Fifteen.
Chapter 15 of 15
SS LupinIt had started off as an ordinary night for the girl and him, until he received the news that threatened to erase ten years of quiet joy.
ReviewedDisclaimer: The following characters and places you recognize do not belong to me and are the property of JKR and her affiliates.
~*~
Another morning began with Marie waking Snape with her cheery voice.
“What now?” Snape gritted out, bringing his forearm to his eyes to block the sunlight that streamed into the room.
“I’m hungry.”
“Is anyone else awake?”
“Just us and Julie – but he doesn’t count.”
“And you and the boy are both incapable for producing some toast.”
Marie brought her hands together in a pleading gesture, which Snape ignored. She scrunched her nose and said, “This house is so new to me, and I wouldn’t want to break anything valuable or endanger anyone–”
“I suppose I must, given your reasoning.”
Marie grinned. “Thanks, Severus.”
“Go downstairs. I’ll be there soon.” He accepted a kiss on the cheek and, once Marie left, dressed in some Muggle clothes.
Several minutes of silent swearing later, Snape found all he needed to produce an adequate breakfast for Marie and the boy. Once he served the children and made sure they weren’t trying to harm each other, he went upstairs to shower.
Only, he realized at the landing, holding a ratty towel and a dusty bag of toiletries, that Hermione had never shown him to the loo and that there were no other doors besides ones leading to the various bedrooms she had pointed out to him.
“It’s downstairs.”
Hermione, her hair disheveled from sleep, pushed back the wayward locks halfheartedly from her face and pointed to the stairs.
Snape made no move, distracted by the movement of her arm, bringing him to glance down toward the rise of her breasts under her sensible cotton nightgown.
“I was just going there. I’ll show you the way.” Seemingly unaware of his stares, Hermione went down the stairs and led Snape to the only bathroom in the house.
“I’ll only be a minute,” Hermione said.
Upon her shutting the door, Snape decided to check on the children again. He knew what they could get up to when left unsupervised, and with these two…
They were eating peaceably, though they were almost unnaturally quiet. Both children looked up from their breakfast, Marie ready to ask a question if it weren’t for the food in her mouth.
“Swallow and ask.”
Marie did as told. “My book. Where is it?”
“In my room. You can get it when you finish.”
At the mention of a book, Julie’s eyes brightened. “What are you reading?”
“Little Women.”
Julie sneered. “That’s a girl’s book.”
“You’re one to talk. You have a girl’s name.”
Julie stood quickly, knocking down his chair. Marie stood with him in response, her face pale and pinched.
“I’ll handle this,” Hermione said from behind Snape.
“Perfect timing,” Snape muttered just as Julie cried out “Mum” and Marie “Hermione.”
He left the dining room for the bathroom, only to see a closed door and hear the shower running, accompanied by some off-key humming.
Snape resigned himself to wait, but not before knocking on the door sharply and telling Potter to hurry the hell up.
~*~
After toweling himself dry, Snape dressed and was midway through shaving when the door opened.
“Aren’t there charms for that?”
Snape ran the blade under the faucet. “Isn’t there something called knocking before entering? I’m starting to wonder, Hermione, if your reasoning for getting me to stay here was to attempt to catch me naked.”
“I thought you would like to see the lab.”
Snape finished shaving and rinsed his blade. “You thought right.”
The lab, located in the basement, was more than adequate for his work. Many shelves of ingredients and instruments lined the walls while two long worktables topped by cauldrons of different metals and sizes took up most of the lab’s floor space. A small desk and chair standing on the right hand wall and a sink on the wall opposite were the only other furniture in the room.
“It’s… fitting,” Snape said.
“Thank you for your approval. Now, if you will excuse me, I have more than a few Floo calls to make. I’ll have Marie send down the Daily Prophet.”
“Who do you need to contact?”
Hermione stiffened. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I need to call off from work today, ask Ron about the attacks–”
“What would he know?”
“Auror. Level C, if I’m not mistaken. He’ll know something about this fire business, more than what we could figure out on our own. And then I need to invite Molly over. She wants to meet her granddaughter, you know.”
“She must have a whole brood of grandchildren by now. What more would one make?”
