The Christening

This is a story by the great Marisol, a German FF writer whose stories can be found at http://www.harrypotter-xperts.de/fanfiction?author=17037

Translated from German into English by Muggline

Disclaimer: Neither Marisol nor Muggline are making any money out of this. Everything you recognise belongs to J.K.Rowling.

A/C: Thanks to our wonderful beta, ladyinthecloak, who is extremely patient while I am confusing German and English punctuation as well as American and British spelling over and over again... (I am German, just like Marisol.)

Chapter 2

It was the first of December, a bitter cold but sunny day, and the Potters' house was bustling with activity. While Ginny was busy dressing James in a nice, dark-blue jumper Grandma Weasley had given him, Hermione carefully took the decorations out of Harry's hand and distributed the flowers and garlands all over the room with a flick of her wand.

"Thanks, Hermione." Harry grinned. "I am simply no good at these things. Everything seems to be ready, right?"

Hermione nodded while looking around, and then she said quietly, "I just cannot believe that he did not come."

"It's okay, Hermione – Neville has owled that he would be a little late."

"I am not talking about Neville," she answered and took a seat at the beautifully laid table.

Harry, who could not fail to notice that something was wrong, took a seat next to her and asked, "What exactly are you talking about?"

She sighed. "I went to see Snape. The same day you visited him. I tried to talk to him again."

"You have... "

She raised her hand in a silencing gesture and hastily added, "Yes, I told him it would mean very much to you if he became Albus' godfather. You had not even told him the name of the boy." She cast him a reproachful glare.

"Because he wouldn't let me! Hermione, he threw me out as soon as I had said but one word about the battle!"

"Can't you understand that, Harry?" she asked him quietly. "When he gave you these memories, after he had been bitten by Nagini, he thought that he would die. He placed his most personal, intimate secrets in your hands – his love for your mother. Moreover, when you faced Voldemort, you hurled them at him, and everybody heard it. Harry, don't you understand what this means for a man like Snape? He never wanted anyone to know about his feelings or why he chose to turn his back on the Death Eaters."

Harry stared at a point on the wall behind her and said nothing.

"You know the things he put at risk," she continued. "He did not only protect you, he protected the whole lot of us. You have been and you still are the walking, talking spitting image of your father, the man Lily decided to be with. Still, he always managed to overcome his hatred for you in times when it really mattered – he always made sure that you stayed alive. He always ran the risk of Voldemort looking right through him."

"I know all of this!" Harry interrupted her impatiently. "I know what we all owe him. That is exactly why I wanted him to be Albus' godfather!"

"I wrote him, you know... ," said Hermione. "Over the last few days, I sent him an owl almost every day to make him see the reasons why you want this."

"What was his answer?"

"None at all," she sighed. "I fear that all he wants is to be left alone... "

There was a long pause. They listened to the sounds of Ginny chasing James around the house because he had somehow managed to pour pumpkin juice all over his new jumper.

Slowly, Harry said, "Sometimes, I ask myself... " He felt quite silly, but he knew that Hermione would understand exactly how he felt. "Sometimes, I ask myself... if things had been different then, if Snape had acted differently and ditched his Death Eater pals for my mother... In the memories he gave me, you know – I thought that he really mattered to her. He was her friend, the first person to acknowledge her magical abilities and the first person with whom she could talk about them. Maybe she would have fallen in love with him then. Maybe she would not have married Dad, but him. Maybe they would have had a child together. Hermione... sometimes I have this crazy and completely silly notion that I could have been Snape's son... " He blushed after speaking those last words, but Hermione did not laugh.

"Harry, don't you think," she answered quietly, "that he might have had that very same idea on every single day of his life?"

oOoOoOoOoO

Apart from Ron, all invited guests for the small ceremony were already there when the small, bubbly man from the Ministry asked, "So, shall we begin?"

Harry and Ginny nodded, smiling and observing Neville, who nervously looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. The doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be Ron. Could someone please answer the door?" asked Harry.

Molly stood up and went, looking grim and murmuring in an undertone: "Oh, he's in for it – just being late like that... "

"Very well, very well," murmured Mr. Tybbit, when he heard the door slam shut, "so we can start now." He cleared his throat, glanced at a piece of parchment and started reading in a voice he probably considered ceremonial. "Who among those present has agreed to be godfather or godmother to Albus Severus Potter, to protect the boy and to act on behalf of his parents in the case of their demise?"

In the instant where Neville should have said, "That is me," everyone suddenly heard a calm, velvety voice declaring, "That would be me, I am afraid."

Every head turned to see the person who had spoken.

Pale, emaciated and without any visible facial expression, Severus Snape stood and looked at Harry, who stared back in bewilderment. All the other guests did the same, but Hermione was the only one smiling, and surprisingly, it was Neville who talked first, asking, "Erm, Harry, what is happening here?"

Harry kept looking at Snape and said, "Neville, can I talk to you for a moment? I need to explain something to you... "

oOoOoOoOo

Mr. Tybbit was quite confused when Ginny explained the situation to him, but he was prepared to continue the ceremony without further ado. Severus Snape – of course the name meant something to him! He had been among the spectators when Snape was acquitted of all charges regarding the murder of Albus Dumbledore, but he had never again heard or seen anything about him.

"Very well, very well. The circumstances have changed somewhat, but since everybody is in the picture, I think we may continue. Mrs. Potter?" he said, gesturing towards the baby with a nod.

