Mist and Vapors

Hannah took a deep breath as they walked through the doors of the Great Hall, her hand tucked into the crook of his elbow.

Severus bent his head down towards her. "If you can manage, try not to look as if you are about to drop from fright," he whispered with a smirk.

"Easy for you to say," she whispered back. "I'm just glad they'll have a week to get used to this idea before I have to face them in class again."

Strangely enough, he seemed to have lost all nervousness as soon as he walked through the door, straight-backed, glittering determination in his eyes. They walked by the Slytherin table, where all conversation stopped as the students saw their Head of House stroll past with a woman on his arm. And not just any woman - the resident Squib English teacher. Hannah flinched under the unrelenting stares.

"Hold on," he said in a low voice.

"They're all looking at us," Hannah said, trying her best to appear nonchalant and relaxed. She was afraid she was failing miserably.

"Of course they are," Severus said, having the audacity to actually sound amused.

He steered her past the entire length of the Slytherin table toward the High Table. Closest to them, near the end of the table, perched Nettie Nequam. The sharp-faced Ancient Runes mistress watched them approach with slack-jawed amazement.

"Ah, Professor Nequam. Beautiful day, isn't it?" Severus said in his silkiest voice as they walked past. For a second, Hannah thought that the older witch might succumb to apoplexy right then and there.

"You are actually enjoying this, aren't you?" she whispered to him, halfway between an accusation and a grin.

"One has to take the small pleasures of life where one can find them," he said with mock severity as he escorted her to her seat on the far side of the table. He solicitously pulled out the chair for her. "Well, here we are."

"Thank you," Hannah said under her breath, color creeping into her cheeks as she sat down.

Flitwick, perched on the chair next to her, looked on in curiosity as Severus gave her a formal bow and then turned to walk back to his own seat.

"Well, that's a new one," he said in puzzlement, watching the Potions master's retreating back. "What's got into him?"

Hannah, keeping a decorous silence, blushed even brighter.

The Charms master looked her over curiously. His gaze alighted on her left hand, now nervously drumming on the tabletop. He gave her a sharp look.

"Is that a new ring?" he asked. "I can't recall seeing that before."

"It is," Hannah said, suddenly looking up, a quiet glow starting to rise through the self-conscious awkwardness. "Severus gave it to me."

Flitwick gaped for a moment. "Does that mean that you are...?"

"Engaged. Yes," she said, and she was smiling now, happiness rising up like champagne bubbles. It felt so good, just telling him.

Flitwick's face erupted into a radiant beam. "Engaged? To Severus? Well, I'll be... He finally made up his mind, did he? Congratulations! Oh, I'm so happy!" There were tears in his eyes as he pumped her hand vigorously, shaking it in both of his. "The best news I've had in ages!"

Hannah felt herself tearing up, too. There would be so many who would not be happy, who would consider the whole thing to be some kind of joke. Even Severus' mother hadn't seemed wholly pleased at first. And she didn't even want to think about what her father would say when he found out. The approval and childlike excitement of this small wizard whom she loved whole-heartedly meant more to her than she could ever say. She leaned over and hugged him fiercely. "You're a perfect dear, you know that?" she whispered. "Thank you."

Severus, at the other end of the table, wondered if the Charms master had any idea of how well his high-pitched voice carried through the expanse of the Hall.

"Well," he heard Minerva McGonagall's prim voice from his right side. "It appears congratulations are in order." He looked over to find her staring at him, lips pressed together tightly, looking flustered. "I must say, Severus, this is somewhat sudden." She smiled a thin-lipped smile. "When did this happen?"

Sinistra, on his other side, looked up from her plate and snorted. "Oh, come now, Minerva," she said disbelievingly. "It didn't take the Department of Mysteries to figure this one out."

He cast a severe glance at the Astronomy mistress before turning back to McGonagall. "It is a ...recent development," he said stiffly

"Well," she said, still looking somewhat disgruntled. "My best wishes, then."

"Thank you," he said, inclining his head. His guess was that her attitude had less to do with disapproval and more to do with feeling left out of the loop. She would come around.

On his other side, Sinistra grinned at him and winked. "About time," she said before returning to her pork chops.

