I scheduled the outing on a day when we were both free, Alaina had gotten a teaching post at the same school that Harry, Hermione, and Lexy went to, which was not only convenient, but fortunate. So we decided to have tea at Tea For Two on a Saturday, leaving our children with Molly for the afternoon. I had explained to Harry that I was going out for lunch with Lexy's mum and he seemed to be all right with it. I also told him we'd be seeing his grandfather later on in the afternoon, since Tobias was in an AA meeting that morning.

"Sure, Dad. Whatever." He shrugged, waiting impatiently for me to hug him goodbye so he could go and play with Ron.

"Behave for Molly, scamp," I ordered. "No getting into trouble or else-"

"I know. I know. Or else I'll be grounded for two days," he recited, rolling his eyes. "Can I go and play with Ron now?"

"Yes. I'll pick you up around four." I hugged him goodbye and he tore through the Weasleys' kitchen like a tornado.

"Ron! Lexy! Let's go play Quidditch!"

I shook my head. "That child! I try and teach him manners . . ."

Molly just laughed. "Go easy on him, Sev. He's little, it's normal for him to run around like a hurricane at this age. Have a good time with Alaina, dear."

"Thank you, Molly," I said, feeling myself flush a bit. It had definitely been too long since I'd been out with a woman if I could feel like a sixteen-year-old again.

Then I Apparated back to my house, where Alaina was meeting me. I found her just getting out of her car, she had a small blue compact. Both of us were dressed casually, she in a pink long sleeved top and a printed skirt and I had on a pair of beige trousers and a lightweight collared green shirt. Small tendrils of her hair were escaping her hair clip and blowing about her face enticingly. My fingers itched to run through those curls and I sternly told myself to behave. You don't grope the woman on the first date, Severus. Although I wonder if playing with her hair is considered groping?

I dragged my mind away from her hair and smiled a little nervously and said, "Hello! You're early."

"Hi, Sev. I figured it was better to get here early, and avoid the traffic. I'm still not a hundred percent comfortable with driving around here," she admitted, blushing. "I keep wanting to drive on the other side of the road."

"You'll get more comfortable eventually," I reassured her. "Are you ready to Apparate?"

She nodded, her purse clutched tightly in one hand. "I've never done this before, but it sounds like fun."

"It can be, but sometimes Sidelong Apparition can make your stomach a bit queasy." I cautioned. "Tell me if you feel sick afterwards, I've a potion you can take for it in my pocket."

"Will do, Healer Snape."

I held out my arm and she took it and I drew her snugly against me. She smelled of mangos and strawberries and I swallowed hard. Then I concentrated and we Apparated onto the street in front of the tea shop in a flash of blue light.

"Wow! That was quick!" she exclaimed, glancing about her in wonder. There were several people coming and going around the tea shop, wearing various kinds of wizard and some Muggle-type clothing.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine. I feel fine. Not sick at all. I wish I could teleport like that, Sev. It would save on gas and time wasted sitting in traffic."

"I'm sure it would, but Apparition isn't as easy as it seems. You need to concentrate very hard and have a clear picture of your destination in your head, or else you could end up God knows where."

The front of Tea For Two was a Victorian era shop, with fancy calligraphy on the window and a small wooden sign with a teacup and a cake hanging out front. The building was a dusky rose color and the most delectable smells were wafting from the interior. I could feel my stomach start to sit up and beg. "Shall we?"

"Mmm, yes. It smells heavenly." She sniffed the aroma of pastries and tea rapturously.

"This place was recommended to me by Sirius, so it's probably pretty good. He knows his cafes, usually."

The door tinkled as we entered, and a young witch in a starched skirt and ruffled blouse came up to greet us. "Hello! Welcome to Tea For Two. If you'll follow me this way, we have a table all ready for you."

She led us to a cozy corner nook with two comfortable padded wingback chairs and a round table with a starched white tablecloth.