"What? Oh, of course," said Ginny. Then she went to Snape, hesitated for a short moment and held out the child for him.

It was the first time ever that Hermione saw her former teacher at a complete loss. Clumsily, he extended his hands, and it became obvious that he had never held a baby in his arms in his whole life. His face held the typical expression of men who have absolutely no clue how to hold such a thing without breaking it.

Albus Severus started making whimpering noises, but Ginny was undaunted and showed Snape what to do. The child calmed down instantly and Hermione suddenly realised that all the people around her were holding their breath just like her.

Molly leaned over and whispered, "Did you know about this?"

Hermione hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded.

"Harry told Arthur and me that Severus had turned him down when he asked him," Molly said, baffled.

"It seems that he has made up his mind," answered Hermione with a mysterious smile and raised her eyes towards Snape again, who stared into Albus Severus' little face with utmost concentration. He did not even look up while answering Mr. Tybbit's questions.

Snape with a baby in his arms – it was a sight she never thought she would see. Just like a misplaced piece of a puzzle.

She could not help but giggle when Albus Severus woke up and got hold of Snape's prominent nose with a movement of his tiny little hands. His godfather, however, did not seem to mind at all – maybe because he got the first chance to see the baby's eyes, which were a familiar shade of green.

oOoOoOoOo

The subsequent meal started in tense silence, but Molly quickly managed to get the conversation going, and Bill, Fleur and Arthur eagerly joined in. Every now and then, Molly would try to include Snape, whose answers were polite and reserved; but he never took an active part.

Nobody could explain why Ron had not shown up, but they all blamed it on his heavy workload as an Auror, from which he had not been able to disengage. In secret, Hermione was quite glad that he had not come. Since they had split up more than one year before, being unselfconscious around the other was quite difficult for him as well as her, but she did not want to think about that just now.

In the early evening, the Weasleys said good-bye, and Harry, Ginny, Snape and Hermione were the only ones left. "Excuse me, please, I'll just take James to bed," said Ginny and rose from the table, leaving the others in awkward silence.

The ticking of the big grandfather clock in the Potters' sitting room had become quite loud when Harry finally cleared his throat and turned towards Snape. "I... erm... I am glad that you have changed your mind. It means a lot to me that you are my son's godfather now."

Hermione, who knew just how much willpower it had cost her best friend to speak those words, looked at him, unable to hide her pride. Suddenly, it dawned on her that she was in the way, that both men would probably be much more at ease talking if she were not present. "I will go and look what the little one is doing," she murmured and disappeared out of earshot to bend over Albus Severus' cradle in the adjoining room. Thousands of thoughts were on her mind while she observed the sleeping baby and imagined what Harry and Snape might be talking about. The idea that, after all those years of mutual hatred, they might manage to establish some kind of relationship based on respect caused a strange feeling of elation in her stomach.

She reached out to touch the baby's cheek very softly when she suddenly felt the presence of another person in the room. She turned around briskly and saw Snape standing close behind her.

He had been moving with the silent gait of a man who has learnt to feel at ease in the shadows. "I would like to say good-bye to my godson," he said very quietly, very softly.

Hermione stepped aside and watched him take the baby up in his arms. "Don't drop him." The words escaped from her as he clumsily placed the child in the crook of his arm.

"You see right through me, Miss Granger. Of course it was my intention to do just that," he said tauntingly. His black eyes fixed on hers for a moment, but then he turned his attention to the baby and observed him as if he wanted to memorise every detail of his little face. Finally, he put Albus Severus back very carefully and left the room, taking no notice of Hermione.

In the meantime, Ginny had returned to the sitting room and stood on the doorstep next to Harry. She said, "If you do not have any plans for Christmas yet... erm... Severus, we would be glad if you could spend it with us."

Apparently, it was quite difficult for Ginny to use his given name, but Hermione felt that her invitation had been honest.

"Yes," she heard Harry say, "just pop in and look how your godson is coming along." He extended his hand towards Snape, who finally took it.

Snape then nodded to Ginny with a hint of a smile and said in a noncommittal way, "Thank you for the invitation – we will keep in contact. I wish you a good night. Please let me know when the boy needs anything." He nodded again, neither unfriendly nor particularly warmly, and finally stepped out into the darkness, ready to Disapparate.

Hermione hastily said good-bye to Harry and Ginny and followed him, taking no notice of her friends' baffled faces.

"Sir, please wait!" she exclaimed.

He turned around and replied, "What is it now, Miss Granger? Is there another child somewhere that you consider in dire need of myself as his or her godfather?"

She shook her head. "Thank you, sir," she said very quietly.

All of a sudden, he took a step forward, startling her and making her take a step backwards. He grabbed her upper arms and said, "I should have known, Miss Granger. When I read that you had opted for a career in Magical Law, I could figure out that your argumentation, your stubbornness and your insufferable way of interfering in other people's business would make you one of the best in your field. Nevertheless, I had not expected to be affected by all of this myself one day. But you did put me right."

He released her just as fast as he had grabbed her, and his face was completely in the dark when he continued. "If I had seen just one more owl from you at my window, I would have strangled it. Sadly enough, I must confess that I had already made up my mind the moment you disappeared from my house. I hope that I will never again find myself in a situation where I have to confront your persistence. It would be detrimental to my self-confidence... "

She heard his voice as if he had spoken through some kind of fog when he mockingly wished her good night.

Then he Disapparated and left her bewildered and dazed, but with a sudden swell of pride.