Professor Snape's Lily & Mr. Malfoy's Harriet: The Bonds of Family

Chapter 28 - Reality

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Upon her release from the Hospital Wing, Harriet went home for the weekend.

Draco badly wanted to protest having his darling out of his sight even for a single moment, but he recognized Harriet's needs as greater than his own.

While he wallowed in guilt on Saturday morning, Harriet woke and took a sip of Anti-Nausea Potion from the glass vial on her nightstand.

Despite his anger and disappointment, Severus had lovingly brewed a second vat of the healing mixture for his daughter.

Lily slept late that morning, but through Harriet's cracked bedroom door, she spied her father as he silently walked down the hallway and headed towards the staircase.

The silence of the house easily permitted Harriet's question to reach Severus's ears as she called to him, "...........Dad?"

Harriet heard nothing for a moment before her door gently creaked open as her father poked his head into her room with a frown.

"I....I'd like to talk to you." Harriet said with a soft smile.

Severus scowled at his daughter as he swept through the door, walked over, and sat on the edge of her bed.

He narrowed his dark eyes as Harriet reached out and touched his hand.

She sighed as she looked down and spoke, "I want to apologize, Dad."

"Words will do little to remedy the situation." Severus coldly huffed.

"You're right." Harriet pouted as she dared to lift her gaze and meet her father's black stare.

Severus's expression softened as he listened while his daughter went on, "Still......I....I can't stand to have you look at me with hatred. I made a mistake.....I...I should have known better. I was frightened and uncomfortable and I just...I...Draco and I...."

Harriet stopped speaking when she noticed the remorseful frown that crossed Severus's features.

After a silent moment passed, he questioned her, "Harriet.......Am I your father?"

Harriet blinked as she nodded and replied, "......Yes."

"I know you've heard the story many times....was I not the first one to hold you after your arrival in this world?" Severus asked.

"According to Mum, you were, yes." Harriet said as the hint of a smile tugged at her lips.

"Then please do not insult me so as to doubt my love for you." Severus said as a serious scowl formed on his face while he gazed at Harriet, "You were the first gift your mother gave me, the physical product of our love........Nothing in this world or the next will ever change that. I may not be pleased with your decisions, but I am incapable of hating you.......It wounds me...deeply.....that you could even consider such a notion to be remotely possible."

Severus wasn't prone to show affection to anyone except Lily, but Harriet lunged forward and enveloped him in a tight hug.

He blinked in surprise for a moment before he slowly lifted his hands and placed them on his daughter's arms to accept her embrace.

Harriet squeezed her father tightly as she closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you, Dad."

She couldn't see, but as Severus returned her hug, he closed his eyes as well.

His eldest child had displeased him, certainly, but that morning, he found Harriet's sentiment to be a hugely ample reward.

Severus Snape thought of fatherhood as the most frustrating, difficult, and blissful job he had held in his life.