Special thanks to my beta and co author Lady Destiney for her help!  

We don't own anything but OCs and the Plot. everything else belongs to JK Rowling! 

 

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"Waaaaaa! Waaaaaaa!"

Harry started awake an it took a second for him to remember where he was...Ivy was up again. Harry had to blink several times before he was fully awake. Yawning widely, he put his glasses back on and stumbled out of bed, walking over to the bassinet.

“What is it this time, Ivy?” he asked the infant, albeit knowing that the little girl would not reply.

With great care he picked her up and began to check for anything that could be bothering her but finding nothing amiss, he came to the conclusion that she must be hungry.

As he picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her tiny form, he spoke, "Shall we head to the kitchen then?” It was oddly soothing talking to a little baby and Harry found that he rather enjoyed it.

"No need Harry, I’ve got the bottle for you.” Brenna said, walking into the room. Her hair was braided down this time and she wore a deep green robe with matching slippers. Her hand held the already warmed bottle.

Harry turned to her, “How did you know?”

"Call it Mum’s instinct," she replied wryly. "It's like a sixth sense that alerts me when a baby awakes. It's the same way how I found out you've not been sleeping very well."

She handed the bottle over to Harry after he had taken a seat in the rocking chair. While he fed Ivy, she sat on the bed.

“So, want to talk about it?”

Harry pretended to focus on the baby, ignoring the question. He had never admitted weakness to anyone (well, not counting Snape because really, one did not say no to the ferocious Potions Master), and especially not Snape’s wife. After several moments, he looked up at her but avoided direct eye contact.

"How did you and the professor meet?” he asked, mindlessly fiddling with Ivy's blanket.

Brenna sighed at the attempt to change the subject. For now, she’d let it go. She didn't really have any other option, seeing as she wasn't all that close to the boy to begin with. Not that she wouldn't try. Though for now, it seemed like this was the better way to go.

"Severus an I were betrothed from birth actually," she admitted. "It's a tradition in pure-blooded families.” Brenna scoffed for a moment then continued. "It is to preserve the bloodlines and unite our families. Not all Slytherins are stuck up, like the Malfoy prodigy. Neither Severus nor I liked the idea of it, and all throughout our Hogwarts years, we were bitter rivals. Not to the point hating each other, but hardly on civil terms.”

"We were always trying to out do the other, in Defense and Potions mostly. We bickered and we fought...and shared several detentions together, truth be told. Professor Slughorn, who was the head of house at the time, constantly had to separate the pair of us.”

"It was during our fifth year that we finally became allies, against the Marauders. They were always picking on Severus and for no good reason too!" Brenna looked furious, thinking about past injustices done to her husband. "He told me you saw the memories at the end of your Occulumency lessons.”

Harry nodded. “I never should have seen those memories. I wanted to apologize, but every time I tried to, Professor Snape always glared and walked away. He wouldn't even let me get my words out.”

Brenna sighed. "Yes, he vented to me all about it too. But the memories missed a key part. After he called Lily that...horrid name, I intervened."

"James still had him dangling in the air and he was so focused on Lily that I got my chance to hex him and it caused him to lose concentration and drop Severus, letting him get his clothes back in the right place. Black tried to intimidate me calling me an evil wench and I punched his face....It wasn't the same for a good couple of months," Brenna smirked, Snape-style.

"Severus wasn’t happy that I stepped in either. We argued about it once everyone had left and it ended with an agreement to be allies at least. Little did we know that it was the first step towards our future together.”

She paused to hand Harry a cloth so he could burp Ivy.

"Things went on pretty well, as far as I could tell. But then something happened to him in his sixth year that turned him anger and bitter against the world. He snapped at me a lot and in his turmoil said many things that a well raised wizard would never utter.”

"We fought again and again and then one day I finally retorted back, having enough of his selfishness. He was really shocked for a minute but it seemed like the breaking point for him. He was like a wounded cobra and only I could help him. Severus eventually told me what had happened. That was the turning point in our relationship. We stuck to each other, like glue on paper. And of course, like any other couple, we were gossiped about endlessly. I was never seen with Severus nor he without me.”