He cast a tentative look over to the Slytherin table. In stark contrast to the hum of voices that had erupted everywhere else in the Hall when Flitwick had exclaimed his delight, the Slytherins were curiously silent. Some of the students sat stiff-backed, talking to each other in quiet disbelief. Two of the seventh years stared at him with outright disapproval on their faces; others turned away, not meeting his glance at all. There were titters and whispers all over the rest of the Hall, as the students who had remained over the Easter holiday discussed what was obviously the news of the day.

Well, it was what he had expected, he reminded himself. Most students, he thought with a bitter smirk, would have already had their worldview turned inside out by the simple fact that he had actually found someone who wanted to marry him. That that someone was the Squib Composition mistress just added an extra dimension to the sensation.

When the meal was finally over, he stood up, only to find the rest of the staff converging on him. Somehow, Hannah ended up next to him, washed in his direction like flotsam in front of a wave, and together they accepted the best wishes of their colleagues, offered with varying degrees of sincerity. Remus Lupin, still looking peaky and ill after the full moon, nevertheless offered his congratulations with genuine pleasure, while Vector seemed to have trouble suppressing a smirk. The felicitations were accompanied by a barrage of questions. Not five minutes later, at the first lull in the onslaught of well-wishers, Severus leaned over towards Hannah. "Can we go?" he whispered sharply. He had had about all the collegial conviviality he could take.

"Please," she whispered back fervently.

They had made their excuses, and Severus was guiding her along the Slytherin table, his hand against the small of her back, when one of the students got up and approached them - Agila Slighcarp, the Slytherin Seeker. The slim, wiry girl stopped in front of them. The rest of the table watched her with curiosity.

"Sir, is it true that you are getting married?" There was a nervous quiver in her voice. She was obviously quite aware of all the eyes looking in her direction.

He looked down his long nose at her. "I don't see what concern of yours that is, Slighcarp, but yes."

"I - I just wanted to wish you all the best, Sir," she said, and turned to Hannah. "You, too, Professor Hannigan." She held out her hand. Hannah took it, feeling tears stinging at the back of her eyes again.

"Thank you," she said softly. She had always liked the Slytherin girl, and it came as no surprise to her that Agila would be the first one to express her loyalty to her Head of House. She could have hugged the girl right then - the cold reception of their news at the Slytherin table must have hurt Severus; after all the years he had spent protecting them and serving them to the best of his ability he deserved better. That Miss Slighcarp had had the courage to get up and offer congratulations would go a long way towards repairing that damage. Not to mention that her status as Seeker meant that her doing so made it much more likely that other Slytherins would 'forgive' their Head of House for doing something so unthinkable as to marry a Squib.

Severus, a rare hint of a smile etched around the corners of his mouth, inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Thank you. Now if you will excuse us?" His hand still on the small of her back, he steered her out of the Great Hall and safely out of the way of most of the foot traffic.

"Well, we made it," Hannah said with relief.

"Indeed we did." He allowed himself a smirk as he recalled the flabbergasted expression on Nequam's face. Over all, it had gone better than he had expected. Yes, there had been the requisite 'Yuk, Snape--can you imagine?' comments and exaggerated retching sounds coming from the Gryffindor table, but he had been more than pleased when Slighcarp had gotten up and shaken Hannah's hand. In view of the icy atmosphere of the Slytherin table, that had taken more courage than any of the Gryffindors had to offer.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," she said with a sigh. "I was a nervous wreck."

"Will you be all right? I'm afraid I've taken too much time away from my duties over the last few days, so I'll have to leave you to your own devices until later."

She smiled at him. "I'll be fine. When will I see you? At dinner?"

"I'll meet you in your quarters before then." He was most decidedly not looking forward to dinner. Right now, taking meals in the Great Hall was like eating in a goldfish bowl, and neither he nor Hannah had done more than pick at their food during lunch. He would have liked nothing better than to skip the communal meal and just have a quiet dinner in her rooms. If he hadn't felt the importance of presenting a strong front and not letting those who disapproved know how much the stares were getting to him, he would have suggested just that. He inwardly sighed. Maybe tomorrow.

.-.-.-.

When he stepped out of her fireplace later that day, he saw Hannah hastily stuff something she had had in her hands behind a sofa cushion before getting up.