“The child of her only, now deceased, daughter and the man she took in as her own son? Quite a bit.”
Snape grunted.
“I’m done here. I’ll watch Marie and Julie upstairs, and you can be a mad scientist in here for as long as you please.
Hermione left Snape alone in the lab with only the buzz of silence to accompany him.
~*~
Author's Note: This chapter was beta'd by the amazing Southern_Witch_69.
There's really no excuse for why it took so long to write this chapter - I apologize for my writer's block.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Recovery
55 Reviews | 5.95/10 Average
I just discover this story and I like it very much! I can't help but see it has been a while since who write it... Hope inspiration strike one day, until then I will wait I guess!!
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thank you! As of yet I haven't been able to continue, but I still have hope to finish, too.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thank you! As of yet I haven't been able to continue, but I still have hope to finish, too.
Glad to see the update. Looking forward to the next.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thank you very much! :-)
I loved the comment about Julie having a girl's name. LOL I've b een thinking that since I first saw it. Ahahaha
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I'm glad you did... I wanted him to have a 'distinguished' name, but to still keep the feel of him being a little boy. =]
The point is that I'm not getting this story. It seems like a slow, increasing agony for Severus. In the beginning, he had found a reluctant hapiness with a girl he 'almost' calls his own, then things become more complicated and he suffers. With each new introduced character (Harry, Julius, Ron, Millicent (oh, my!)), Snape's grip of his life is slipping ever so slightly more. He does not only have his new social interactions to deal with, he is threatened by some Dark organisation. What you set up in store for him is frankly astonishing. I sincerely hope you plan a happy ending, although I can't phanthom one just now.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Yikes... I think the one word that hit me was slow - I hope it isn't getting boring... First off, I hate angst or anything that has a character anguishing in horrible circumstances. I'm just thinking of Snape adjusting to post-war life in the Wizarding world, after being for the most part isolated for so long. It can't possibly be perfect, so this story is working with a flawed world that Snape is trying to make his own. Although, yes, Millicent is on the random side. If you have any other questions, please let me know. :-)
Well it was worth the wait. Your writing of the everyday happenings in a very crowded house is sublime.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thank you very much! The next chapter is being written.
Haha and wow! The laugh is for the arse comment and the wow is for being able to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Glad you liked the arse bit... silly humor has to enter my fics one way or another. ;-)And I take no credit for being able to spell it; I got up to 'fragilistic' when I gave up and looked it up online. Thanks for the review!
Fun chapter! This is quite an intriguing story. I'm looking forward to more.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Yay! It was fun writing it. More is up soon; thanks for the review!
I'm really enjoying this, especially the getting along.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thanks so much - the relationship between Marie's fathers is an important part to this story, and I really want to 'get it right.'
My, my, Snape seems to be softening towards Harry - are you setting this up for some spectacular row or something? :D
I had been wondering how you would handle things once Harry was released, and must say I really like the way you have them interacting.
More, and soon please :)
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
lol, they aren't out of the woods yet - more rows are up ahead. :-) The next chapter is in the works. Thanks for reviewing!
hehehe. I'm with Severus! At least it wasn't the whole Weasley lot! Now, I wonder what's next?!
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I really couldn't write them all with poor Snape... that will have to come later. I think I will be going back to the attack on the house in the next chapter.
Snape a father figure? - the poor girl! Nice start though. I look forward to the rest of it.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
He's definitely not the best choice, but it was part of the challenge. Thanks for the review!
Hey there!
I found this story over Southern witch's fic rec, and I love it - I like your characterizations, like Severus and Maries interactions and am definitely looking forward to more! Oh, and I can SO see Hermione doing what she did - for one cause she's overjoyed about Harrys recovery and then to help Marie - even if living with Potter sucks for Severus, I think it's a real chance for Marie.
Thanks for sharing!
Fran
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I was recc'd! :-)Thank you so much for your review; the next chapter should be finished soon.
