A crash echoed through the silence of the night, disturbing the tranquility that occurred rarely. Diana sat up with her heart racing, hands fumbling around for her glasses on the table, the only source of light coming from the muggle street lamps outside.
Severus Snape swore to himself as he cleaned the shreds of glasses that sparkled in the orange glow of the lamplight. He blamed himself for making a commotion when it took days for his kids to finally fall asleep.
It took him almost three minutes to realize that someone was watching him which was so unnatural, considering his past jobs.
It must have been the way he looked past her shoulder expecting the sound of another pair of footstep or she just found it easy to chat with fathers missing in action from their lives.
" Rigel sleeps like a rock . I wouldn't be surprised if he is still asleep even after Madonna shows up " Diana avoided her fathers confused face at the muggle reference and moved to stand next to the burning cauldron. Salamander blood, boom berry juice....
" Why are you making Wiggenweld potion in the middle of the night ? " Diana questioned inhaling the scent of the potion.
He should've lashed out, questioned why she wasn't in bed or to keep her nose out of his business but his tortured spirits roaming the musty walls of his childhood home stopped him from making it any worse and wordlessly he moved to stand next to the potion, passing a knife to his daughter.
Diana herself was quite taken aback at the gesture, perhaps she had expected him to shout , nevertheless she accepted the knife and started mincing the flobberworms, the potion gurgled and turned a light shade of red which darkened with each stir.
" Popp-er.. Madam Pomfrey, she's the matron at Hogwarts ,expects me to make a new batch of potions for the Hospital Wing " Severus said almost painfully, as if against his wishes. He was supposed to keep his distance and not answer.
Diana shot a quick glance at him, his answer was almost forced , heck it was forced but she still appreciated him for giving an answer. She had hoped for years to live with her father and now it was finally coming true. Diana and Rigel were going to Hogwarts, a place where they truly belong.
Severus realized that Diana's chin could nearly reach his shoulders and this caused him to be in a state of regret about the lost time. He was given a chance to be better and to create a family , an opportunity that Lily never got to do even if it was with that tosser Potter.
He let Diana to take charge of the potion as he stood back and watched. The scent of boom berry juice filled the room and her hair changed to a turquoise color to match the potion. Something about his daughter, his own blood doing something which he loves with so much passion brought a warm unexplainable feeling to his heart.
The clock chimed one and they both continued packing the potion into crystal phials. He could've made the process easy, a flick of his wand and they both would be getting the well needed rest. But he knew she needed this, that she wouldn't be able to last long without doing anything.
It was a good distraction while it lasted and he knew from that moment Diana would be included in restocking all of hospital Wings potions.
By the time it was two in the morning the kitchen was looking spotless, the crystal phials were stored in boxes and Severus would mail them in the morning. He turned very reluctantly to say thankyou, not because he had too much ego but because nobody cared enough to help him.
But one look at Diana's face shut him up. Her eyelids were droopy and she had dark circles . The usual bright colours of her hair was gone and it hung limply till her waist. For the first time Severus saw his daughters true form. She had the same hair and eyes as his, even her posture was similar to his.
He chose to ignore it at the moment and it didn't even take a second for him to realise that Diana was having nightmares. He decided to give her a few drops of sleeping draught. The effect was almost instantaneous , Diana swayed in her spot for a few seconds before Severus caught her. Instead of carrying her to her room, he laid her on the couch.
Both of his kids were knocked out and probably would be out for the next 12 hours , Diana maybe a little longer. Somewhere in the house a creaking sound was heard. It reminded him of the many nights he slipped down quietly to steal food without waking his father. Master of the mind or not he still responded badly to both loud and quite noises.
Thinking about his daughters nightmares and his son Rigel's shaking hands made the belt marks on his back sting and he knew that from this moment onwards, he would forever protect his children even if it would cause him to take his last breath. He was ready to live and breath for his kids. He was done grieving Lily and at that moment a wave of peace he never felt before washed over him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
