By Any Other Name
Jan. 6th, 2008 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sapphirequillFor Phoenix Writing, for reasons too numerous to mention here
As ever, all rights to the world of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and a number of very large corporations, none of which is me, and I do not intend to make any money whatsoever from this endeavour.AU set during PoA
Thanks must be given to Tithenai and Phoenix Writing for their Beta-ing. Any mistakes which remain are, indubitably, my own.
Originally posted 6 Jan 2008
By Any Other Name
At the earliest possible opportunity, Severus informed Dumbledore and Sinistra that he would be leaving the property and that they would need to deal with any emergencies which might arise. He then stalked purposefully out of the castle to the Apparition point.
Once at his destination, he entered the cozy house without knocking and headed directly for the drawing room.
"I think it's time you explained."
1977 was a tumultuous year for the whole of the wizarding world, but few were affected as much as Severus Snape. His life changed drastically. Twice.
That summer, he pledged himself to Lord Voldemort. It wasn't that he agreed with the man's stance on Muggles (Severus knew he was superior and didn't need to destroy them to prove it), nor was it because he thought Muggle-borns or half-bloods were inferior (having had at least one Muggle-born friend and being a half-blood himself, that would have been hypocritical). The Dark Lord's utter disdain for blood traitors, on the other hand, was very appealing.
The second life-altering event occurred in the fall, when Perdita Wilkins arrived at Hogwarts.
At the Welcoming Feast in Severus's seventh year, Dumbledore announced the arrival of a new student, a seventh year, claiming she'd been previously home schooled, but her parents wanted her to attend Hogwarts for her final year.
Severus had been one of the students assigned to assist her in her transition – academically, in his case, rather than socially – and it had become very clear, very quickly that she had no need for a tutor. Her passion for knowledge was great, and she'd learned material that they wouldn't even be taught at Hogwarts. She very quickly became a study partner, for which he was grateful, since there were very few who could keep up with him in discussion of obscure Potions theory.
Her brilliance made it difficult for her to remain hidden in the background, and Lord Voldemort soon heard of her and was curious. However, no records of any kind could be found. To be able to study to the extent she had, she would have needed access to both an extensive library and strong wards to protect her from the Ministry's notice. Lord Voldemort was eager to know which of the pure-blood families had hidden her from him. Severus was instructed to get as close to her as he could and learn as much as possible. It was not a hardship. She was the first female with whom he'd felt comfortable since Lily had abandoned him.
The new student had also been sorted into Gryffindor, which made things difficult for Severus for several reasons. He was positive that Lily would warn her away from him, as would the Head Boy and his sidekicks, and he feared that the constant reinforcement of their arguments enabled by their close proximity would influence her. Fortunately for him, she was sufficiently intelligent to see through the arrogance of the seventh-year boys in her house and hadn't fallen for their charms the way the vast majority of the wizarding world had. Her dislike of Pettigrew was obvious to those who were looking for it, and she dismissed Black entirely as an immature bully. Potter, she ignored when possible. Lupin was the only one of the group with whom she would willingly spend time, though Severus had tried to discourage that. He'd even broken his word to Dumbledore and revealed Lupin's Darkest secret, but she'd merely smiled at him, told him she was aware of that, and suggested that it was a shame that there wasn't a Potions master adept enough to discover a cure or treatment to aid him. She and Lily became cautious friends as the year progressed, which necessitated time with James once the Head Boy and Head Girl began dating, but as long as he took care not to deride Severus in her presence, they could manage to interact amicably.
After graduation, things improved, for the most part. Severus moved back home until his mother died a few months later, then found a flat of his own not far from Perdita's and began studying for his Potions Mastery. He would have been happy to leave it at that, but others had different plans.
Perdita took it upon herself to see that he took some time to socialize.
Lupin was living with the Potters, but Black and Pettigrew had their own residences, making it possible to see Lily without the most abrasive of their group being present. That prompted Perdita to drag him with her when she visited without giving him a reason to decline that she would accept. It meant he was able to slowly reclaim at least a fraction of his long-severed friendship with Lily Evans.
