Crunchy Granola Suite

I just realized this morning that I had never uploaded this chapter to TPP. It's over a year old, so you may have read it (if you're following the story), so nothing new. But I am working on more!

Enjoy.

~*~*~*~

When Fortuna opened her eyes, it was Tonks that she saw in her daddy's chair, and she was confused.

"Hello, Miss Tonks."

The woman set her book down and smiled brightly. "Hiya, Fortuna. How you feeling, hon?"

Fortuna felt a little better, but she thought it was best to keep that information to herself for the time being. "I feel hungry. Where's my daddy? Did he leave me?"

Tonks was out of her chair and kneeling before Fortuna in an instant. "Oh, no, of course not! He just asked me to come and help him out for the next day or two, until your mummy comes home. Right now, your daddy and Remus are putting clean sheets on you and your brother's beds."

Fortuna wrinkled her nose. "Remus, too?"

Tonks shrugged. "He was at my place when your daddy called me. Now don't look that way, Remus thinks the world of you and your brothers."

Fortuna didn't like Remus very much. She heard her daddy tell her mummy once a long time ago that he was still trying to forgive Remus, and if he had to forgive him, then Remus must have done something very nasty. Her mummy, instead of making her daddy forgive Remus as she always did with Fortuna and her brothers when they got into fights, only told her daddy that she understood, and that she wouldn't press him. Fortuna knew then that Remus must have done something really bad to her daddy, and she decided that she wouldn't forgive him, either.

She did admit, though, during rare brunches, that Remus made the best waffles, and she hoped out loud that he'd make some while he stayed.

"I bet he will," Tonks said brightly. "Especially if you ask him nicely."

Tiberius woke up next, and Tonks ruffled his curly hair with her long fingers.

"That feews good, Miss Tonks," Tiberius said, yawning. "My head itches."

"Mine too," Augustus said. "And I'm hungry. Is Remus really going to make us waffles?"

"I think it's a good idea myself," Tonks said. "We'll see what Remus says. In the meantime, let's get your slippers on you lot, and get you all in your right beds."

Snape flicked his wand over Augustus's bed to turn down the covers when Tonks ushered the two boys in.

"Fortuna's in her bed, and Remus- I think the kids are all pretty unanimous on waffles for lunch."

"They didn't eat a stitch of breakfast," Snape murmured as he lifted Tiberius onto his bed.

"I was too itchy to eat bweakfast, Daddy," Tiberius said. "Now I'm hungwy, and I wants waffows!"

"I'll make you waffles," Remus promised, ruffling the boy's hair.

Snape had only one curly-haired son, and he noticed that people couldn't help but touch Tiberius's curls. Augustus had the same unfortunate hair and nose as his father, and his look of perpetual scowl was off-putting to most people until they got to know him. Snape felt grateful when Remus turned and gave the older boy the same attention, and Snape remarked to himself how fair Lupin could be if he so chose.

He knew of Fortuna's dislike for the werewolf. He heard her talking to her doll about it the year prior, and he had felt a great surge of love and pride for his daughter that he knew was wrong, yet he couldn't help but want someone on his side. Hermione would not press him to make amends with Remus, but she would not let go of her trust and love of him, either.

The adult part of Snape, the daddy part of himself knew that he needed to set an example for his children of forgiveness for past wrongs. The child in him always told the adult in him to bugger off, and the adult always did so, because the adult hated Remus as much as the child did.

He found Fortuna in her room, but instead of being in bed, she was standing on the chair of her child-sized vanity table, looking at her naked body in the mirror. He knew that the spots unnerved her, and they unnerved him as well. He felt powerless to help her, and he hoped that she and her brothers were ignorant to his feelings.

"You need to be in bed, my love, and you should have socks on your feet."

Fortuna turned to him and dropped her nightgown. "Why do I have spots, Daddy?"

Snape helped her into bed and took a pair of socks from her drawer, making sure to choose soft ones that would not irritate her skin more. "It's part of the illness. They'll go away after a while."

Fortuna seemed to accept this, so he sat back and took on the task of writing to his wife.

