Maybe One Day

Severus was the first to wake up the next morning. He was full of nerves as he carefully picked out his clothes for the day. He settled on a pair of dark jeans and a dark blue shirt that were comfortable enough to play in but that didn't make him look like a little child. Happy with his wardrobe, he left his room and wandered into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sev!" Hermione was chipper this morning, and flitted about the kitchen setting a bowl of cereal and some juice down in front of him. Severus hid his grin in his juice as he realized that Hermione hadn't cooked anything again. He assumed that she was pants at cooking, though how that was possible when she was marrying a Weasley, he couldn't really understand.

A few minutes later, Ron bounced into the room, apparently just as excited as everyone else for the party later on that day. "Hey, Sev," Ron chirped, ruffling the boy's hair playfully. Coming up behind Hermione and wrapping his long arms around her waist, he placed a sweet kiss on her lips and then nuzzled into her neck. Severus felt his cheeks turn a deep red as he hid his face behind his hands, trying to focus on his breakfast. He found it intriguing that even though he had his adult memories, his body reacted like its physical age.

Breakfast continued slowly, until Ron mentioned something Severus hadn't even thought of. "So, 'Mione. Excited to get back to work? I bet the place is falling apart without you!" he said with a cheeky smirk. Severus felt himself go stiff in apprehension as he realized, of course the woman had a job, and of course she would have to return to it eventually. In fact, hadn't she mentioned it when she first took him in only a week before? He felt like an idiot even as he watched them talk with wide, panicked eyes.

"Yes, I suppose. I'll return tomorrow, but not much has happened in a week. I didn't miss anything important. I much preferred our time together, Sev," she said happily, turning toward the boy and flying to his side when she saw how upset he was. "Oh, Sev. What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry. I just, I guess I didn't really realize that you would both be leaving so soon...," he whined, trailing off as he tried to regain his breath. Hermione rubbed his back and looked to Ron for some support, but he was just looking down on Severus with a fond smile.

"There's nothing to worry about, Severus. While we're at work, you'll stay with my mum. She watches Teddy, Victorie, and Jamie while everyone's at work, so you won't be alone. Besides, Mum loves kids." This didn't seem to make any difference to Sev, other than to turn him a lighter shade of white.

"So, you're gonna stick me with Lupin's son and Potter's son and expect there to be no problems?" he asked, panicky. "This is going to be just like the first time!" he said shrilly, gripping onto Hermione's arm tightly, tears filling his eyes and his body shaking.

"Severus, I promise it won't be like that. Teddy is a sweet boy, Victorie is very kind, and Jamie is just a baby, not even a year old. Calm down." Hermione was torn. Maybe she should take more time off to take care of Severus. If he really wasn't comfortable with the children after this weekend, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. She had worked extremely hard to get where she was now at the paper, but she knew she would give it all up for Severus if she had to.

"Come on. You're going to meet everyone today, in a few minutes, in fact. And you're going to love them, and they're going to love you, and it's all going to be just fine. You'll see. Just don't go into this with a bad attitude and everything will work out," Ron advised, reaching out to take Sev up into his arms.

The boy was still shaking and sad, but he nodded, burrowing closer to Ron as he neared the fireplace. "Do you have everything we might need, Hermione?" he asked over his shoulder. Hermione nodded and Ron threw down some powder into the grate, taking them all to the Burrow for the day.

Severus opened his eyes and took in the mass pandemonium surrounding them. A few red headed children ran around, chasing a small blue haired boy. A few adults were gathered around the kitchen table, and Mrs. Weasley was standing behind the stove, just as formidable as always as she stirred her food, flitted around the kitchen, and kept up a conversation with her daughter.

When her gaze landed on them standing in the doorway, Molly stopped short, frozen for a long moment. Ginny letting out a surprised noise promptly brought Molly out of her stupor. She flew across the kitchen, a large smile on her face as she took in Severus's tiny little features.

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," Severus said warily, not quite sure how she would take to him. The fact he would have to spend a vast majority of his time with her during the week also made him keep to his best, most polite behavior.

"Oh, Severus! None of that 'Mrs. Weasley' nonsense. You're family, now! I'm Grammy, you silly little thing," she said with a wide smile, reaching out to Ron so she could take him into her own arms. He transferred awkwardly, not quite sure how to take this sudden acceptance.

"Oh, sweetheart. Can't you give me a hug, little one?" she asked sadly, feeling how stiff he was in her arms. Severus relaxed a smidgen, just enough to wrap his arms around her neck and to squeeze slightly.

"Oh, dear. We'll have our work cut out for us with you, won't we, sweet child?" She kissed his cheek and then returned him to Hermione. She noticed that he seemed quite at home in her arms, leaning heavily against her while watching the others in the kitchen warily. "Why doesn't Hermione go and introduce you to your cousins, dear?" Molly suggested.

Hermione smiled at Molly and then took Severus out of the room, headed towards the stairs she had seen the kids fly up earlier. "Don't worry, Severus. They'll love you, really." He huffed lightly against her neck but nodded.

When she finally found the room the children had congregated in, she was greeted with a chorus of, "Hi, Aunt 'Mione!" She smiled sweetly down at her nieces and nephews and plopped herself down into their circle. It seems they had found Molly's stash of toys and were rummaging through it.

