Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

There was something wrong in the Great Hall on September the thirteenth. The enchanted ceiling showed a clear sky just exposing signs of the night sky. The Great Hall was full of people talking to one another in blissful ignorance of that which was dreadfully wrong. It took all of his self-control for Severus to not storm out of the Great Hall and search the entire castle for those two people who were so discreetly missing.

Just then, the doors quietly swung open, and the two people whom he had just been thinking of walked in. The older of the two was bent slightly, holding the younger one's hand. They were whispering, and then the older looked up in laughter as they walked toward the childrens table. Jessica was dropped off at her seat, which was one of the empty ones that had been taunting Severus moments before. Hermione Granger's eyes seemed to seek his after she left Jessica, and he raised his eyebrow in curiosity as she walked toward him.

With her eyes locked on his, he was able to discern a calm determination in her stance. She walked with her head held high and a slight smile on her face. She walked around the table and slipped into the empty seat next to his.

"Good evening, Professor Snape," she said lightly, glancing at him as she poured herself a spot of tea. She pulled a small vial from her robes and tipped the contents into her drink. Severus watched her movements curiously, ignoring the itch to ask her just what she'd slipped into her own drink. As if sensing his gaze, she answered his unasked question. "I put a spot of firewhisky in my tea after a long day...surely I'm not the first staff member to do so?"

Her tone was light, and he couldn't help the quiet snort of laughter from escaping his lips. "You'd be surprised, Miss Granger. I happen to know for fact that Professor McGonagall requested years ago that the elves add a spot of scotch to her evening tea. Professor Flitwick prefers brandy."

"And you?" she asked flippantly.

"Before Jessica, I would wait until returning to my personal quarters, at which point I would settle down with a glass of firewhisky and a book or papers." He wasn't sure why he had revealed such a personal thing of himself to her, but shrugged it off as one of the many changes in his life since Jessica had found herself a part of it.

"And now, do you not indulge yourself?" Her eyebrow had risen in a weak but amusing imitation of him.

"Only on occasion...after Jessica has gone to bed."

"You are far more responsible than we ever gave you credit for, aren't you?" she asked rhetorically and went on without waiting for an answer. "I'm sure you're wondering why Jessica and I were late to dinner."

"I was," he agreed.

"Well, as we were cleaning up to prepare for dinner, Jessica approached me with an unusual request. She had her brush in her bag and asked me if I knew how to braid. I do, so I sent the other children along with a Prefect and brushed and braided her hair for her. I hope you don't mind?" Hermione bit her lower lip as though worried what his reaction would be.

Severus looked over to Jessica and saw what he hadn't noticed when they had walked in. Her hair was done in two neat braids. A sharp pain pierced his heart, and he had to work to school his features to remain indifferent. "I do not mind," he said after a moment, "but in the future I would appreciate being made aware if Jessica will not be at a meal on time."

Hermione nodded, and he noticed the relief in her eyes at having escaped any kind of anger from him. It nearly made him laugh, but remembering where he was prevented any show of outright delight. Turning back to her firewhisky-laced tea, she pulled a Cornish Pasty from the platter onto her plate moments before dinner was removed from the table and desserts came in their absence.

"You know," she spoke up after a few minutes, "I could teach you how to braid. It would mean a lot to Jessica, I'm sure."

Severus coughed once, raising his eyebrow more out of habit than anything else. "And what would Mr. Zabini think of that?" he asked, trying to mask his curiosity.

"Blaise... Well, Blaise is not an issue, but I thank you for your concern." Her voice was certainly not one of gratitude, but Severus let the subject of his ex-student go. After a few moments passed, she said, "The offer is on the table, though, should you ever wish to accept it."

They finished their meals in silence, though there was no tension between them. Severus thought back to her defense of him to Mr. Zabini and considered that perhaps there was more to Miss Granger than he had given her credit for. He decided then and there that he wanted to learn more about the witch, sensing that there was a growing fondness between her and Jessica.

* * *

Five days later found Jessica Augustus sitting cross-legged in front of the door to the dungeon hallway leading from Severus' and her personal quarters. Severus would be attending the hearing today, and she was so desperately confused at why it was even taking place. She and Maria had been orphaned in the war against Voldemort...it was a fact. They had no family, but she couldn't help her curiosity about why Mr. Blaise Zabini seemed to think otherwise.

She heard Severus leave his bedroom and watched as he checked that he had his wand concealed in his robes and the copies of the adoption papers in a small folder that he was taking along with him when he finally noticed her sitting Indian style in front of the door.

"I have to leave now," he said softly.

"I know." Her voice was soft as well, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were clear. "I just wanted to walk out with you." She paused and then added, "I really, really want to go to the hearing."

"We've already had this discussion, and I trust you will not suffer me to have it again," he said firmly, discouraging any argument. "However, you can walk with me to the grounds, and then you are to return here and stay here until I return."

Nodding, Jessica stood and pulled down her cloak from the rack next to the door. Wrapping it over her shoulders, she opened the door and stepped out, waiting for him to join her. They walked through the dungeon corridors in silence until they finally reached the somewhat warmer Entrance Hall. Once at the doors leading out to the grounds, the odd pair stopped, and Jessica looked up at Severus with wide eyes.

"Promise you won't let them take me away? I meant it when I said you are my family now." Her voice was every soft, and her eyes were filling with tears. "Please tell them that. I want to tell them myself, but I trust you." And suddenly her arms were around his waist in a display of affection that she had refrained from since coming to live with him, but had been craving.