Fortuna ate her waffles while her daddy wrote a letter. She loved to watch him use his magic wand, when he summoned things. She wished she could perform spells as seamlessly as he and he mummy did, but all she ever did, even when she tried, was blow things up (like Augustus's fish), or set things on fire (Tiberius's hair). Things even sometimes hurled themselves at people she was angry at (she was rarely allowed in the kitchen when Mummy or Daddy were chopping things, and never allowed in Daddy's laboratory), but she had never actually managed to make something come or go when she wasn't in a temper. Her daddy always said that she would learn those things when she got her letter from Hogwarts, but that seemed like so far away.

"What are you writing, daddy?"

He didn't look up. "I'm writing to your mother about the three of you."

Fortuna frowned. "Will she come home from Latidah?"

"Latvia, darling. And no, not until Monday." He looked up and gave her a slight smile. "I know you want her here, but she needs to be where she is right now. I promise that Tonks and Lupin and I will all take good care of you."

Fortuna gave a pout. She didn't want Remus or Tonks to take care of her, she wanted her daddy. But then again, her daddy didn't read aloud quite as well as her mummy did. Daddy always got too involved in the book and would begin to read silently, as though he had forgotten about her. Her mummy always made sure that she could see the pictures, and she would hold her close while she read, and Mummy always smelled good. Sometimes Daddy would smell like the smoke from his laboratory, and she didn't like that smell. He especially smelled bad after he made Remus's potion that kept him from being dangerous.

She hoped it tasted bad and made Remus feel horrible after he took it.

"When is Monday, Daddy?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Is Mummy coming back in the morning, or in the night time?"

"In the morning, I hope."

Fortuna hoped so, too.

~*~*~*~

Snape stared at his ceiling, counting his good fortune. The children were fine, and though a little cranky from being forced to stay in bed, they seemed content. Hermione had answered his urgent owl with a note saying that she would stay where she was, and he congratulated himself on his sly wording. He had written a letter that told her the facts while glossing over the bad parts, and he made her seem missed and needed, without making her feel as though she would have to rush home the next minute. The best part, though, was that she seemed to think that he had called upon Lupin out of necessity, rather than him being simply a tag-along to Tonks.

Most importantly, Fortuna seemed to be missing her mother a bit. She had commented that Lupin did not fix spaghetti quite the right way, and that her mummy made the best meatballs. It was a small victory in the scheme of things, but Snape felt good about it.

"Daddy?"

He turned to see his youngest, eyes wide and innocent looking, standing next to his bed.

"Are you all right, Tiberius?" He lifted the boy up with him.

"I can't sweep, Daddy."

"Why not? Too itchy?"

Tiberius shook his head against Snape's chest. "Wemus and Tonks are praying weally loud, and I can't sweep."

"Daddy, Remus is killing Tonks," Fortuna said, coming into the room, and climbing on the bed.

The pieces started to fall into place.

"They're praying," Tiberius said. "That's why they keep saying, 'Oh God, oh God' and 'Pwease, God, pwease, don't stop!'"

Fortuna shook her head. "Tonks keeps screaming. Remus is hurting her, he hurts people like that when Daddy doesn't give him his potion."

Snape pushed Tiberius off of him and went into the hallway. He could hear the lovers clearly and shook his head in disgust. Clearly, not living with children made even a seasoned Auror like Tonks forgetful of silencing charms. What's more was that it was nearly one in the morning, and the children should all be asleep, and that grated on Snape. He gave them points for timing, but subtracted all of them and more for not being more careful.

He stopped at the door to the guest room and pounded hard before walking in without an invitation. The sight that met his eyes was almost exactly what he expected, and he sneered evilly.

"Were you aware, Lupin," he said conversationally, leaning against the doorjamb, "that as a wizard, you are able to cast a silencing charm on your room? Indeed, on yourself, if needed?"

Lupin stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Tonks, tell me, do you know what children think when they hear two adults copulating in the middle of the night?"

Tonks's eyes grew wide.

"No? Well, if you're Tiberius, you automatically think that the adults are praying. No harm there. If you're Fortuna, you think that the two adults are attempting to kill each other. Either way, if I were in your...position, I would certainly think up a very good excuse before the morning, as you will most likely be asked for one. Good evening."

Not waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and shut the door.

Hermione was going to kill him.

TBC