"Kids, I wanted to introduce you to your cousin. This is Severus. He's going to live with me and Uncle Ron from now on. He'll be spending the weekdays with you, as well. Severus, this is Teddy," she said, pointing at the blue haired boy, "and this is Victorie," the red haired girl, "and I assumed Aunt Ginny has Jamie with her, right?" The kids nodded happily and turned their gazes onto the new child.

"Hiya, Severus!" Teddy greeted with a smile, waving excitedly. Victorie grinned as well, waving like Teddy had and giggling lightly. Teddy held out a hand, saying, "We were just going through Grammy's toys. Do you want to play with us?"

Severus wasn't sure. He looked up at Hermione and she nodded, saying, "I think I'll stay for a little while. Let's see what toys Grammy Weasley has here, hmm?" She started russling through the pile until Severus began to relax a bit around the older children.

"Do you want to play exploding snap?" Teddy asked the room once he had found the cards in the pile, and everyone agreed. Teddy passed the cards out and then the game began. Severus was surprisingly good at it, almost better than the older children. After the first game, all the children was laughing and grinning, and Severus began to relax. No one had pulled a prank on him, or hurt him, or scared him, so he felt much safer and welcomed than he had thought he would.

"Dinner, everybody!" Molly shouted up the stairs, and suddenly Severus didn't feel so relaxed anymore. This was just the children. He could handle chidren, really. But now he had to go face all the adults, people he had taught or known before he had died. He grabbed on to Hermione for dear life and refused to let go until she set him down on his own chair, between her and Ron.

She loaded up a plate for him and set it down in front of him. Severus looked around the table, biting his lip when he saw everyone staring at him. Hermione glared at the table, and suddenly everyone was looking away, starting their own conversations up again. Severus felt better after that, not quite so much anxiety clouding his mind, and dug in to the food Hermione had given him. As he ate, he watched everyone else at the table. He saw Harry and Ginny a bit further down the table, with Teddy and a baby he assumed was Jamie. Across from them was Bill and Fleur with Victorie, and then Severus's little family. Next to Hermione sat Charlie and Percy, as well as the older Weasleys, and then across from them was only one of the twins. Suddenly, he remembered that one of them had died around the time he had during the final battle, and he didn't feel so hungry anymore.

Hermione and Ron both noticed the green look he was taking on, and Hermione rushed him toward the bathroom before he vomitted all over the table. She was just in time for him to start crying and vomitting at the same time. She waited for him to finished before wrapping him up in a hug and letting him rest against her.

"What happened, Sev? You were doing so good!" That only seemed to make him feel worse. He wasn't trying to be a bother, or bad.

"I saw that there was only one of the twins there, and then I remembered that you told me one of them died at Hogwarts, and that got me thinking about when I died, and it wasn't very good thoughts for dinnertime," he admitted shakily.

"Oh, Sev," she moaned, hugging him tightly. She kissed his cheek lightly and then brought him to stand in front of her. "A lot of bad things happened then, but we're all trying to move on from it. George's better now. He was really sad for a long time, but did you know, he just got engaged to Angelina. He's so much better now than he was right after the battle. But we just have to try and move on. I know what happened to you was scary and terrible, but it's over now, and we can move on." She kissed him one more time, and then led him from the bathroom back into the dining room.

They were greeted with everyone around the table staring at them in worry. It made Sev squirm but it also made him feel a bit special, that any of them cared if he was okay at all was shocking to him.

"Are you alright now, sweetie?" Molly asked quietly, reaching out to pat his hand lightly. He nodded and ducked his head, biting his lip as he played with the rest of his food on his plate. Slowly, conversation around the table resumed. Hermione's hand on his back the rest of the meal really made him feel much better.

Once everyone was finished eating, the children were released to go play and Teddy actually came over to an indicisive looking Severus and asked if he wanted to play again, and gladly took his hand and led him off to play.

Hermione sighed when he disappeared through the door, wondering how Mrs. Weasley had had seven children and hadn't gone crazy. Once all the children were gone, the adults turned to her to explain Severus's spontaneous sickness.

She sighed again and began explaining. Everyone was sympathetic; they had had years to come to terms with their losses, but Severus had just reappeared.

"The poor child. I'll try to have the older ones distract him when he gets like that. It can't be good for him to dwell on it, especially because he's so young now," Mrs. Weasley said quietly, staring down at the tabletop sadly.

"He's a strong boy, I think he'll adapt fairly quickly," Ron admitted, smiling at Hermione. Hermione agreed, and soon the conversation shifted once more.

"So, you've got Severus Snape living with you now. What's that like?" Ginny asked with a wicked grin.

George burst out laughing. "Oh, yes. Do tell!" he demanded, poking Ron in the arm with a wide grin. Hermione rolled her eyes but produced the camera she had brought along to illustrate the story Ron was telling about his daring battle with the bedframe he had selflessly managed to fit together. The night went on with stories and laughter until Severus came plodding into the room a few hours later, rubbing at his eyes and tugging on Hermione's sleeve.

"'Mione, can we go home soon? 'M tired," he whined, rubbing at his eyes a bit more.

"Of course, Sev. Come here, let's say goodbye." It was too late, though. The moment he knew he was safe in Hermione's arms, he snuggled down and promptly fell asleep. Hermione groaned in exasperation but continued saying goodbye, saying they would see them all tomorrow to drop off Severus in the morning.

With that counted as mostly a success, Hermione and Ron flooed home, Severus curled up contentedly in Hermione's arms.