The ambiance of the place was very much like a Victorian lover's retreat, with cream and blue striped wallpaper and wood paneling on the lower half of the walls. The walls were decorated tastefully with watercolor prints of the ocean and woodland glens and meadows with pixies in them and other woodland denizens, magical and non magical. Low hanging lamps hovered over each table, lit by a soft Lumos spell. The lamps were stained glass, each one had a different animal or flower upon it. Ours had a butterfly, a royal blue monarch, a species found only in the wizarding world. There was a fireplace with a cherry-wood clock upon the mantle and carvings of cherubs and shepherdesses and fawns. The fireplace was of fine white marble and it was for the convenience of the patrons traveling by Floo powder, not for heat.

A soft melody of strings and a flute played somewhere in the background and the smell of sweet pastries and crumpets and savory chicken and meat pies filled the air. Accompanied, of course, by the aroma of several kinds of tea. Our menus were of the finest parchment, scripted by someone who had several hours to kill writing in calligraphy, and our place settings were of fine porcelain with blue borders and a thin rim of gold about the edges. The place settings contained two plates, small and medium sized, a tea cup, a napkin, and a water glass, and silverware.

It was a relaxed atmosphere, couples were sipping and talking softly and holding hands occasionally, but nothing more than that, yet you could feel the emotions in the air, the tingle of anticipation and expectation and the quiet whispers of contentment.

I held out Alaina's chair for her and seated her, she glanced up at me and smiled. "Now there's something I'd never see in America, a man holding a chair for a lady. I thought chivalry was dead after women's lib."

"Not here it isn't." I said, sitting down opposite her. "We wizards are very old-fashioned in some ways. My mother taught me how to treat a lady along with proper table manners. She told me that a man holding a chair for a woman showed respect and wasn't condescending."

"Your mom was right. I'm all for women being independent and holding a job and all that, but I like a man who thinks of a woman first. Is she still alive?"

I shook my head, a pang of sorrow deep in my chest. It had been nine years since her death and I still felt her loss keenly. "No, she died of leukemia when I was eighteen. There was nothing that could be done for her, magically or Muggle. I tried . . .but even potions couldn't halt the spread of disease, only free her from pain."

Alaina's eyes darkened in sympathy. "Oh, Sev, I'm so sorry. I know that doesn't seem like enough . . .not for something like that. It's a terrible thing to lose a mother so young. My mother and I fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but I don't know what I'd do without her advice. So it's just you and your father? You don't have any brothers or sisters?"

"No. My mother never could get pregnant easily, so I was their only child. And yourself?"

"I have a sister, Maureen, who lives in Wisconsin, but she's five years older than me. We see each other on holidays mostly." Alaina told me, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

"And your parents weren't upset that you moved so far away, in another country? They won't see Lexy very much at all."

"I know. That's the one thing that bothered me, but she writes and calls them every week. But my parents understand why I wanted to get a fresh start . . .they know about Daniel . . ." she trailed off awkwardly and then the server showed up, asking if we were ready to order.

Both of us nodded. I ordered the Dragon's Delight tea-it was a black tea with orange and spice and a hint of mint in it, bold and robust, according to the description. Alaina had the Traditional Jasmine Honey blend, a green tea with jasmine and honey and coconut, sweet and refreshing.

"And would you like to see our selection of pastries and tea cakes?" asked the server.

I glanced at Alaina.

She hesitated, then said, "I really shouldn't, that kind of thing just goes straight to my hips, but . . .yes, bring it out. You only live once, right?"

"Exactly," the server grinned and summoned the floating dessert cart.

There were croissants, filled with chocolate cream and strawberries, peaches and blueberries, and hazelnuts and spice. Lemon tarts, chocolate eclairs, cream puffs, scones, crumpets, muffins, dainty tea sandwiches, mini chicken and beef pies, everything looked so good I wanted to try it all.

"Lunch first or dessert?" I asked her.

"Both." She looked at the waitress. "Umm . . .do you have a sampler platter?"

"Why yes, we have two kinds, one for the sandwiches and pasties and one for the muffins, croissants, and sweet desserts."

"Let's order one of each. Okay, Sev?"

"Fine with me, Alaina."

"Coming right up!" She said, then banished the cart back behind the counter, where I saw they sold tins of tea and some of their bakery items.

