To The Hunt!

Severus knocked impatiently on the Longbottoms' door. It opened slowly and Luna appeared, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Professor," she said serenely as she opened the door wider to give him entrance. He strode in, his rage near the boiling point.

"Mrs. Longbottom, I have no time for pretense or formality. You should know that I have discovered Alice is my child, and I demand that you release her to my care. Pack a bag of necessities, and we shall leave."

"Alice is not here, but visiting her great-grandmother. Perhaps you would like to talk now? She won't be back for another hour."

Snape sat down on one side of the couch with a flourish. "Fine," he snapped. "You can start with why after all these years, I never knew I had a child?"

Luna was unfazed. "I believe Hermione should answer that question, Professor," she replied as she poured herself some tea. "Tea, professor?"

"No," he growled. "And I don't give a damn about whose story it is to tell! You and your husband have been deceiving me for ten years, and I demand satisfaction!"

Luna sighed and began to talk. "I knew Hermione had been pregnant before she did. I confronted her, and she permitted me to perform a pregnancy test on her. She was terrified. By the time this happened, she had already been four months along. She was nearly six months along by the time school ended. So, when we left Hogwarts, she told Harry and Ron she was going to Australia to be with her parents. Hermione lived with us at Gran's until Alice was born. She gave her to us, and we all had agreed on her name. Hermione left to recuperate at my Dad's after that with Gran. She went to Australia, and then we heard about her coming back to Europe and her shop in Paris. But we've not seen her since the day she left us. That was three days after Alice's birth."

Snape sat while his ire grew to a proportion he felt was impossible for him and not have a stroke. "As fascinating as this all is, why in the hell was I not told? Why was I not informed?"

Luna looked at him innocently. "I would be interested to know how you are convinced you are the father?"

Snape's lips spread into a malicious smile. "I have known since days after your return to Hogwarts that she could not possibly be your child. The day she came to apologize to me when she had been four, she smiled as did you and your husband. She revealed a dimple that neither you nor your husband possess."

"Why did you keep your silence?" Luna asked as her brow furrowed.

"It was none of my affair; besides, I had no clue then as to who the parents might have been."

"What changed your mind?" Luna prodded. "How did you know Hermione was my daughter's real mother?"

"I hardly think you are a position to question me, Mrs. Longbottom. Suffice it to say some intuition on my part, coupled with Auror Potter's observations, brought me to a confession of sorts by Miss Granger's assistant in Paris. Now, what I would like to know is exactly why I was not told? Did she not know who the father had been? Was she too afraid to try and find out? No doubt she informed you the situation surrounding the conception."

"Yes," admitted Luna. She sat down with her tea and paused to blow on the hot liquid and take a long sip.

"Although Hermione knew, she was terrified as to your reaction, if you would call her a liar, due to the improbability of such a conception occurring. She also had a very difficult time hearing the others laugh about you taking another woman upstairs in such an enthusiastic manner while she lay crying and bleeding on a prison cell's dirt floor."

The earnestness in Luna's eyes took a great deal of starch out of Snape's indignation. He felt much of his anger dissipate from him. He lowered his head and let his hair hide the profile of his face from her.

"Many things were expected in the line of duty. It had been as much of a personal humiliation to me as it had been to Miss Granger."

Snape's voice grew quiet. "The girl was left in the dungeons after I took my leave. Later, I discovered by Avery's confession before he had been given the Dementor's Kiss that if we searched the manor house, we would find her body there. I went to his manor house and there had been nothing. Other pieces of information came to light, and I believed her to have been Hannah Abbott.

"Potter had more," he continued as he rubbed his weary eyes. "He had pieces of information that filled in the gaps...there can be no other conclusion."

He looked unblinkingly into Luna's eyes. "Will you deny it? Will you tell me she is not my daughter, that Hermione Granger did not give birth to my child?"

Luna remained calm and sedate. "I won't deny it. I knew we wouldn't be able to keep her forever. Either Hermione would return and assert her rights as the child's mother, or you would figure it out and take her away from us. Even if that never happened, we were sure Alice would find out. She's very intelligent, so curious, you see."

