Severus and the three fourth year students serving detention drew their wands at the wailing sound coming from the hall. It was increasing in volume, indicating whoever it was was coming toward his classroom. The door opened and Hermione walked in with a clearly inconsolable Ivy her arms and legs wrapped tightly around the older witch. She was clearly hanging on for dear life. Inconsolable was an understatement from the looks of her. He'd seen Jasmin have some pretty stellar breakdowns, but he had never seen Ivy this distraught.

He walked toward Hermione who was still making her way to him. His heart hammered in his chest at the idea she'd gotten into something she shouldn't have, hurt herself somehow. There was nothing in his quarters that could harm her. He had put away anything even potentially harmful away months ago now. There were still things in Hogwarts, though… Best not get ahead of himself. Hermione wasn't acting as if she was physically hurt. Surely, she would have taken her straight to Poppy, not detoured to his classroom.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

All four wizards put their wands away upon seeing who it was and that there was no actual threat. He was almost tempted to give them back some of the points they lost for their house with their quick thinking.

Maybe.

So many were complacent now that Voldemort was gone. He liked seeing their initiative. Their quick thinking.

"I don't know," she whispered.

She was obviously trying to be discreet. Just because the public knew about Ivy and Jasmin didn't mean he wanted them paraded around. Or in this case, gossiped about by the three wizards serving detention. He didn't care so much about himself, but they deserved privacy.

"Father," Ivy said, reaching for him with one arm she removed from its devil's snare-like grip on Hermione's neck.

Said was an understatement. There was clear panic in the way she uttered her name for him. She had never in the year plus she and her sister had been here been unconsolable like this.

"I am overseeing a detention, Ivy," he murmured, hand sliding to those familiar curls. "Hermione cannot help you?"

At six now and having sat with him on more than a few detentions if Hermione was busy doing something else, she of course knew what that meant. She was aware that Father was busy.

"Severus," Hermione whispered with a slight shake of her head in Ivy's direction. "She needs you ."

He took her then and the crying almost instantly stopped, though the body-wracking sobs were still present for a few moments. He could feel them as he moved his hand over her spine, trying to soothe and assure her. She liked hugging, but this was by far the clingiest he could ever recall her being. Jasmin he would expect this from.

"You are dismissed," he said to the three students. "Do not make me regret letting you out of your detention early."

"Yes, Sir," they said as they gathered their things and left without preamble or looking back to be sure Severus hadn't changed his mind. Smart wizards that. If they had, he might have been tempted. They were troublemakers, but none of them was stupid enough to question being released from their detention an hour earlier than they were supposed to be done.

"What happened?" he asked once they were alone.

"I don't know. She fell asleep next to me on the sofa while I was doing some paperwork. She woke up about forty-five minutes later screaming bloody murder. About you."

It was Hermione's turn to place a soothing hand to Ivy's head. Severus for his part kissed the top of her head, settling his cheek against her there before placing a hand at the back of her head.

"Ivy," he murmured, drawing her head away from its current spot at his neck. Interestingly, despite her father apparently not having the scars on his neck he did, she never shied away from that side of it when she snuggled against him. It was a bit … heady, being accepted so completely. "What is wrong?"

"Father hurt," she said in between a few sobs and what sounded like hiccoughs but were likely just her body coming down from the fit she'd been having.

"No, Ivy, Father is fine. See," he said. "Look at me. I'm right here. I am fine."

She shook her head, setting a hand at his cheek. She traced over a spot there. She repeated this again and again as the sobs subsided more and more until they were little more than sniffles.

"Ivy," he whispered. "Can Father look to see what upset you?" A year into this and he no longer thought twice about addressing himself as Father or Daddy to either of them.

She looked at him, looking curious and confused.

"Let's sit at Father's desk, okay?"

She nodded and Severus walked the short distance to his desk, settling her on it while he took a seat in his chair. He nodded in Hermione's direction who was clearly wondering if she should stay put or not. He shook his head, imploring her not to leave. What if this was more than he could handle?

"All right. Father's going to look into your head. Your mind. Okay? It won't hurt. I promise. Don't close your eyes and don't stop looking at me."

She bit that lower lip, so like Hermione, and nodded. His heart swelled at that nod, it meant she trusted him. He'd have time to think on that more in depth later as it still floored him that these girls trusted him as they did. Now, at this moment, he needed to know what was troubling her.

He dipped into her mind. He was gentle. He wasn't going to go deep, he would never do that to a child, but he was curious what she'd dreamt.

They were in a room he recognized. But how, as this was clearly not his Hermione. (He wondered now how he hadn't noticed the … differences in that Hermione and his.) As this was Ivy's mind it was difficult to see, but.

