A Child For Snape

Brightest Witch of Her Age

Severus and Elieena had been getting along just fine. She'd been coming into Severus' chambers every night to do homework since her friends seemed to not care about schoolwork as much as her. She reminded Severus so much of her mother, it almost ached his heart. He still hadn't written Hermione to tell her that Elieena knows about him now. Not the bad stuff, just the simple explanations about his job in the war. 

She seemed to relish the knowledge that he told her and started walking with her head held high every time that a student looked her way. She was prideful as he was, which sometimes could be a bad thing, but Severus didnt seem that worried. She wasn't like he was when he was a student, unpopular. Nor was she like her mother, obsessed with her friends. 

Severus had graded Elieena's long essay first on the expeliarmus spell. He did set her bar extra high, simply because he was her father. He wanted her to succeed in school. He thought, though, that since it was her first essay he would need to make adjustments to her sentence structure, but no. Her words were far better than even his fourth years. He dared to think that perhaps she was smarter than her parents were at that age. 

"How'd I do?" She hadn't called him dad yet, which was fine to him. He didn't feel like he's earned the title yet, anyhow. She sat in her spot on the sofa, bouncing up an down at the thought of a grade. Too much like her parents. He had to stop comparing her to how they were at that age, though. She was her own person. 

After a long day of classes, Severus used to sit in his room and grade in silence. However, since a young girl came into his life, he'd grown accustomed to having a high pitched hum whenever she was reading or writing. The only time she was silent was when she was studying her potions. He could tell she loved potions, and was going to be great at it. 

Draco, who'd taken up potions master after finishing his schooling, had said how amazing she was at the weekly meetings in the headmistresses office. Severus had to always hide a prideful smile, not wanting people to know how invested he was in the girl. Although she was his daughter. He had to keep reminding himself of that fact when he tried to hide his emotions about her too well. He had permission to be happy for her. 

She was going to be a potions mistress when she got out of school, she'd said one day after finishing reading his advance potions book that he'd received back from the Room of Requirement after the war.  She read each potion twice and noted the slight changed he'd made with fire in her eyes. The first book she'd taken, Rare and Advance Potions for Potioneers had been read cover to cover three times and she'd asked several questions about the potions on how she could improve the potions much like how he'd done to his school book. 

It filled him with so much pride he felt he could burst. He looked at her essay on vampire bats, well written and informative. "Perfect marks, darling," he said with endearment. 

"So, I can pick out another book?" She asked with a squeal. He'd told her after her third book that he wanted to grade their latest essay first before letting her chose the book he knew she'd want. 

Severus nodded, "Yes, although I have a feeling I know which book you will pick." He smiled at her when he saw her questioned look. "I saw you eyeing it last time you were looking for a book."

She blushed. "Yes, I see it now. Can I get it?"

He motioned for her to go on and take it. She rushed over and took Potions of the Decades: A Guide to Making Dark Potions, off the shelf. It was a dark book, but Severus knew she would like it. The only reason he even let her read it was because she could learn more from that book than the potions books she would be required to use at Hogwarts. 

She smiled at him with the widest smile he's seen from her yet. A feeling from deep in his gut started bubbling up. He pushed the feeling down, worried it was an illness, and went back to grading while Elieena sat on the floor by the bookshelf and started reading the book. He'd checked her homework before he even let her in his chambers this time, prepared to send her to her dorm if it wasn't done. Just by a glance at her work, it was not only done, but perfectly as well. He slightly worried if she had problems with perfectionism, but decided to not dwell on that fact, yet.