Alaina blinked and looked up at the lamp, where a tiny bluish-lavender insect was hovering, on twinkling fairy wings. "Oh! Sev, what's that?"

I looked up where she pointed and chuckled. "That's a gossamyr. It's a magical insect similar to a dragonfly. They flutter and glow and enjoy being around happy people. They're harmless, drawn to positive emotions like . . .well, a moth to a flame, for lack of a better simile."

There were several gossamyrs in the tea shop, hovering and sparkling like tiny lavender and blue stars in the air around the tables.

"They're beautiful!" Alaina whispered, her eyes glowing like a child's. "Like fairy lights."

"Yes, but gossamyrs are harmless, fairies sometimes aren't," I told her seriously. "You have to be careful around them, they may look stunningly perfect, but sometimes they can be wicked and cruel."

"You still have Fair Folk here?"

"In certain places, yes, and house elves, sprites, nymphs, and pixies too. And garden gnomes, the pesky things. They like to burrow and dig up gardens."

"Sounds like groundhogs. My dad had a problem with them last year, they dug up all his tomatoes and lettuces. And I won't go walking off with any fairy prince, Sev. I know all about a man having a face like an angel and the heart of a devil."

"Your ex-husband?"

"Got it in one. He's the reason I made that comment before about my weight. He likes skinny blonds with toothpick figures, and I've never been one of those," she gestured at her rounded figure, curvy and lush, and her deep chestnut brown hair. There was nothing stick-like about her. "He was always on me to lose weight, and in the beginning of our marriage I went on every diet there was, trying to get myself to look like Jane Fonda. Nothing really worked. It was never enough. I'd lose twenty pounds and he'd want thirty-five, I'd lose that and he'd want forty."

"Was he in good shape? Or was he a hypocritical fat slob?" I asked angrily, already disliking the man intensely.

"Dan was built like a damn Greek god, unfortunately. He could eat whatever he wanted and never gained anything, the bastard. Where I just had to look at a piece of cake and I gained a pound." She laughed softly. "Or at least it seemed that way. Once I was on this diet called The Fat Melter or something like that, and I couldn't eat anything except egg whites and water and dry toast. It was awful. After three weeks on that I was so desperate for real food I'd have held up a Dunkin' Donuts or hijacked the TastyKake truck going down the street. With the nail file in my purse," she added impishly.

I burst out laughing, for I could just picture it, Alaina holding some poor clerk hostage "Give me the donuts, buster, or else!" And poking him in the side with the file, and the guy fainting dead away thinking it was a knife.

"Oh, sure, make fun of me, Snape," she said with mock-indignation. "See how desperate you are if all you've been eating is dry toast and egg whites for three weeks. You'd have robbed McDonald's, I bet."

I laughed harder. "I can't picture you hurting anyone, Alaina." I said when I could talk again.

"That's because you never knew me when I was on a diet, Sev. Never come between a sugar-deprived woman and her donuts. I'd have committed murder for a Boston cream back then."

"All those diets are ridiculous, medically speaking, " I pointed out. "You don't lose weight by starvation and denial, but by eating normal portions of all four food groups and exercising."

"I know. That's why I stopped torturing myself eventually. I figured it was better to be plump and happy than skinny and a bitch. Now I eat whatever I want and go for a walk in the afternoons. If I'm not too tired and Lexy's in a good mood, that is. She's been much happier since we came here, thank God. Not that I blame her. Living with Dan was no bed of roses, and not just because he was a perfectionist asshole. Had I known what he was when I married him . . ." Her eyes were dark with remembered pain and I winced upon seeing it, and reached out a hand and covered hers with my own.

Then I cast a Muffliato Charm over us so we couldn't be overheard by anyone, for this conversation was not for casual ears.

"Alaina, he's gone now," I said very softly. "He can't hurt you ever again. You're free of him."

"Am I, Sev? I want to believe that, I really do, but he casts a long shadow. He has it all, money, power, prestige. I thought I was getting a fairy tale marriage. Like Beauty and the Beast. But too late I realized there was no happily ever after, because the beast I married didn't love anyone save himself. He was a lawyer, worked for a top firm in Manhattan, and he wanted me to give up teaching and be his little homemaker wife. I refused and that was when he started." She dropped her eyes to the tablecloth.

