The annoying woman, Severus discovered, could move very quickly. She was out of sight of the cottage and nearly halfway up the twisted path from the cottage to the village. He had summoned his boots from the beach before he went after Echo, but her feet were bare and the path was a rocky one.

"Miss Prosper!" he thundered in his best teacher voice. "Cease your walking at once!"

Echo whirled around and leveled her own scowl at the tall man. "Does everyone obey you when you shout like that?"

"As a matter of fact, they do," he said silkily as he neared the young woman. "Considering I dragged you out of the ocean, I would think you would be a bit more amenable to listening to what I have to say." He was now standing over Echo. He crossed his arms over his chest which was only clad in a white, linen shirt. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer I throw you back."

"You wouldn't!"

"I would hate wasting the effort I made bringing you out of that cold ocean and bringing you back to life, Miss Prosper, but if it is truly what you wish..."

"I walked into the ocean! I didn't ask you to save me!" she shouted.

He sneered, "Do you truly believe your the only person who has ever lost anything to Death Eaters and con men?" She stepped backwards slightly as he leaned forward. "My son lost his parents and his godfather. My father, Albus, is going to lose what should be his golden years of leisure because a curse is eating his life away! I nearly lost my soul!" He yanked up the cuff of his shirt on his left arm revealing the Dark Mark.

He expected tears. Or, yelling. Maybe even to be slapped. Emotional women sometimes did that. What he didn't expect was for her to throw her arms around him and bury her head in his chest. Letting out a sigh of exasperation and glancing towards the sky, he tentatively wrapped his own arms around Echo. A faraway part of his thoughts marveled that this was something he wouldn't have been able to do until he adopted his son.

"Miss Prosper," he finally addressed her after a few minutes. "You had the fortune to be near us when you made your ill-thought walk into the ocean. Please do not think that after rescuing you and hearing your story we would so easily turn our backs on your misfortune. We would like to help."

Echo leaned back slightly, not quite willing to leave the comfort of his wiry, hard arms. "You shouldn't feel obligated, Mr. Snape. I have no right to ask anything of you or your family."

He divested himself of the young woman's embrace and felt suddenly bereft of her warmth. Pushing aside the feeling, he looked down into her deep blue gaze. "Be truthful, Miss Prosper, where will you sleep tonight?"

"I... I really don't know. Oland had our marriage dissolved yesterday and today was when I received notification from his solicitor that my store and my house no longer belonged to me. I've been a bit of... a hermit, I suppose, so I've never really made any friends."

He smirked, rather triumphantly. "I have no doubt that Albus, at this moment, is adding a room to our cottage for you. Will you return with me, Miss Prosper?" He held out his elbow to her.

Echo nodded and slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow. They walked for several minutes down the beach, back towards the cottage, when Snape glanced down at her rather pretty, but quite bare feet.

"Haven't you any shoes, Miss Prosper?"

"I did. Some sandals. I think the surf must have taken them." she shrugged and blushed slightly. "When I said Oland took everything, I meant it. I don't even have access to my clothing."

Severus stopped, picked up a couple of rocks, and transfigured them into a decent pair of sandals. Echo slipped her feet into them.

"Are you certain there is nothing you can do to recover your property and your business, Miss Prosper?"

"I signed everything over to him." She looked up at the dubious look on his face. "Oh please, Mr. Snape, don't make me feel stupider than I already know I am! He was my husband. I didn't see anything wrong with signing the paperwork he asked me to."

"Albus has quite a few people he can speak to in the Ministry of Magic. I'm sure he could have someone look over the paperwork and examine whether or not you have any recourse. In the meantime, perhaps you'll consent to go shopping tomorrow with Harry and I? I'm sure there's a clothing store you may visit to replenish your wardrobe."

Echo stopped suddenly, causing Snape to halt as well. "I don't have any money, Mr. Snape. How do you expect me to repay you?"

The look she gave Snape was insulting, to say the least. Doing his best to refrain from shouting at her, he spoke quietly and tightly, "Can you cook?" He smirked at how the question threw her off kilter.

"Wh-what? Cook?"

"We haven't a house elf at the cottage. I certainly don't expect you to clean up after us, but it would be... helpful... if I could split the cooking duties with someone else. So, my question is, Miss Prosper, can you cook?"

Echo blinked a few times. "Uhm, yes. I'm rather good, I think."

"Then you need not worry about anything, Miss Prosper."

At the gate to the cottage, Snape summoned his outer robes and his frock coat from the beach. It took a few minutes, but they were soon sailing through the air towards him. He caught them and started through the gate.

Inside the cottage, Albus was snoring gently in front of the fireplace, a quilt over his lap. Harry jumped up from the sofa and smiled at Echo. He grabbed both their hands. "Come see your room, Echo. I told grandpa how to decorate it."

Snape looked down at Harry. "Did you just call Albus, grandpa, son?"

Harry smiled smugly. "You called him your father so that makes him my grandfather, right?"

"Hm, I suppose it does." He ruffled Harry's hair and indicated that the child was to lead them to Echo's room.

Albus had added a fifth room across from Severus' small laboratory and next to Albus. This put Albus, discretely, between Severus and Echo. The room itself was large, with a double size, four poster bed, hung with a canopy of deep green velvet drapes. There was a wardrobe, a desk, and chairs in front of a narrow fireplace. Possibly the best aspect of the room was a corner window with a built in, padded seat that looked out upon the ocean and the pretty side yard of the cottage.

The bedroom was further decorated with a rich, emerald green, wonderfully thick carpet and pale green drapes over the window.

"The room looks beautiful, Harry," remarked Echo. "I love the color green." She then smiled and leaned down, kissing his cheek. "It matches your astonishing eyes."

Harry was beyond flattered and embarassed when Echo kissed his cheek. He couldn't help it and buried his face in his father's thigh. Severus tapped him on the shoulder, and turned him to face the young woman. He'd forgotten to acknowledge the compliment.

"You're welcome, Echo," Harry breathed shyly.