She felt his hand on the top of her head, and she took a deep breath to rein in the tears. She would wait until she was back in her room to cry.

"Promise?" she earnestly pleaded with him.

Severus knelt down in front of her, took her chin in his hand, and looked straight into her eyes. "I promise," he whispered, a touch of emotion coloring his voice.

She watched him leave and sent out a prayer that everything would work out the way she hoped for it to. She didn't care if she had blood relatives out there. Severus had adopted her, and she was happy with him. All she wanted was for Maria to come live with them, and then she felt her life would be perfect. With a resigned sigh, Jessica turned to go back through the dungeon maze to her room when she saw Hermione walking down the stairs into the Entrance Hall.

"Hermione!" Jessica said, walking to meet her. Jessica noticed that Hermione's eyes seemed to light up at the sound of her name, and her frown became a small smile. Jessica's heart swelled just a bit, knowing that that smile was for her.

"Hey, Jessie. What are you doing here? I thought the hearing was today?"

"Severus said I'm not allowed to go," Jessica answered simply.

Hermione's brows furrowed, and she asked, "He does know you're supposed to be there, right? If they find that your adoption status needs to change, it will have to be done immediately."

"I... Well, I don't think he knew that. But it doesn't matter because I'm not leaving him! He may not be my dad, but he's been really nice to me. And he hasn't even tried to make me talk about what happened." There was passion in her eyes and her voice.

"What if you have family still alive?" Hermione asked her softly, moving to sit on the steps and motioning for Jessica to sit with her.

"The only family I have left is Maria and now Severus," she answered as she sat down. "Even if I might have other family, I don't know them. I mean, I know Severus now, and I just really don't want to have to get to know a new family." Her eyes were downcast, and she took a deep breath in the hopes of steadying herself. "Sometimes I just wish my mum and dad would have hid with me and Maria." It came out as an unmistakable whisper, and she felt a tear fall down her cheek. She hadn't told anyone what had happened the night her parents had been murdered...it was just too difficult to think about. Jessie felt an arm slip around her shoulders.

"I know, sweetheart. You know, Jessie, it's really important that you go to this hearing. I think they need to see that you want to stay with Severus. I know he said you're not to attend, but I would like to take you. I'll talk to him afterward."

Jessie shook her head adamantly. "No, I can't go. I told him I trusted him. If I go, it will mean I don't trust him, but I do, so I can't go." She looked at Hermione with tear-filled eyes. "Would you stay with me, though?"

"If you would like me to," Hermione said with a nod.

"I would."

Jessica watched Hermione stand up, dusting off the back of her robes, and reach a hand out to her. "What would you like to do?"

"Hmm." She accepted the outstretched hand and stood as well. "Could we go to the kitchens and get some ice cream?"

Hermione chuckled. "How do you know about the kitchens?"

"Daddy told me about them," she said simply. "He said all you have to do is tickle the pear and the house-elves are more than happy to give you whatever sweets you want. I always thought he was just making up stories, but then when I came to Hogwarts for the first time, I remembered everything he told me about the castle, and I realized it was all true. It sounds silly, but it was really magical the first time I saw it."

"Not silly at all," Hermione said reassuringly with a grin and a small shake of her head. "You know, I was raised in the Muggle world, so when I found out I was a witch, I read as much as I could about Hogwarts before coming here. But reading about it all in Hogwarts, A History and seeing it are two very different things. It was, and still is sometimes, a magical experience for me too."

Jessie's eyes grew wider. "You were raised in the Muggle world, too?" she asked in disbelief.

"I was. My mum and dad were so excited when we found out I was a witch," Hermione said, remembering with a fond smile. They were almost to the kitchens, and Jessica was chattering away.

"Wow. You know, my mum was a Muggle, but my dad was a wizard. When You-Know-Who came back to power, Dad took us into hiding because he was scared for Mum and me. I was just a baby, and Maria wasn't born yet. But Daddy always told us stories about magic and Hogwarts. He never hid his magic from us. But even his magic couldn't save us when the masked men came." Her voice had slowly dropped off.

She felt Hermione's hand lightly rest on her shoulder as they stopped in front of the portrait of the bowl of fruit. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but if you do, I'm here for you, okay?"

Jessica merely nodded, then reached up to tickle the pear, a small grin gracing her features when a handle appeared on the portrait. Almost immediately after the portrait swung shut behind them, they were ambushed by a horde of house-elves all scurrying about trying to be the one to serve them.

"We would like two ice cream sundaes, please," Hermione said after a moment. She motioned over to a small table in the corner, and Jessica moved to sit with her.

Once the house-elves burdened the table with two bowls of ice cream and all the fixings for sundaes, Jessica asked Hermione if she had had a chance to talk to Severus about learning to braid hair.

"I did, but he didn't say anything either way."

"Oh." Jessica's face fell slightly, and her voice held a trace of disappointment. "I was hoping he'd want to learn. It would mean so much to me."

"I could mention it to him again," Hermione offered.

Jessie's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, and Jessica smiled brightly, thinking that her plan was working out perfectly. She would have to remember to owl Molly the details of the progress of their plan.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter. It was such a joy to write it! I hope you all liked that Jessica is now having her POV shown, as she demanded it for the next chapter as well!

Chapter polished up on January 29, 2010. (Though there really wasn't much to polish! Just a few small alterations.)