"Not that we really cared. We were both from old magical families. We’d been subjected to rumors from the moment we entered Hogwarts. The only students who dared to bully us were the Marauders but Severus was no longer one man against four. I suppose being there with him brought a lot of moral support and together we were definitely able to stand up against them. After that, sixth year was okay and studies took up all our times. We worked together this time around instead of trying to outdo the other and it benefited us both.”

"It was in seventh year that things took a turn for the worse. The Dark Lord was getting stronger and Lucius Malfoy was pestering us more then ever. The Dark Lord thought to recruit both of us so we could produce pureblood heirs for him.”

"We simply tried ignored him the best we could. Severus officially proposed to me, and I happily agreed. We were to be married a month after graduating. We used to have meetings with our parents every weekend to discuss wedding arrangements.”

There was a moment of silence where Harry tried to process all this new knowledge that had been revealed about the snarky Professor. Then he spoke,

"It's hard to imagine Snape like that. He’s always been this ruthless unforgiving git when I’m around.” Harry blushed, realizing that he was bad-mouthing his teacher to said teacher's wife! But it looked like there was nothing to worry about.

Brenna looked amused.

"He’s a potions professor, and when you teach it, especially to a class of dunderheads, you’ve got to be alert and tough on everyone to make sure nothing happens. Terrible accidents can occur when you aren’t careful and don’t pay attention, you know.”

Harry looked up as Ivy let out a big burp. He wiped her tiny mouth and held her in in his arm rocking her slowly.

"So I suppose he really does care then. It's just not as easy to realize. I guess that makes sense.”

The older lady smiled at him. “He does have a heart, but he’s been through a lot in his life. His mum, Eileen died during a potion’s accident. She was very angry when she brewed and in her anger and resentment, she added more ingredients then necessary. The cauldron blew up and critically injured her.”

"She was a very vindictive woman, who couldn't care that she was leaving her defenseless son to face the cruel world without a mother's love and instead of calling for help, she lay there and died. It devastated Severus and his father. Tobias turned to drink and had it not been for Severus, the dear man would have drank himself to death. Severus turned to me instead of Fire Whiskey and that night we cemented our relationship. Severus admitted everything, leaving nothing out. We went to my parents and they were able to help Tobias to give up drinking.”

"By the time we walked down the isle, he was almost himself again. Eileen’s death marked my husband forever and he’ll never be the same, but things could have ended much worse. His father is still alive and so are Lord and Lady Prince. Actually, they'll coming to our house in a few days for a little get together. It's a tradition in my family that we’ve kept to all these years.”

Brenna gazed at Harry as stood up and placed his sleeping cousin in the bassinet. He turned to her then and graced her with a small smile. “Thanks for telling me everything. It’s given me a lot to think about.”

Sensing that the teen needed to be left alone for the night, she rose to her feet and collected the baby bottle. “I’ll be expecting you to join us, we always have a good time. I imagine after the Summer you’ve had, this will be a breath of fresh air.”

Saying this she turned and left leaving Harry looking stunned. Could the Lady Snape have read his mind? He didn’t feel any different....
Shaking his head, he climbed back in to bed and fell asleep instantly.

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Outside the door Brenna closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Harry didn’t know everything, such as the fact that she was a natural empath. She didn’t have to invade minds, people projected their thoughts without even realizing it. And young Mr Potter was no different.

"Need another headache drought, my Dark Angel?” Severus asked, handing her a vial of the remedy. He had been awake when Ivy and Harry woke up. She’d told him what she meant to do and though he didn’t like the idea of her letting down her mental shields, he knew that it was necessary. And now as they headed back to bed she could ‘unload on him’ and he would be able to help the troubled teenager. It was something he felt that he needed to do, after unjustly being cruel to the young boy. He was not James, Severus decided. At Harry's age, James would never have taken up the responsibility of an infant. He was forgiving in nature as well, the way Lily was. No, Harry was neither Lily nor James but his own person. For even Lily had not had to go through the same trials and sorrows that Harry had suffered through. It firmed Severus's resolve to do whatever he could to heal the broken burdened boy. He would do his best but in the end, the decision was in Harry's hands. But no matter what, Severus simply couldn't turn his back on a boy that so reminded him of a similar child, lost, alone and desperate for comfort...

Shaking himself out of morbid thoughts, he dressed for bed and pulled Brenna close, relishing in her soft comfort. Soon, all occupants of the house drifted into Morpheus's domain.