Poor Severus. I feel so bad for him, and I'm rather upset at Hermione. Nice of her to tell Severus Harry was staying there until after he'd already moved in. I'm not much of a Harry fan, and I can only imgaine how Severus must feel, to know he's going to have to live under the same roof of Harry - who he definitely isn't fond of.Again, poor Severus. I'm almost hoping he leaves...But either way, I simply can't wait to see what happens next. Please update again soon! :)
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I really am writing Hermione as a she-demon, and I hate that - but I can see her being so excited about Harry's waking up that she'd become a zealot in trying to reconcile everyone. Besides, there may have been some deception on her part, so that Snape could move there in the first place. :-)Thanks for your review; the next chapter is in the works.
Ah, what a twist. ~snicker~ Can't wait to see how things work out. :)
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I do love my plot twists... hopefully, the next chapter should be finished soon.
I love Snape's response to Rita's question about being back in the wizard world.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I love the snark, too - thanks for reviewing. =]
hahaha. the image of severus running in the grass in a grey nightshirt (my mind added grey socks and the dew) is priceless. HAhaha 
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
lol, I'm glad you liked that image; I wanted a slightly a humorous contrast to Snape's escape in HBP. Thanks for reviewing!
I have my suspicions about these people. I must say that I feel so badly for them to lose their home and all the special things (like him reflecting on the loss of her first little artwork and such...). That would be what I'd hate to lose, too.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I know... my mother still bemoans the fact that she had lost/threw away some of my childhood creations :) Thanks for reviewing!
I've just finished reading all six of the chapters that are currently posted. I've enjoyed it because it reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of Masterpiece Theater, Silas Marner with Ben Kingsley as Silas. I just checked it out on IMDb and found out it was first shown in 1985, it certainly doesn't seem like I first saw it over 20 years ago.I had found the novel extremely boring when we were required to read it in 10th grade, but now it has become a favorite. Severus is a perfect Silas, and Marie has him wrapped round her finger just as Eppie had Silas. I love what I've seen of the relationship the two of them have.I'm hoping desparately that you won't turn the story into an SS/HG pairing. Not only do I hate that pairing, but it doesn't go with the story the way you've written it or the way George Eliot/Mary Anne Evans wrote it. It's a love story about a man and a child, about how that child changed the fundamental character of that man with the truly paternal love he developed for her. That's exactly what you have Marie doing for Severus.
I will be waiting for your next update.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Wow. This review was so amazing, and I had to look up Silas Marner because of it (I'm familiar with the book but didn't know much about it). I really do not know if I will write any 'pairings' in this story - characters and plot changes as I go along WIP style, but I do know that the main focus of this fic is the development of Snape's love for Marie. Thanks again for reviewing. =]
It was nice to have some background. What will happen now?
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thanks, I thought I was boring everyone to death with flashbacks... chapter 7 is being written; thanks for reviewing!
Strange ending. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
I know... it was a bit abrupt, but it will be further detailed in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Psychological suspense is what you're giving us, and I like it. Marie is very perceptive, isn't she?
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Psychological suspense? (squees at such an elaborate term for my fic) Thanks for your review. Marie is quite a perceptive character, but I imagine she's been seing Snape and Hermione interact quite a bit in her lifetime. =]
Ah, Hermione always trying to serve justly, without taking into consideration the consequences thereof. Harry really didn't need that shock and Severus shouldn't feel as if he needs to be on the defensive to save his relationship with Marie. Good thing that Marie doesn't have any of the hang-ups her two fathers have. Looks like she will be the glue to cement the future.
I like this story so far, very original. Looking forward to more.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Yes. I'm afraid Hermione might be keeping up that in the future.Thanks very much for your review - the next chapter's in queue.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this story plays out, so far i'm quite enchanted.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Aw, thanks alot! And I know this is random, but I love your username. =]
Response from lupinschewtoy (Reviewer)
Thanks. Now I just have to become inspired enough to get past the starting stage of two stories so other people can see how cute my name is. lol. Your story is still quite wonderful and I am looking forward to more chapters.
I like this beginning. I'd really like to see where you're going with this.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thank you for reviewing! =]
Your description of Snape's flight with Marie had me as breathless as he was. Well done job! now, I wonder what that phoenix was for.
Response from SS Lupin (Author of Recovery)
Thanks alot! As for the phoenix... I'm not telling yet. ;)