I didn't need to see them to know what was in them. Shame, the same as had been in mine so long ago. The shame of being the victim, helpless and hurting. "Started hitting you?" She nodded. I squeezed her hand gently. "You don't have to tell me any more if you don't want to, Alaina. I'm not a priest and this isn't confession," I said lightly.

"You go to church too? I thought you wizards didn't believe in God."

"Of course we do," I said, surprised. "We're not all of one faith, but most of us worship one religion or another. My mother was from a good Catholic family, my father was raised Methodist. I was raised Catholic, and though I haven't been to church in a dog's age, I still believe in God, Alaina."

"But I thought you wizards worshipped Merlin."

"No, no. Merlin was the great wizard of our kind, the best and brightest. We swear by him, but we don't worship him as such. He's like a figurehead, an ideal, a saint, if you like, but definitely not a god. Even those of us who are pagan worshippers don't think of Merlin that way. He was a visionary, a real man, and he founded the wizard society in Britain and it is his teachings we follow, but he was never divine, and he died like everyone else. Though he was hundreds of years old when he went to his final rest."

"Oh. God, I feel like such an idiot!"

"Don't. How were to you know? I can take you to see Merlin's Tomb if you like one day. It's on Glastonbury Tor, and considered a sacred place. No bloodshed or violence is allowed. Merlin was the Great Peacekeeper, he fought for peace between Muggle and wizard alike. His great-great granddaughter was the founder of the College of Healers here in London, Lady Nimue Ambrosius. A very great lady, a Healer of incomparable talent. She discovered the cure for the black plague." I heard the awe in my tone and wanted to snicker at myself. But Nimue was the ideal every intern tried to live up to when we went to medical school, though we did not swear by her.

"I'd like to go there very much, Severus. I love seeing new places and meeting new people. Dan . . .was very controlling. He drove away most of my old friends with his arrogance and snobbery, until I had no one except my parents and Lexy for company. I didn't dare tell my parents what he was really like, he threatened to take Lexy away if I did that. So I lived a lie, and pretended to be Dan's loving wife. At least when Lexy was a baby. But when she started growing older, he started getting a Caesar complex, and that was when I found out about the drugs."

"He was using them? Or selling them?"

"Both. He did cocaine at the fancy parties he attended sometimes, it was the in thing with the crowd he was with. Too bad it didn't kill him. But only the good die young. He had several contacts in New York, people who supplied him with it and he had some kind of operation going with it. I never learned all the details, because that was when I made up my mind to get away from him. I went to a lawyer and started divorce proceedings the next day. I didn't want any settlement, I just wanted to be free of him, and to get my daughter away from him too."

"I take he wasn't too happy with you. Lexy mentioned she performed a Cushioning Charm on you as her first example of accidental magic."

"She did. What she didn't say was that Dan had pushed me down the stairs during an argument. I would have been seriously injured if not for Lexy."

"Did you report him to the police?"

"Yes. Lexy confirmed he'd pushed me and based on that and the bruises he'd left on me earlier, he got a night in jail and a restraining order. But the other charges didn't stick, because he knew a better lawyer than I did. I tried to get him for the drugs , but I had no real proof, and he knew it. But he tried to get Lexy during the custody hearing. But Pennsylvania law refuses to give a minor to an adult with a history of abuse against a family member and no amount of plea bargaining could change the judge's mind, thank God. I moved in with my parents after it, and he broke his restraining order then and came there, threatening to hurt me if I didn't give his daughter to him. That was when Lexy used magic for the second time. He went to hit me and she knocked him flying with some kind of lavender light thing."

"A Wizard Bolt. It's the sum total of a wizard's power, usually it's cast as a last resort form of attack. Harry did something similar against a Death Eater. Children usually can't cast them unless they're under great emotional stress. Which she was."

"I think it really freaked him out when she did that, but by that time my parents had called the cops and they arrested him." She shook her head. "For all the good it did. He was out on parole the next morning. That was when I decided I had to get away from there for good and all. I knew he'd never leave me alone if I stayed in America, he'd find me wherever I went, so I packed us both up and left. I changed my name back to Montague, which is my maiden name, and Lexy's too. She was born Alexis Chase. She was the only good thing to come out of my marriage."