"What was that?" he asked as she greeted him with a kiss.

"What was what?" she asked innocently.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing." He did not find her expression at all convincing.

Looking at her through narrowed eyes, he walked over to the sofa and reached behind the cushion. Hannah made a sudden movement as if to stop him, but paused, lips pinched together in chagrin, when he pulled out a book.

Severus looked at the cover - Encyclopaedia of Potions Ingredients, Vol. 1: Aardvark Tongues to Dugbog Teeth.

He looked at her in incomprehension. "You are reading Potions books?"

"Well, yes," she said defensively. "So what?"

"What other books have you read?"

She paused for a moment before answering in a low voice. "Magical Drafts and Potions. And Potions Preparation."

"Why?"

There was exasperation in her voice as she answered. "Is that really so hard to figure out?"

"You should have asked me. I could have recommended something more suitable. Potions Preparation is in large parts outdated."

"All right." She was silent for a moment before looking up at him. "We could trade off," she said with a sudden grin. "You tell me what Potions manuals would give me the best idea of what it is that you do, and I give you some of my favorite books to read."

"Muggle novels?" There was obvious distaste in his voice.

"I promise I'll be selective. I bet I can find some books you'll enjoy. Is it a deal?"

He barely managed to suppress a sigh. But if she could go through the trouble of learning about his area of expertise, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to gain some exposure to the things she enjoyed. "It's a deal," he said resignedly.

"Good."

He didn't think the enthusiasm in her voice boded at all well. But too late now. "Are you ready for dinner, then?"

She gave him a wry look. "As ready as I'm going to be."

.-.-.-.

Dinner brought a repeat of the lunchtime performance, with the added bonus that Filius Flitwick insisted on switching places with Severus and wouldn't take no for an answer. With ill humor, Severus had finally taken his seat next to Hannah. The meal was a strained affair. Hannah fervently hoped that the novelty factor of their engagement would wear off quickly -she couldn't take much more of this.

Somehow, they made it through, and then made their way up to her quarters in unspoken relief that the public part of the day was over. Once safely back inside their own four walls, they wrote out invitations to the few people they wanted to witness the ceremony - Severus was right, without inviting the staff their guest list would have been woefully short. Owls flew off towards the south, taking the missives away to Hannah's Aunt Karen, Severus' aunt and mother, and Flitwick's sister Filia. As for the staff, Severus drew up a brief announcement to hang up in the staff room. He was not about to invite each one individually.

Then had come talk about what would come after the wedding...

"I suppose if we have to, we could just stay here," she said. "It would be easiest." But please, let's not, she thought. The idea of having their wedding night in a school full of colleagues and students who would know exactly what they were up to was shudder-inducing.

It seemed that Severus concurred. "I would prefer to go away for the night."

"Good," she said with relief. "Since we won't get a proper honeymoon, it would be nice to at least have a night to ourselves."

"So where, then?" he asked.

"We could go back to St. Comgan."

"I am not staying in that inn again," Severus said dismissively.

"The place I stayed at might be available, if you don't mind Muggle lodgings. This isn't exactly high season; it shouldn't be hard to come up with something. Or do you have a better idea?"

He shook his head. "That'll do."

"Good. I'll make the arrangements." She smiled at him. "Just you and I. I can't wait."

His smile in response was somewhat tightlipped. After the 'Binding' fiasco, it had occurred to him that there might be other topics that it might be wise to discuss before the wedding took place.

"What?" she asked.

"There are a few more issues I would like to clear up."

"Well?" she asked cautiously. "What is it?"

"After the wedding, will it bother you to share my rooms in the dungeons? I am still the Slytherin Head of House; I will need to remain where I am within easy reach of our common room."

She shook her head. "It will only be for a couple of months, anyway. It's fine. - What else?"

"When we get married, will you take my name or would you prefer to keep your own?" That idea was a fairly recent cross-over from the Muggle world, but - better ask. He held his breath. This was one point on which he had rather strong opinions.

"Yours. Hannah Lydia Snape - it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

He let out a breath, and swallowed. "Yes," he said softly, "it does."

For a moment, it was quiet. Then Hannah spoke up. "You know, I have no idea what your middle name is."