Oh, there, the rug she just looked at as she walked was very familiar.

Yes.

He recognized the picture on the wall she just looked at.

It and the rug had belonged to his great aunt, his paternal grandmother's sister. Severus had enjoyed visiting her as a child. There was always plenty of food and toys to play with.

Good lord, she'd died years ago and the home as far as he knew…

Remained empty as most of those in the Cokeworth area did once they'd been vacated until the city decided to demolish them.

Empty, and not under the name Snape since it was his father's mother's sister.

Their safe house. It had to be. Hermione's correspondence indicated that she didn't use magic, which meant the utilities and such would have to be paid for to work for them. He'd never stopped to think on whether his great aunt's house still had power while it stood empty. He supposed it would have to, though. He was pretty sure his father checked on the home once in a while when Severus was teaching at Hogwarts. Before his passing.

"Severus," he heard Hermione's voice say.

He could hear the concern in her voice as he leaned in and kissed her. It was a kiss worthy of making him blush even after months now of being intimate with his Hermione. He was bloody, dirty, and likely sweaty but he clearly didn't care. Neither did she evidently as she kissed him back with fervor and an acceptance that astounded him given the way they ended up married.

"Father," came Ivy's voice, sounding not much different than he remembered it being when she was first brought here.

"She's missed you."

"And her sister?"

"Of course she does," she said. "You know it's different, though. She's still so young, Severus."

"Did her mother, too?"

"You know I did very much. It gets harder and harder each week not to tell you to forget the Order and come away with us."

He gestured to his left arm with a shake of his head. Clearly telling her as much as he might want to do that, he couldn't escape his duty.

"I missed all three of you, too. I missed Jasmin's birthday, it couldn't be helped, but I hope maybe I will be able to get away for Ivy's. I can never be sure day to day."

"It's okay. We will make cupcakes again."

"I had one cupcake saved for me by Jasmin. Since Ivy is five will there be that many for me next week?"

"I think that's a tall order."

"Pity. I will collect later then."

Severus noticed now that the other version of himself was doing all that he could to remain upright. To not panic his wife and daughter. He was clearly in pain. Severus had fought through it enough over the years to know his signs. He was doing his best to ensure Ivy couldn't tell. Occluding no doubt … was that why Hermione didn't feel her ring as she had days before he'd actually died. Was he occluding to the point of severing any connection their rings had.

He had no idea what Hermione looked like given this was Ivy's mind he was in and she was focused on him not her mum. Understandable since she saw Mummy every day.

Ivy reached for him then. He took hold of her hand, grazing it with his thumb before bringing it to his mouth to kiss her fist. Her small fist came away red, which caused her to look at his face more closely he guessed. And see a long, jagged cut there going almost completely from his temple at his hairline to his jaw.

Suddenly, her little fist was as good as new. A cleansing spell, Hermione must have cast it as he didn't.

"Let me put her down. She wanted to say good night. Then I'll get the necessary potions and supplies to help you. Is it just physical today?"

He shook his head.

"We'll get you a healing bath then, too," Hermione said.

"Thank you," he said, practically collapsing on the floor before Ivy's eyes.

The last thing he saw was Crookshanks walking around him, sniffing his now still body. He stopped after a moment, standing tall and straight near Severus' left arm and hand, as if standing guard over him while Hermione was otherwise occupied with Ivy. Severus noticed the glimmering of a gold wedding band on the ring finger of that hand. And then he saw nothing more as Ivy was obviously taken from the room.

He withdrew then.

"Oh, my Ivy, I'm right here and am fine," he whispered, drawing her against him for a hug. He kissed the top of her head, frowning slightly at the helpless look on Hermione's face right now. His witch clearly didn't like not knowing what he'd seen. Curiosity, yes, but she was concerned as to what upset Ivy so much. "I'm very sorry you dreamt of such a memory. I am fine."

"He isn't, though," she whispered through hiccoughs.

"He was very lucky to have you to love him," he said. He was pretty sure the diagnostics Hermione and Minerva had run weren't wrong, but he didn't think now was the time to say so.

"Mummy said," she said. "The other mummy. He is missing."

"She said that in her letter to me, yes. We still don't know for certain those diagnostics are correct, Ivy. I truly hope that things go in such a way that your other mummy is able to come get you and that your father is okay. If she's able to. It will hurt this Hermione and me greatly if she does, but we would understand."

She nodded then, her breathing evening out now.

He wasn't going to lie to her and tell her that it was just a bad dream. She was dreaming about a memory. He was guessing it was around the time Hermione decided to bring Ivy and Jasmin to him. The reference to the girls' birthdays made him believe so.