In return, he demanded she assist with some of the more complicated brewing required for his studies, since she was well beyond his classmates in both skill and companionability. He'd considered dragging her to the interminably polite dinners he was invited to attend at Malfoy Manor but decided that would be punishment for both of them.
He knew, too, that despite the assumptions that had been made about her bloodlines – and as time progressed his suspicions increased that they were erroneous – she was not a supporter of the Dark Lord, nor would she be. They danced around the subject without discussing it directly, but her friendship with Lily and general defence of the underdog made it unlikely. She hadn't turned from him, though, once she saw his Mark, for which he was grateful. By then he'd known himself that he'd likely made a poor choice, but there was little that could be done at that point.
Despite his misgivings, however, he was rising steadily though the ranks of the Death Eaters, and the Dark Lord was pleased with both his cunning and his skills. It was Voldemort, Severus suspected, who suggested that Severus be named godfather to Lucius's newborn son. Neither Severus's status nor their level of acquaintanceship was sufficient to deserve that honour without some promise of future advancement.
It was at that time, for reasons that were unrelated, that his life began to fall apart. At Voldemort's urging, he'd applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. Why he was encouraged to do so, Severus was uncertain – it would, at best, gain them access for only a year – but he obeyed. He was turned down for the position but happened to overhear, at the time of his interview, part of a prophesy, which he reported to Voldemort, much to his regret. The events that unfolded as a result were legendary in the wizarding world and heart-wrenching to him personally. He'd warned the Potters and offered Dumbledore his loyalty in exchange for their safety once Voldemort had decided that the Potters were to be targeted, but nothing he did was enough to counter his enormous, unforgivable mistakes.
In the aftermath, Perdita had held him, even after she knew the role he had played, and she let him mourn for both his past, his best childhood friend, and his future, all that would never be because of a brand on his arm.
She'd allowed him a month to wallow, as she termed it, then had set upon him with a vengeance. She teased and taunted, nagged and prodded, and by Christmas he found himself continuing his work towards his Potions Mastery, assuming a position teaching Potions at Hogwarts, and asking the most exasperating witch he'd ever met to marry him. He'd never been happier, despite the guilt he still carried.
They were married quietly the following summer and found a small but charming home near Staines, not far from London. By mutual agreement, the largest room was converted into a cozy library, leaving them with a very tiny sitting room, but they entertained only rarely, so it wasn't an impediment. They could have found something larger elsewhere, but Perdita was partial to the area, and he did not have a location about which he felt equally strongly. It was less convenient when Severus was named Head of Slytherin and could not Floo home each evening, but by then, moving them both to Hogwarts was no longer an option, as they had the children to consider.
Severus had hoped to begin a family of their own immediately, but his wife had wanted time to establish her own career. While Severus didn't doubt that was true, he knew her well enough to recognize that she had other reasons for delaying which she chose not to share with him. He assumed she wanted to wait until the political climate had settled, and he couldn't blame her. He'd escaped Azkaban only because of the reverence in which the wizarding world held Albus Dumbledore, and relying on public opinion was a dangerous thing.
So it was eight years almost to the day after their wedding that Perdita gave birth to a son, Adrian Asclepius. He hadn't realized, exactly, the amount of work involved in raising a child, especially without house elves – something about which Perdita was singularly inflexible. He was relieved, therefore, that they had waited, both for the confidence and maturity that came with having been an adult for several years and because he had finished his Mastery by that point. Finding time to sleep was difficult; he couldn't imagine finding time to study.
It was the timing of their second child which was flawed, and that could have easily been prevented, had Severus devoted even a modicum of thought to the date. Draco traditionally spent at least two weeks of the summer with his godfather while his parents travelled, and the summer of 1991 was no exception. Despite Draco's excitement that he would be beginning Hogwarts in the autumn, Severus failed to register who else would be beginning his studies that September.
Unfortunately, while his complaints about the students, generally, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team in particular amused her while she was pregnant with their son, any mention of the Gryffindors made her burst into tears while she was pregnant with their daughter. Severus assumed it was the memory of Lily that set off the weeping, since her son and his friends featured prominently in the diatribes, and he was forced to keep them to himself if he wished peace in the household.
With the birth of their daughter, Dianella Jean, late in December, things settled again.
