Redemption

26

It had been a while since I had been woken up by a teen jumping up and down on the bed. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Waverly squealed as her father sat up and pulled her into his arms. "Gods, you're infuriatingly insufferable." He said, kissing the side of her head. The girl giggled and tried to escape his grasp. "I don't think so, miss. You can't just come wake me up and proceed to run away. That isn't how things work."

He pulled her close and tickled her sides. She shrieked and threw her head back, laughing openly. "Papa!"

I sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Good morning." I croaked.

I met Snape's eyes. There was a gleeful light dancing in them, he was happy. My heart sped up at the thought. He was happy, and I was there to witness it. I smiled gently, and he returned it, leaning forward to press his lips to mine.

Waverly cooed, her hands clasped together closely. "Wait 'til Nora hears all about papa's new lady friend."

My cheeks went red, my gaze averted from the Snapes. He rolled his eyes and mussed her hair, sending her curls everywhere. A peak of laughter escaped her, as she once again tried to get away. "Apologise to Hermione, you little troll."

"What for? I haven't done anything!"

I sent him a look and he sighed, letting go of his tiny daughter. "Off you go, then."

She slipped away happily, dancing out of his reach. She came around to the other side of the bed and crawled onto it, sitting in front of me. "Sorry I woke you." I waved off her apology and she crawled into my lap, wrapping frail arms around my neck tightly. "Thank you for the most wonderful Christmas."

With that, she ran out of the room, leaving her father with a raised eyebrow and confused face. Unsurprisingly.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, my eyes still heavy. "What was that about?" He asked, tracing semi-circles on the inside of my arm. I shivered in response, lifting my face to meet his.

"Nothing." I replied, leaning in ever so slightly, touching my nose to his.

He kissed me sweetly and so deliciously slowly. I leaned into it, enjoying every moment. The man was bliss. All too quickly, he had stood and walked to the door, pulling on his night robe. "Breakfast." He stated, disappearing down the hall.

I squinted at the space he had occupied only a few moments earlier. "Wicked."

I took my time getting out of bed, pulling on my sweater, making my way down the stairs. The wonderful smell of food hit my nose as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. I smiled at what I saw; Severus at the stove in his pyjamas, Mavis on his hip.

The baby reached out to me. "Henry!"

Her father gratefully handed her over, before turning back to what he was doing. I heard a shrill scream from upstairs and hurried feet running down the stairs, jumping the last few. "PANCAKES!"

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me as Waverly danced into the room, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She sent me a toothy grin, plopping into the chair she had occupied the night before.

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful way to spend the morning. It was the greatest thing I'd experienced in a long, long time.

Fate seemed to have a strange way of choosing my moments, and how I returned to the train wreck that was my life.

I heard three things then, in this exact order; There was a knock at the door, the house elf went to see who was there, Minky let out a pained, muffled cry.