"She's a very bright and brave child. Like her mother." I said honestly.

"Like me? I'm a coward, Severus. I ran away because I couldn't face my ex-husband," she said softly, not looking at me.

"Never say that," I hissed. "Look at me, please." I waited until her brown eyes had met my own. "You are no coward, Alaina. You got yourself and your daughter out of a terrible situation the best way you knew how. You did the right thing." I told her firmly. I truly believed that and I hoped she could hear the conviction in my voice.

"I hope so. God, I hope so." Her hands clenched on the cloth napkin, then relaxed.

"You did. For if you hadn't come here, you would've never met me, or Jane, and you would be trying to raise a magical daughter on nothing but your own intuition." I knew that wasn't quite true, there were plenty of wizards in America who would have helped her, but I wanted her to stay here, with me, and so I tweaked the facts a bit. "There are no coincidences, as Albus says."

"Then you don't care that I'm . . .damaged goods?"

"Alaina, I'm a Healer. I fix what's broken. And you aren't. A bit battered, perhaps, but he never broke you. I can fix that, if you'll let me?" My hand caressed hers, gently, like the brush of a butterfly's wing. Don't scare her away, Sev.

"Okay. If you're willing to try."

"I am." Her hand closed on mine. "You're not the only one with a broken family. My father and I hadn't spoken to one another for over six years before last year." I paused, trying to figure out how much I should reveal to her about Tobias. I didn't think it was the right time to reveal all of my past to her. "My father is a recovering alcoholic, he's been sober now for a year and a few weeks, all told. For the first time in over twenty years. We had a great many issues to work out, but we finally came to a resolution."

"After the attack by those-those people? The Death Masters?"

"Death Eaters. But yes, once I'd recovered from the coma they'd put me in, my dad and I started trying to mend our relationship." I told her.

"Coma? You were in a coma?"

"For three months," I answered, but before we could say more our tea and food arrived.

The tea came in individual porcelain teapots with cozies over them, mine had a red dragon on it and Alaina's had a sprig of jasmine and a bee. It was delicious.

Alaina poured herself a cup and sipped it. "Oh God, this is the best tea ever!"

"Well, we British are known for our tea," I reminded her, taking a sip of my own.

"True. Which you got from India," Alaina said matter-of-factly. Then she took a cinnamon scone and spread butter on it and ate it. "Sev, I think I'm dead and you're an angel. This food is absolutely amazing."

I sampled a croissant filled with bananas, strawberries, and chocolate. Alaina was right. This was paradise for a sugar addict, which I was, however much I tried to deny it. "Incredible. Try this," I shoved the other croissant over to her.

We ate nearly everything on the trays, making absolute pigs of ourselves and not giving a damn in the slightest. The serving witch came and refilled our teapots again and asked if we'd like anything else? I shook my head no and she departed. She'd be back once the second pot was empty to give us the bill.

I explained to Alaina about the Death Eater attack and how they had managed to put me in a coma, resulting in Harry going to spend three months with Tobias.

"This the best afternoon tea I've ever had," Alaina sighed. "What am I saying? It's the only afternoon tea I've ever had. I never went to the ones Dan's partners' wives hosted in the city, they were so stuck-up I knew I'd have had a miserable time."

"But you're right. This is the best afternoon tea I've ever had, and I've been to many. The hospital usually hosts two or three a year as benefits for various charities, but none of them compared to this." I smiled at her and she smiled back and I felt something around my heart-a box perhaps?-crack. The little blackbird had found the way over the wall and inside.

The gossamyrs were back, fluttering and blinking madly above our heads as we finished our tea and then I paid the bill and asked if she would like to go for a little walk.

"St. Mungos is just down the street, perhaps you'd like to see a bit of it? I can show you the floor where I work, I specialize in spell-damaged individuals as well as being a general Healer, if you'd like?"

"Yes, I'd like that very much," she said and we strolled along companionably down the sidewalk to the hospital.

