagerness to show. "Has Mr. Weatherfield succeeded, then? Is Audrey expecting your child? Am I here for..."

Snape looked nauseated. "Don't embarrass yourself."

Sonny looked at the Healer, assessing something. "I believe I can make use of this healer, Severus, but you will need to find another medical professional."

Severus looked into the other wizard's eyes searchingly and then smiled. "That's an interesting proposition."

"Katherine has made a great deal of money out of similar arrangements and mentioned in passing that she thought such an introduction would have merit."

"What about Gustav?"

Sonny's smile became an evil smirk. "One way or another, he and I will come to a satisfactory conclusion. I'll deal with his old bat of a mother if need be, as well."

"You know Agnes?"

"Unfortunately. We had dealings when she was still managing the family's affairs. It will be a pleasure to even a few scores."

The Healer watched the discussion with wide eyes. "What are you going to do with me?" she whispered.

Severus slipped out the door as Sonny explained. "... If you do everything as I ask, we'll finish with Obliviation and you won't remember a thing."

The Snapes' guests had left when Severus returned, this time with Poppy Pomfrey. He wasn't concerned since he knew what Sonny had planned. Poppy looked around the hallway and into the various rooms with interest. "Your home is lovely, Severus! I never would have imagined it."

He laughed sardonically. "I'll show you all the way around after you reassure me that Katherine is fine."

Severus led her to the bedroom where Katherine was napping. She lay on her side where her husband had put her, and the shape of her body was obvious from that angle, especially to the medical professional. "But she's pregnant!" said Poppy. "Congratulations, Papa!"

Severus turned red. "She's been having contractions. I think they were simply Braxton-Hicks contractions, but we need to know for sure."

Poppy smiled and took over the room. "It looks like you've done the right things, by having her lie down on her side and drink fluids. Let's take a look to make sure nothing has been happening underneath, shall we?"

Twenty minutes after Severus took the medi-witch to examine Katherine, they came back out into the sitting room. The house-elves were summoned, and Fern took Poppy on a tour of the flat. Sonny had returned and looked up expectantly. Severus reassured him. "She's perfectly fine. It's that false labor they talk about."

Sonny smiled too. "My little project is going as I envisioned it."

"Where will it happen?"

"At the Ministry. Gustav has an office there, and it's easy enough to bring the girl to visit her father and then arrange for the other party to come to the office on some pretext."

"And the delivery system for the necessary potions?"

"Nothing will be easier for my people."

Severus shook his head in amazement. Sonny's organization was not in actuality very large, but it had a broad scope. There was no doubt in his mind that the entire caper would progress exactly as designed. There was a single pang of conscience at the thought of the truly innocent lives that would be changed. On second thought, the innocent would most likely find the change an improvement and the guilty would suffer all the more. Snape smiled. "I'll have the elixirs prepared within the week."

Several hours later, the Snapes were lying together in their bedroom. He lay behind his wife and caressed the bump of her belly. "Our baby is perfect, Poppy says."

Katherine snuggled into his arms. "Then she matches her father."

"Hm, we'll be a perfect family."

"She could tell for sure?" Katherine turned and half sat up.

"She wouldn't lie to me." He started massaging where his hands were positioned.

"So everything is perfectly fine?"

He smiled, knowing what she was after. "Yes, we can carry on as normal."

"Really?"

His hand found the hem of her short night gown and started rubbing her leg. "Absolutely."

Severus wouldn't let his wife out of the house after the archive incident. With Silvia Greenlee still at large and no way to prevent Gustav Weatherfield from plotting further damage, Severus wasn't sure how well he could protect her. At the same time, he also worried that any stress might cause more contractions, and that further contractions might be all too real.

That didn't prevent their friends from coming to visit, for tea or dessert and coffee after dinner. The Malfoys visited during the following week. They were delighted by the news that Katherine could find no other potential heir. Lucius felt magnanimous and encouraged the Snapes to finish the investigations in France and Italy. "Let's make sure we've run the table," he said. "As it happens, we have more than one heir of our own to consider." He looked at his wife, who smiled at the Snapes.