In the days after the Incident in the Chamber of Secrets, Lucius's blackmailing of the Board of Governors and his endangering of the Weasley girl were discovered, and he was arrested and sent to Azkaban. Narcissa, humiliated at her loss of status and the abandonment of society, was found in her rooms shortly thereafter, dead by her own hand. Without any family willing or able to contest, there was no debate: Malfoy Manor was closed up, and Draco was sent to live with his godfather and his family.
As expected, it was a difficult summer. Draco was thrust into an entirely new world and not under the best of circumstances. He mourned more for the loss of the familiar than for either of his parents particularly. Narcissa had had little to do with her son once Lucius decided to assume his upbringing, and Lucius was a difficult man to please.
The transition was made easier by the fact that Draco was fond of both Severus and his wife and by the fact that the rules in their household, though in many ways contradictory to those in Malfoy Manor, were less stringent and more consistent than those that Draco had known there. He pushed beyond those boundaries, of course, but that was to be expected. They compromised when possible and stood fast when necessary. That summer, Severus was grateful, more than ever before, for his wife. She seemed to understand the boy, making it easier for him, but she was no simpering miss, making it easier for Severus as well.
September brought its own challenges. Draco had adjustments to make – not only did he no longer wield the influence he once had with the threat of Lucius Malfoy, he was now saddled with the dubious honour of being the first child of a Hogwarts professor in recent years. Being that he was also a student in Severus's house, he gained power there, but he found his behaviour monitored more closely, since Minerva, as Deputy Headmistress, assumed the duties – primarily disciplinary – which conflicted with Severus's role of guardian.
That Christmas was difficult, as expected, but the younger children were useful for easing the tension. Adrian, particularly, was of an age to enjoy the holiday, and as he worshipped the new addition to the household, Draco was unwilling to spoil the occasion for him.
The only potentially deleterious moment occurred on Boxing Day: over breakfast, when asked about his classes at school, Draco described his Care of Magical Creatures professor as "pathetic."
Tolerance being a virtue his wife greatly espoused, it was not surprising that she gave the boy a long, serious dressing down. The two had clashed previously, the first and only time he had used the word "Mudblood" in her hearing. Aware that usage of the word was common in the Malfoy household, she had carefully tempered her instinctive reaction and had explained in a calm but firm manner that words of that sort and name-calling generally would no longer be tolerated. Draco had drafted a long list of words that he thought might be considered unacceptable, Severus added several others, and they had discussed when and why each could be considered inappropriate.
There was no doubt that had the boy been choosing his words rather than ranting thoughtlessly, he would have known better than to say such a thing, and that he'd done so in front of the children – both of whom, with unerring instincts, were gleefully repeating everything they shouldn't have heard – made his lapse all the worse.
Once Severus had successfully returned his children's attention to their meals, he followed his wife and godson to the hallway to rescue the latter, and he was certain the boy had shrunk visibly in the elapsed moments.
"The next time I hear you say that," she was saying as Severus passed through the barrier of the silencing spell, "you're going to be slapped."
His eyes widened. She'd never hit him before and had, in fact, been adamant that she never would. "But you said..." She put a finger to his mouth, silencing him.
"Do you intend to say it again?"
He shook his head quickly.
"Then you never need find out." She dropped a kiss on the top of his head and sent him upstairs to dress for their intended outing.
Severus had no fear that she would actually slap him: given her beliefs on raising children, beliefs she had proclaimed loudly and often, the idea was ridiculous. What scared him was her Dumbledore-like twinkle as she said it.
Four months later, he understood, though it took an embarrassingly long time to accept the truth. Once he'd translated Draco's frustrated tattling into a likely sequence of events, he'd attempted, in vain, to convince the headmaster to assign Miss Granger a punishment suitable for utilizing physical violence against a fellow student, and then he'd been forced to sit through an interminable dinner -- during which he glared, more malevolently than usual, at the Gryffindor table -- before he could leave the castle. By the time he Apparated to the house, however, he had been certain, and if he hadn't been, the look of trepidation on her face when he stormed into the room would have confirmed it.
The woman he'd married was his fourteen-year-old student.