It had been long since I had walked down a street with a pretty woman on my arm, and some of the people who were out and about were my patients and recognized me. They stopped and stared and some of them said hello and a few of the more ill-mannered ones whistled and cried, "Good for you, Healer Snape!"

I felt myself flush and tried to ignore them.

Alaina, ever perceptive, looked at them and me and said, "Why are they acting like this is the first time they've ever seen you with a woman? Don't tell me this is the first time you've gone out since your wife died?"

"It is. I never had time before," I admitted. "Nor did I have someone I wished to go out with."

"Really? I'm-I'm honored," she stammered, pleased. "I'd of thought you would have women, uh, throwing themselves at you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Me? No, that's Sirius. He's the one all the girls want."

"I don't," she said, and ran her eyes over me lazily. "He may be handsome and fun to be around, but I prefer tall, dark, and quiet. And your looks are nothing to sneer at, Sev."

"If you say so, Alaina." Her compliments warmed me, it had been a long time since I'd seen desire in a woman's eyes, not since the night I proposed to Lily by the Black Lake a year after James had been killed.

We reached the side entrance, and I waved my wand and the door unlocked and I pushed it open. All in all, this was turning out to be a very wonderful day. The sparks between us were heating up, I thought with a smirk of devilish delight. Soon they'd become a bonfire.

* * * * * * *

Once I'd Apparated Alaina back to my house and she had picked up her car, I firecalled Molly to let her know I was coming so she could find Harry and tell him I was on my way. Sometimes he tended to disappear over at the Burrow for short periods of time. But when I arrived there, he was waiting for me in Molly's kitchen. He was also grubby and his shirt was wrinkled and there was a hole in the knee of his jeans.

"Harry, what in Merlin's name have you been doing?"

"I was helping Ron and the twins de-gnome the garden, Dad," he replied.

"Sorry, Sev. I didn't have time to clean him up before you came," Molly said apologetically, she was holding a pile of folded laundry in her arms.

"Don't worry, Molly. He'll just have to take a bath when I get home. Come on, scamp. Let's get you cleaned up and then we can go over Grandpa's." I ushered him into the fireplace and tossed down a handful of Floo powder.

"Do I have to take a bath now, Dad?" he whined as soon as we crossed the threshold. "Can't you just cast a freshen up spell on me?"

"No. That's all right for when you're a little dirty, but you are filthy and need a bath." I vanished his clothes, leaving him only his underwear. "Get, imp!" I mock-growled, and tickled him.

"Ahhh! Stop, Dad!" he giggled helplessly.

"Are you going to take a bath?" I inquired silkily, still tickling him mercilessly.

"Yes! Yes!" He was writhing like worm on a hook, but my fingers were too quick for him to avoid and he was very ticklish, like his mother. "I'll be good!"

"Smart boy," I smirked and quit tickling him. "Now get, scamp!" I gave him a pat on the bottom and a nudge down the hall to the bathroom. He scampered away and two minutes after I heard the water running.

Fifteen minutes later my freshly scrubbed son and I were ready to go to Spinner's End.

We found Dad grilling steaks on the barbecue, lately he's been into grilling things. The last two weekends we had been over, he had been grilling vegetables marinated with olive oil and spices and chicken. "Oh, good, you're finally here," he said when we appeared in the backyard. "I thought maybe you'd forgotten or had made other plans for the evening," he said that last with a wink.

"No, Dad. Harry just had to get cleaned up after visiting the Weasleys."

"I was helping Ron de-gnome the garden, Grandpa," piped up the little mischief-maker.

"Say what?" Dad looked very confused.

"The garden gnomes, Dad. Remember, I told you about them, how they burrow all over and tear apart a wizard's garden sometimes? In order to get rid of them you either have to use magic or grab them by the ear and throw them out, literally."

Dad snorted. "Right. Freaking fairies. They better not come around here, or I'll throw them out all right. To the moon, Severus."

Of that I hadn't the slightest doubt. My father was death on any kind of pest invading his yard. Not even a mouse dared poke its whiskers on Tobias Snape's land.

"Harry, can you go inside and set the table for me?" asked my father. "These are almost done and then we can eat." He flipped a steak over.