Severus continued to glare at his former student. "Why?" he raged. "Why would she not tell me? Why could she not come to me for help? Am I such a monster in your eyes...in all of my students' eyes...that I am truly such an evil person to reject my own flesh and blood?"

Luna shook her head. "She was terrified. Gran was adamant about how life would be for Alice. The war may be over, but the old prejudices remain. Alice's mother, a Muggle-born, her father, a Death Eater, spy, conceived outside of marriage in a terrible, tragic way. Hermione was so overwhelmed, so confused. It broke her heart to give her away. I think that is why she's never returned. She sends letters and gifts to Alice, but Hermione has never laid eyes upon her since she was a newborn," she confessed.

Severus stood up and took a deep breath. "I want you to know, to believe me," he began to say, "that I, ignorant of all of this, have been trying to court Miss Granger. Her reputation as a businesswitch in my field intrigued me and coming face to face..." Words failed him and he turned to face the witch with pride and dignity.

"I have worked hard to gain entrance into her life. I want to continue to do so. I need for you and your husband to start telling Alice that she was adopted but that she was given up reluctantly, and her true parents have grieved in silence for her own protection. Tell her it was for her safety, for her life, to hide her away. I want Alice to know she was wanted. Is that clear?"

Luna nodded slowly. "Yes, Professor Snape. And if questions are asked?"

"You tell her she will hear the answers when the time is right. Deny her now, but promise her she will know everything in due course."

He strode back to the door, wrenched it open and left. He was ill. This was a nightmare that he could not process. There was only one thing to do. He had to go see Potter.

***

After the two wizards told of their discoveries, eyewitness statements, the demise of Hannah Abbott and of Luna's confession, they sat silently as Ginny wept softly. Harry rubbed her back, and Severus was frozen, looking into the distance. Finally, he rose from the chair he had been sitting on and walked out the door.

He didn't have much hope for a happy future. Alice probably would not wish to be taken from the only parents she knew, and once Hermione came back from Kiev, Thérèse would not hesitate to tell her that he had mind-raped her. Hermione would never allow him in her presence again. It wouldn't matter that he had fallen for her before he knew...she wouldn't believe him...and he wouldn't be able to fault her. He could see her fading deeper into the darkness of loneliness. Perhaps she would come to England to see her child from a distance...but there would be no family...no future for him and Hermione.

Now, he was faced with having to tell Hermione the truth. He could see it now, the spark would die from her eyes and the shame, humiliation, and anger would erupt, drowning them both in the despair of it all.

***

He returned to La Chasseresse to make peace with Thérèse. He walked into the shop and when she saw him, she hexed him with a Petrificus Totalus Spell and stood over him.

"You piece of shit!" she spat at him. "You think because I have Veela blood running in my veins that I don't have any brains in my head? I could kill you now, and no one would ever find your body. In fact, that sounds like a good idea!"

"Accio wand!" she shouted with a smile on her face. Severus' wand shot straight into her waiting palm. She placed each foot of her long legs on their sides of his thighs. Her use of her sexuality to impress her dominance over him was interesting. If Severus could, he would have smirked. It was so very... Bellatrix.

The part-Veela witch stood straight and tall with her purple eyes blazing like fire and her lovely teeth turned into sharp points like a vampire. Her face elongated slightly, just enough for her to look downright predatory. She pointed her wand at his head, grinning viciously as she gazed upon his frozen form. "Yes, I think I shall kill you, then transfigure your corpse into a beautiful necklace that I shall wear when I am walking down the promenade," she growled in a terrible, horrific voice, so unlike the lovely tone with which he was accustomed.

She crouched lower and whispered dangerously, "However, I shall give you one chance to explain why you violated me so ruthlessly. If your answer does not please me, you will die."

She rose and stepped away from him, keeping her wand trained on him and her fingers wrapped tightly around his.

"Sit!" she snarled as a chair from the side of the room skidded forward and banged against the backs of his knees, forcing him to sit.

She sat elegantly behind Hermione's desk, vanishing all paperwork from the impressive mahogany desk. "Speak!" she barked.

