Snape grimaced as he slowly made his way towards his dungeons. He could clearly tell why Pomfrey wanted him to remain in bed for another week, but he'd go crazy if he spent another minute in that godforsaken place. It was one thing to have Minerva and Albus fussing over him, but add Pomfrey on top of it and you had a first-class nightmare.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? You're not escaping, are you, Severus?" Salazar Slytherin said from his portrait that guarded Snape's quarters.

"Say a word, and I shall place you next to the Fat Lady," Snape growled as he limped towards it.

"And if I don't, I'll hear it from your little girlfriend."

"I am not dating her, Salazar!" he hissed.

"Perhaps not, but the way I hear it, you are responsible for the life that now resides in her."

The portrait quietly swung open and permitted Snape entrance, which he quickly (as quickly as he could with a badly injured knee) retreated inside. He held a hand out within seconds of entering his sitting area and sighed contently when a glass of his favorite liquor appeared. After the last few weeks he had, he could drink the entire bottle of Fairy Ice now.

"Eventually that stuff will kill you," Salazar spoke from a portrait that hung above the hearth.

"Not soon enough," Snape muttered before taking a swig. As it slid down his throat, he sighed.

"It's not as if you don't care for her, Severus."

Snape instantly glanced towards Salazar and gave him the fiercest glare he had. His feelings towards Aurora weren't the issue here. The fact that he thought he would have one person depending on him, not three, was the problem. With Harry, he knew how to handle him. He had been around teenagers most of his life. With the addition of a baby to mix, though, it just smelled of disaster. He took another swig of his drink, wishing it were all a dream. That he hadn't just learned hours earlier that he was to be a father. That it hadn't forced him to confront his feelings now. While the strong liquor helped to numb him, it didn't help to change anything. He'd still be an expecting father, and those annoying feelings would still be there when he regained his senses later. However, the hope was what counted in this case.

Exactly, forty-five minutes later, a very blurry person yelled with a distorted voice, "We…problem."

"Eh, get…line," slurred Snape back.

"Oh, so…how the great…Snape deals…problems," snarled the blurry figure. "If you…this up, you're going…like Tobias."

"Leave…alone," he slurred with a half attempt of a growl.

"I can't…know…you…bastard."

Snape had to focus syllable by syllable to make sense of the words. When he finally was able to put the words together in coherent sentences, he had forgotten what he was responding to exactly. He stared at the figure that he couldn't make out in the slightest. It looked familiar and sounded familiar, but his mind was full of a hazy fog from the Fairy Ice.

"I…you…right?" he slurred.

"I see…alcohol didn't affect…in…slightest, Severus," drawled the figure. It then sighed heavily before placing a hand on his upper arm. "Come. Let's…bed."

That phrase made perfect sense in his mind. Unfortunately, it was not what the figure meant. Then again, alcohol always did make idiots out of people. Snape instantly shoved the figure away roughly before trying to stand up. The sound of a high pitch squeal made him grimace, but he ignored it.

"NO!" he shouted sounding for the first time sober during this encounter. "Bed Aurora, not you," he slurred drunkenly. He had to make the figure understand that he couldn't be with whoever it was.

"Severus, it's…right," the figure replied quietly before attempting to touch him again.

"NO! You understand not. Must bed Aurora, not you," he repeated. "She's one, not you. Mine," he possessively stated. "She's mine! She's always mine! Like," he slurred with a hint of a smirk while holding a hand to his abdomen and rubbing it tenderly.

"Okay. I…stand."

Snape nodded fiercely before he heard a clinking to his left. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the sounds. It also sounded familiar, but he couldn't place the sound. More clinking followed before he felt a hand on his chest.

"Better…drink," the figure said while holding out a potion bottle.

Snape was trusting, which only gave further proof that he was extremely drunk. He took a quick swig of it, expecting it to be more of his Fairy Ice. It wasn't, though. Instead, a spicy taste similar to pepper jack cheese greeted him. The fog quickly lifted, and he felt his heart plummet when he noticed Aurora Sinistra staring at him with a look of concern.

"I—"

"Save your apologies for when they matter, Severus," Aurora quickly replied. "Now, can you understand me? Or should I give you another dose of your potion?"

"No. You may speak."

"As I was saying earlier, we have a problem concerning Harry, Severus. He wants a family, and he's planning on doing whatever it takes to get one."

"I see, and you believe this to be an unhealthy wish?"

"It's more of an obsession, Severus. He virtually told me that he's willing to manipulate you into being with me. His exact words were 'I have her eyes.' That's not normal, and it's not healthy."

"I shall speak with him about this matter then," Snape replied before bowing his head.

"And what about our problem, Severus?" she asked quietly. "Are you just going to hide out in here and continue to drink it all away like Tobias?" The hurt was evident in her voice even though she tried to cover it up masterfully."

"I apologize for my behavior," Snape repeated while bowing his head. "I…I must admit that I am unsure of…the nature of our relationship now."

"We don't have one. I believe that was the beauty of this agreement of ours, Severus," Aurora responded coldly. "Well, that was until I screwed up your perfect little plan, isn't it?" She then scoffed harshly. "What if it had been Harry who found you in here drunker than a skunk? What do you think he'd think if he saw you?" She then shook her head. "Harry wants to belong to a family. He is more than willing to manipulate you into one, and here you are drunk and doing your best to screw that up. How stupid must I be for thinking you were better than Tobias?" She then whirled around and stormed out.