Coming to terms

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read this story and review it. I'm very pleased you are enjoying this.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of her suggestions and help.

Chapter 14 – Coming to terms

Severus looked out through the French doors of the library, hoping to see Hermione and Ginny walking towards the castle. Lucius sat behind him on the couch, with a drink in his hand.

“I should have said something sooner,” said Lucius.

Severus continued to stare out the window.

“No, Lucius. Don’t blame yourself. You would have told Ginny in time.” Severus turned and walked towards Lucius. “It was difficult for Hermione to accept my past, but we worked through it. I thank every god in existence every day for giving me the chance to love such a remarkable woman. Ginny is remarkable as well,” Severus said as he placed his hand on Lucius’ shoulder. “Everything will work out.”

The French doors, opened and both men turned their heads. Hermione came in alone. Lucius stood and walked towards her.

“Where is Ginny? Is she all right?” Lucius asked, concerned.

Hermione smiled sadly.

“She’s fine, she went up to her room,” Hermione said.

“She despises me, doesn’t she?” asked Lucius.

“Just give her a bit of time, Lucius. It’s not an easy thing to take in.”

Lucius ran his hand through his now loose hair and laughed weakly. “And here I thought I could start over again, be happy, love. What a fool I was.” He quietly walked out of the library and up to his room. He wanted to go to Ginny, but he knew that Hermione was right. He would give Ginny time and hope that she would forgive him his past.

“What do you really think?” asked Severus as he approached his wife.

“She just needs to think on things. She loves him, Severus. That’s why she was so hurt. I think they will be fine.”

“Come, let’s go see to the children. It’s nearing their bedtime.” Severus took Hermione by the hand, and they both walked to the living room.

When they arrived, Albus was sitting next to the fire, looking into it as though the flames were about to speak to him at any moment. Minerva had gone to bed. She had been so disappointed at Harry’s actions towards Ginny and Lucius, that she developed a headache. Not wanting to take any potion for it, she decided to sleep it off.

Severus and Hermione looked around the room but didn’t see either Odin or Sage.

“Albus, where are the children?” asked Hermione.

“They finished their supper and went to bed,” said Albus as he continued to stare into the flames.

Severus and Hermione walked out of the room. Before they reached the stairs, Severus stopped abruptly. He found it odd that his children should go to bed of their own accord. They often complained about having to go to bed so early. To his horror, he realized they might have gone back to the dining room.

“The transcript,” said Severus, alarmed. He turned and ran towards the dining room, with Hermione running closely behind him. They stopped at the archway opening to the dining room and saw their children, sitting at the table and looking through the transcript.

“Odin, Sage, give me that. You shouldn’t be looking at that!” Severus walked in and quickly snatched the document from the table. Hermione gasped as she realized her children had been looking through Lucius’ accounts of his actions as a Death Eater, some of which involved their father.

Odin looked sadly at Severus as Sage spoke.

“Why does Uncle Lucius hate us?” asked their daughter.

“Why would you say that?” asked Hermione as she sat next to Sage, while Severus sat on the edge of the table next to Odin.

“In these pages, it says that Uncle Lucius hates Muggles and Mud…Mudbloods.” A tear fell down Odin’s cheek as he spoke to his father.

Severus sighed deeply. He’d always planned on telling his children some parts of his past. They deserved to know the truth about their father’s past, but he never thought he would be doing it so soon; they were only seven and eight years of age.

“That’s what we are, isn’t it, Daddy?” asked Sage.

“No, don’t you call yourselves that ever again!” said Hermione, as she smoothed down her daughter’s hair. “Your blood is just as good as any pureblood’s, and there isn’t anything wrong with it.”

“Children, when your Uncle Lucius and I were young, we did many foolish things that we wish we could take back. He doesn’t hate you. What you read was something said by a man you have never met.”

“I don’t understand,” said Odin.

“It is hard for even adults to understand. But one day, when you are a little older, we will explain it to you. You will both be attending Hogwarts together. That’s a few years away. I promise, before you go away to school, I will tell you these things I have kept from you.”

“Why can’t we know now?” asked Sage.

“Because, I want you to love me for a few more years yet,” answered Severus.

“We’ll always love you, Daddy, no matter what!” yelled Odin and Sage as they lunged at their father, hugging him tightly.

Severus looked at Hermione with a sad look in his eyes. His children were smart. He hoped that when the time came, they would understand and forgive him.

“Hey, what about me?” asked Hermione, as she tried to lighten the mood. “I need a hug too.”

The children turned and hugged their mother, and allowed their parents to walk them to their rooms. The children still seemed bothered with what little they had managed to read, so their parents allowed both children to sleep in the same room that evening.

As Severus and Hermione left their children tucked into their beds and shut the door, the two smaller Snapes began plotting.

“I can’t believe what a butt Harry is,” said Sage angrily.

“I know. We saw Harry open that thing; he said he wanted it to convince Ginny that Uncle Lucius is no good for her. I’ll bet he put it someplace where Ginny would find it. Did you hear all the nasty words Uncle Lucius was saying to him? And he told Harry he was jealous,” whispered Odin. They had overheard the conversation after their parents told them to leave the dining room.

“Harry wants to ruin everything. If Uncle Lucius is sad, then he won’t take us to Disney World!” yelled Sage.

“Shh…Harry won’t do anything,” said Odin, quite sure of himself.

“He’s got to go away.” Sage looked to her older brother. “Do you have a plan?” she asked.

“Not yet, but we’ve got to get Harry away from here. We’ll take that passage we found to the dungeons tomorrow. I’m almost sure one leads to the potions lab. There’s bound to be books in there with plenty of ideas.”

“Odin?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Mummy and Daddy would be angry if they found out we had anything to do with Harry leaving?”

Odin turned to his sister.

“What makes you think they’ll find out? We’re Snapes. We never get caught.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.