"Sure, Grandpa," he scurried inside, he liked setting the table.

With Harry out of earshot, my father could now ask me about my date with Alaina, as I had known he would. "So, Sev. How did it go?"

I waited for about ten heartbeats before giving him a thumbs-up sign and saying, "It went great, Dad. Next week, I'm taking her to Glastonbury to see Merlin's Tomb."

"Good for you, Sev." Then he cocked his head at me. "Uh, why would she want to see some dead wizard's tomb? That doesn't sound very romantic."

"No, but it's very historical, and she likes that kind of thing. I'll take her to dinner later and that can be the romantic part."

Dad still looked a bit unconvinced, but then he said, "All right, Severus. She's your girlfriend, I guess you would know how to please her."

"I'd hardly call her a girlfriend, Dad. We've only gone out for tea."

"And now you're going to the Tomb, so it's a second date and she's your girlfriend," Tobias stated firmly. "Don't split hairs, Severus. Call a spade, a spade."

"All right," I agreed, hoping the second date would go as well as the first. Now that Alaina had revealed her past to me, I think she would be a lot more comfortable with me, and I could work some magic of my own on her and convince her to trust me, for I would never hurt her the way her ex-husband had.

"I'm glad you've found someone, Sev. You deserve to be happy. And the minnow in there needs a mother as well as a father."

"Whoa! I've only gone on one date and you're getting us married?" I held up my hands. "Slow down there, Dad. Let's not get too crazy here."

"I'm not," my dad said, a slow smirk creeping over his face. "I'm just telling you what I predict might happen. I've seen the way she looks at you during the seminars, Severus."

"You and Sirius both," I muttered. How come I never noticed the way Alaina looked at me? Maybe I was going blind. Still, I wasn't exactly experienced when it came to dating anyone. I had loved Lily since I was a student at Hogwarts, from afar and in secret, never daring to admit it to anyone. But I had been secretly jealous of my friend James for claiming her first, and after he had died, a small wicked selfish part of me had thought now I could finally pursue the woman of my dreams. Which I did, as soon as she had gotten over mourning her lost hero husband. With Lily there had never been an if only a when.

But Alaina was a whole different cauldron of newts, so to speak. I could only date her if she allowed me and I could only marry her if she loved me, and I in turn loved her. I smacked myself mentally in the forehead. Now I was getting as bad as Tobias. I had only known her a month and a few days, but I felt as if it had been much longer. Strange, how a chance encounter in a supermarket could lead to this.

"Dad! I'm done with the table," came my son's yell from the back porch. "Are we gonna eat soon? I'm starving!"

"Hold on a minute, kid!" my father called back. "Here, Sev. Take the steaks in while I turn off the grill."

I took the plate with the steaks and headed inside, whistling happily.

* * * * * * *

The second date went as well as our first one and by the time April had slid softly into May, we were well on our way to becoming an established couple. The seminars continued, with more of our colleagues and friends coming to speak, and my practice was going well, with no real emergencies and only one long weekend on call so far. I had been dating Alaina for over a month and we grew closer each time we saw one another.

Both Alaina and I made an effort to do activities together with the children when we had time. One evening we took them to the cinema to see a movie, the next time we spent it at home, playing a Muggle game called Monopoly.

Lexy had been horrified that Harry and I had never heard of Monopoly, much less played it. "My God, Mom! They never played Monopoly!" she had gasped.

"Well, Miss Smarty-Pants, I guess you'll just have to teach them," her mother said, grinning.

"Okay. Harry, you're on my team. Otherwise we'll lose, ‘cause they know how to add and read better than us," she told my son. "Here's what you have to do. Get the most property, put hotels on it, and then take everybody's money till they're broke. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so. But d'you think we can win?" Harry asked her doubtfully.

"Of course we can," Lexy declared. "I'm an expert! I always beat Mom when we play."

I eyed Alaina knowingly. "Are you sure you don't let her win?"

"Positive. She's a tiger shark, Sev. Gets that from her father." She then proceeded to explain the rules and pieces to me.

We played for three hours and by the time we were finished, Lexy owned Boardwalk, Park Place, Atlantic Avenue and half the board. It was positively humiliating.