"Thérèse," he began deeply, "please allow me to express..."

She silenced him with a flick of her wand. "I do not wish to hear your feeble apologies! Just get to the reason why I should not kill you this minute!" she hissed.

Impressed with her ability to control a volatile situation, he went right into the crux of the matter.

"It has come to my attention that I fathered a child with Hermione. I needed to know without a doubt, so I came to you. When you said you could not speak of it, I knew there was only one way for me to gain the information and not risk harming your life. I know what I did was wrong. But this is my life...my daughter...that had been hidden from me. I must confront Hermione, but I cannot as long as she thinks she can slip out of the situation."

Thérèse narrowed her eyes. "So, you are the reason she never accepts the favors of men? What did you do to her?" she demanded.

Severus lowered his head and explained everything: his identity as a spy, the infamous birthday party, the girl with the muslin bag on her head, and a branding of a "V" on her back like all of the other victims of the Dark Lord. He even told her of the eventual discovery of Hannah Abbott's body in a shallow grave, and his grief, self-hatred, and inability to find the girl even after the confession from Avery, the wizard who had orchestrated the entire plot...it all came out.

Thérèse lowered her wand, but did not sheath it. "So, unknowingly, you came to Paris, looking for Miss Granger. Why?" she asked, looking at him with suspicion.

"I was at a Symposium for Potion makers in Moscow when I heard reports of a young, beautiful upstart who was taking over the clientele of Wizarding Paris. They called her 'The Huntress' or La Chasseresse. I knew it had to be Hermione Granger, and once her true name was spoken, I was infinitely curious. She had been my student and the talent, intelligence, and the brashness were just as I had recalled from her school days. Tenacious, some would call her. She was an insufferable know-it-all, and I had told her so more on one occasion," he admitted.

"But the idea that she was a woman now, taking on all the stuffed shirts and old guard of Paris was too intriguing to let go. I had to meet this 'Huntress' and see if she had been my old student. I never knew it had been Miss Granger I had violated all those years ago. If I had, I never would have tried to approach her, except only to discuss the welfare of our child."

Thérèse sighed. "Well, it would seem your story makes some things rather clear. Her sadness when she sees small children, the revulsion and obsessive need to keep herself distant from men...except for Monsieur Valois, of course."

"The old gentleman?" Severus mused. "Hermione told me he created her."

Thérèse smirked. "Mlle. Granger does not give herself enough credit. Philippe Valois is the wizard who orchestrated the coming together of the old and new, as it were, of the potions world here in Paris. He applauded Miss Granger's propriety in her dress and deportment, and he procured an elite dressmaker to fashion her signature look. Miss Granger told M. Valois that she would not try to compete in a man's world like a man. She was determined to do it as a woman. It is rather unsettling for most men to deal with her on a business level, especially when she refuses to deal on any other! She is a steel trap behind pearls, a shark in silk hosiery and a snare in garter belts. All Miss Granger needed was a sponsor, a strong financial backer who would vouch for her skills in the business world," she explained.

"I do know that she confides greatly in him. If she has ever told anyone about her having a child, M. Valois would know. He would also be able to aid you in a discussion about it. This is not something you talk about over dinner. This would have to be done respectfully, gently, with grace, and carefully approached. I know Miss Granger, Professor Snape. She is not a woman to fear leaving a situation that feels threatening or uncomfortable. I have seen her do it without reason or apology. And she never makes a scene."

She produced Monsieur Philippe Valois' card and Snape's wand. "His assistant is Jules. Do not ask to speak directly with M. Valois, rather ask for an appointment. It would not hurt to drop information about your intimate relationship with his cousin, Lucius Malfoy. Make sure you extend your sympathies to M. Valois for having such an ass for a cousin, or something to that regard."

"Madame," he replied as he sheathed his wand and pocketed the card, "I am a Slytherin. I know all about how to manipulate a conversation to my advantage. Good day."

***

A/N: Oh, Severus! Will he ever learn some humility? He'd better, or there will be nothing left to bury after Hermione rips into him. Many thanks to karelia, Maria, and Beth who continue to help and advise me. Please review!!!