He drew the hand he'd seen red from his blood in the memory and kissed it. That must have been frightening for her to see her father like that. And then to be brought here where he was … fine. Still scarred, but not freshly hurt like in her dream.

"Should we go get some ice cream, mayhaps?" he asked.

She nodded then, eyeing Hermione who was still looking concerned. He shrugged as he stood from his desk, clutching her to him. He had no choice as she was not letting go.

If there was any doubt left in him that he was truly this girl's father - and Jasmin's - that he'd taken on the role of father actively. It was pretty well gone now. He could clearly see the affection that other Severus felt for this child in his eyes when he looked at her. That her familiar stood guard, protecting him while Hermione left the room. That despite their ruse that Hermione had left him he still wore his wedding band. These witches were his family. Likely that Severus hadn't had that before now either.

They got to the kitchens where Ivy tickled the pear to gain entry and they had ice cream with chocolate sauce before returning to their rooms. Ivy, kindly, didn't instigate a war by announcing she'd just gotten ice cream and Jasmin hadn't. This was very clearly a moment he'd needed to tend to just Ivy and she seemed to appreciate he had.

They left the door to her bedroom and theirs open that night. Severus was concerned she'd have another nightmare and wanted to ensure she'd be heard.

"That poor girl," Hermione whispered against his shoulder after he finished telling her what he saw.

"It had to have been not too long before you, that you, brought them to me. He mentioned her birthday being next week, or falling in between this current visit and a potential next one."

"Is your great aunt's house still empty?"

"It is. She passed," he paused, thinking over that. "It was after the first war's end, I don't remember the year. Assuming it happened the same there, the house would have stood empty for years. I could see why he would think of it, though. I guess I don't know if it was empty in their universe. I suppose she could have been helping them. I wouldn't take the risk of anyone knowing, though, so cannot imagine he would either. It makes sense, too, he'd bring you somewhere muggle. You wouldn't have been able to use any magic at first due to your age. So muggle and a relative that no one would know about readily. It makes me wonder, if my father had the bills to the home put under his name, if I'm still paying on that house. I guess I should actually look through my documents to find out. I truly have no idea," he said with a slight scoff.

She snorted softly at that. "I doubt he would take that risk, so I would presume it was empty."

"Right. So likely she was gone. She never married, so no children."

"What was her name?"

"Arlene," he whispered. It dawned on him that likely Jasmin's middle name of Aileen was a mix of his mum's and his great aunt's names. He'd never had any reason to think of Aunt Arlene until tonight in relation to the girls. It made sense, too, with Ivy's being Liana.

"Well, hopefully her house helped."

"I hope so, too."

"That must have been hard for you."

He shrugged against her..

"Don't do that, Severus. She was hurting. She saw you hurt and she's not old enough to understand. She understands we're not really her parents, but as smart as she obviously is, portals and different universes is a little complex. Seeing yourself hurt, though."

"And yet, despite knowing he could get proper care elsewhere. Knowing that going home injured that badly he risked Ivy and Jasmin seeing him, he went to her. He didn't go to his rooms or to Poppy."

"He did."

"That's huge, Hermione."

He thought back to himself in 1997. He understood the significance of that version of himself choosing Hermione over the medical care that Poppy could have provided. Of him willingly wearing his wedding band despite his wife not being with him six nights a week. It meant he trusted and was committed to her. He imagined it also meant he loved her and wanted to go home. To his wife and daughters. "I don't…"

He wasn't sure where to begin. It was one thing to read a letter, to see Ivy and Jasmin and quite another to see physical, tangible proof that he loved the witch. He was rather confident the look of affection he saw that Severus give that Hermione was the same way he looked at his Hermione.

"I know," she whispered. "I imagine it's difficult to see yourself, a version of yourself, in a situation you see as … more than just a little morally grey. I don't given the circumstances and clearly she was over eighteen by the time of those events. It's clear from her letters to the both of us and that memory that he took his vow seriously. I'm glad that he had them."

"I am as well." He slid the tip of his ring finger over her lip. "He looked at her the way I think I look at you."

"Is that so?"

"It is."

"Well, then she was a lucky witch because I consider myself incredibly so to have you look at me the way that you do, Severus."

"Not as lucky as I am. Either version of me we're discussing."

"Now," she said softly, leaning up to kiss his jaw and pretty much the entire side of his face he'd seen just hours ago badly cut and bleeding. "What can I do to chase that memory away for you?"

"I could think of a thing or two."

"Yeah? Well," she whispered. "Let me know when I'm getting warm."

She got more than just warm and she did indeed chase the image away, after shutting their door.

Ivy slept through the night as well.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com