"Congratulations," said Katherine. Narcissa smiled and whispered her thanks while Severus shook his friend's hand.

"Everything is going exactly as we could wish," said Lucius.

Katherine didn't want to upset anything, but there was a nagging question at the back of her mind. She smiled and laughed along with the conversation while the Malfoys were visiting. Severus sent her to bed as he checked the security of the apartment. When her husband came to their room and started to undress, she put words to her question.

"Has anyone attacked either of the Malfoys?"

Severus Banished his shirt studs to a dresser drawer. "No, I don't believe so."

"What about their son...Draco...isn't that his name?"

"No, Draco hasn't been the target of attack either."

"It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"What has anyone got to gain by attacking us?"

He looked at her.

"I mean, I guess I see the point of getting me out of the way to be with you. As Lucius said the first time I met him, you're a marvelous catch and any witch would want you."

He smiled. "I am, aren't I?"

"But then why does Gustav Weatherfield want me out of the way? What do you have to offer him? If all he wants is a suitable match for his daughter, I could give him half a dozen choices."

"Yes, you've named them all to me. It's interesting that three are all in the same family."

"Four, actually, but only one really makes sense, given their personalities."

"Your uncle says you're quite good at that. It sounds quite lucrative."

"I only collect after the first child is born. Occasionally, a family is angry with the gender and doesn't pay."

Severus lifted the sheet and slid next to his wife. "You should do that, then. Send Gustav a letter."

"I sent one to Agnes, right after the party at the Malfoys."

"Gustav's mother?"

"Yes. She sent me a Howler in response, telling me to mind my own business."

"Ah, I recall that now."

"I thought you might."

"Well, I'm inclined to let your uncle continue his plan, then."

Katherine sat up. "What is he going to do?"

Severus ran a hand through her hair and then down her torso as he spoke. "I'm not entirely sure, and when I suggested that he not be ruthless, he responded that no one has seen ruthless yet."

"We can't just let him be lawless!"

"Is it possible to actually stop him?"

She pondered the question as her husband rubbed the bump of her tummy. Suddenly she gasped and rubbed at the side, herself. He was instantly concerned.

"What is it? Is it another contraction?"

She shook her head, and the look in her eyes was indescribable as she concentrated. She rubbed and prodded and then laid her hand flat. Then she looked at him, an open invitation in her eyes.

"Legilimens," he whispered. His hand joined hers.

As he sifted through her emotions, he felt it: It was like the gentle strumming of a stringed instrument, or perhaps the flash of a fish as it swam close and then away again. "It's her," she whispered. He pulled away from her mind and discovered that he could still feel the motions under his hand. When he looked at his wife, he saw that her eyes were suspiciously bright and a shy smile was on her face.

They sat like that for several minutes, until the child went back to sleep. "I love you," whispered Katherine.

"I love you too," he answered. He had stopped rubbing Katherine's belly when they felt the child move, but now there was an urge to resume gentle rubbing and caresses. Before long the two were clasped together tightly, managing to work around the person who would soon be an important part of both their lives.

The Malfoys saw the Snapes off lavishly at Victoria Station. Several photographers were there, as was a reporter from the Daily Prophet. If leaving England was an event, the Snapes were going in grand style. Lucius was particularly garrulous on this occasion, and all eyes followed him and his wife as though charmed that way... not that it was beyond possibility that Severus and Lucius had cast an interesting spell or two.

He made a big deal out of handing the Snapes' bags to the conductor, and pointed out the private car to the reporter. Then he took a photographer on board to show just how luxurious the Malfoys' private car was. As he did so, Narcissa preened for the other photographer, posing with Katherine and Severus as though they were at a Ministry function.

Perhaps those watching could be forgiven if they didn't actually see the Snapes get on the train. They did get on the train, but immediately stepped off on the opposite side and Disapparated. From there they went to Katherine's old apartment in the port city where she had grown up.

A/N: I promised myself I would never let a story go more than a week between updates. I'm so sorry! I just couldn't figure out how this one started. Chapter 21 is ready to post soon, and Chapter 22 is at least started. Please forgive me!

Thanks as always to Trickie Woo, who betaed this in a flash.