"See what I mean?" Alaina said, laughing at my irritated expression.

"How did she do that?" I wondered.

"I told you, Healer Sev. I'm an expert." Lexy sang, smirking like a kneasle who'd swallowed a finch.

"Yeah, Dad. What she said." Harry gloated.

"I want a rematch," I argued. "Next Sunday. Then we'll see who's the expert here, miss." I gave her a pretend glare and she giggled at me.

But next Sunday our evening was canceled because Harry came down with a nasty cold and I insisted he stay in bed and drink plenty of water and orange juice, pumpkin juice, and take several potions.

Harry has never been the easiest of patients when he was sick, and that Sunday was no exception. He was cross and whiney and tried to sneak out of bed at least ten times, until I threatened to use a Sticking Charm to keep him there. He was feverish and achy and complained about how awful my Fever Reducer tasted. The first time I gave it to him, he spit it out. Then I made him take it over and he cried, but managed to get it down.

"I hate medicine," he whined, kicking off his covers. "I'd rather be sick."

"No, you wouldn't," I soothed, replacing his sheet. "Because then you won't be able to play with your friends or Inky. Now lie down and close your eyes, Harry. Sleep will make you feel better."

"No!" He scowled mulishly. "I'm not tired!"

"Yes you are, young man. You're just fighting it." I sighed, for his crankiness was starting to wear on me. It was times like these that I sometimes wished for a house elf. I picked him up and put him on my lap. "There, son. Lean on me and go to sleep." I urged, rubbing small circles on his back.

"N-o-o, Daddy!" he wailed, but I patted his bottom firmly and he settled against me at last.

In three seconds he was asleep. I put him back in his bed and slipped away, knowing he'd be awake in four hours and I'd have to give him more potions and some soup for supper.

By the next morning, he was feeling much better, though I kept him home from school for another day just to be sure. He sulked a little, but cheered up when I said we could play Monopoly, since Alaina had left it at our house. But neither of us won, since Harry got tired halfway through and quit. It was more fun with four anyway.

On Tuesday, my son was back to his old self, and went back to school. I had office hours all day and came home exhausted. That set the tone for the whole week, and when Friday's seminar came around, I was beat and happy to let my father take over.

Tobias discussed the trials of raising a magical child, and even admitted that he hadn't handled it as well as he should have, making me think I was dreaming. Tobias actually admitting to a roomful of people that he was wrong? Merlin's teeth, had the world come to an end? Maybe I'd gotten hit on the head?

But no, there was my father, sitting there and saying that it was too bad he hadn't had a class like this to attend twenty years ago. "It would have helped me a great deal. I never knew what to expect and that makes me nervous and when I'm nervous I tend to snap a lot. I didn't understand that Sev couldn't control what he did with his magic and sometimes I punished him unfairly, thinking he was deliberately doing something destructive or whatever."

"But your wife was a witch, didn't she explain stuff to you?" asked Wally curiously.

Dad sighed. "She wasn't home a lot, she worked long hours brewing potions for the hospital, and I wouldn't have paid much attention anyhow, since I thought I knew why Sev was behaving that way. It was a bad decision on my part and I hope you won't follow my example."

I was speechless. Who was this man and what the hell had he done with my father?

The rest of the seminar was basically a story session, with each parent telling about a time when his or her child had done something startling with their magic and what they had done in response to it. Then the group discussed the response and if it was appropriate and offered alternatives if it wasn't.

It was very informative and I was grateful to my father for initiating it. Merlin, but that was the last thing I'd expected, and it seemed that my father could still surprise me.

Unfortunately, so could my son. I had thought Harry was becoming accustomed to having Alaina and Lexy around more often and me going out one night a week with the kindergarten teacher, but apparently Harry's acceptance had limits, and when I told him we couldn't go to a Quidditch match one afternoon because I'd planned to take Lexy and Alaina to Paws For Thought, he threw a tantrum worthy of a three-year-old, screamed, "You never have time for me any more, Dad! I hate you!" and then slammed the door to his room so hard the portrait of Lily hanging opposite it fell off the wall.