"I don't use my middle name," he said shortly. "Never have."

She waited for a moment, but nothing else was forthcoming.

"Severus," she finally said in exasperation, "are you going to tell me?"

He looked at her as if debating if to answer. "I was named after both my grandfathers. Another Snape family tradition."

"So Severus, I assume, was your grandfather on the Snape side. What about your grandfather on the Jones side?"

Again, he cast a long glance at her before surrendering. "Ioan," he said resignedly.

"So?" she asked. "That's a good Welsh name. What's wrong with that?"

He just stared at her with the same sort of longsuffering look he employed when waiting for a dunderhead student to arrive at a readily apparent conclusion. She would get it. Any moment now.

Finally, comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh." She smiled at him sympathetically. "S.I.S. Those initial are a bit unfortunate, aren't they?"

Well, yes, they were. He looked away in embarrassment. "Can you imagine what Potter and Black would have made of that?" he muttered. Snivellus had been bad enough.

She put her hand on his arm. "You know," she said lightly, "you aren't the only one who got teased. I got my share of that as well."

He turned back to her, his eyebrows lifted. "You? Why?"

Smiling a half-smile, she shrugged her shoulders. "Just imagine you are a scrawny eleven-year-old, and you were raised in the magical world, and then all of a sudden you are sent off to a Muggle school in a foreign country, and you just don't fit in. And the first two letters of your first and last name spell out 'HaHa'. I assure you my dorm-mates figured that one out rather quickly. It got old in a hurry."

She nestled against him as he put his arm around her shoulder. "No one was as vicious as that bunch Remus ran around with, though," she said, indignation in her voice. "Small wonder you kept your full name a secret." She looked up at him as he held her tightly for a moment. "Just so you know - I love your name. And I love you."

"Heaven knows why," he answered, only half joking.

"Oh, I know why," she said softly.

He closed his eyes as she kissed him gently, her hand lightly touching his cheek. She really was the dearest thing....

"So," she asked a moment later, pulling back with a smile, "was that all, then?"

He cleared his throat. "One more thing."

"Well?"

"I thought we should talk about..." He stopped.

"Talk about what?"

He looked at her grimly. "Children. Do you want children?"

Hannah cast him a cautious glance. "I suppose I always assumed that if I met the right man I would have some eventually. - How about you? Do you want children?"

"No." The word came out with emphasis. "No children."

Hannah shrugged her shoulders. "All right. No children, then."

Taken aback, he sat up a little. "That doesn't bother you?"

A lopsided grin grew across Hannah's face. "It may shock you, Severus, but the general idea that you might not want children does not come as a complete and utter surprise to me."

He harrumphed at that. But there was remaining uneasiness - if she wanted children, would she hold it against him in a year or two?

She must have seen something in his face, because she turned to fully face him. "Look, I was raised by a father who only had a child to make his wife happy. I am not about to put either you or our unfortunate offspring through that. If you don't want children, it's okay. Really. I have you. That's enough." Her smile was a little misty, and he all of a sudden discovered a rather largish lump in his throat. There seemed to be nothing to do but to kiss her in return.

.-.-.-.

When Severus left later that evening, Hannah turned to walk back to her bedroom, a smile on her face. Any time she let herself think about the last few days, her head was still spinning. Things had happened so quickly. Her smile grew wider - only five more days....

There was something different about him, now that he had proposed - he seemed surer of himself, less reserved. And she had actually made him laugh today.

When the fire roared to life again in a blaze of green, Hannah turned around with a smile. "Did you forget someth..."

The smile died on her lips when the figure in the fireplace turned out to be someone quite unexpected.

"Father," she said uncertainly, as her visitor brushed the ashes from his jacket.

"Hannah." His face was grim.

"What are you doing here?"

"Offering my best wishes, of course." The corners of his mouth were turned down. "Imagine my surprise when one of the Registry clerks stopped by my desk this afternoon to congratulate me on the upcoming nuptials of my very own daughter. He quite relished telling me all the juicy details, as well. You and that Death Eater. When exactly were you going to tell me?

"Later," she said, her face hard. "Much later. I was under the impression that the news would not bring you much joy."

"You're right." He took a few menacing steps. "It doesn't. And I cannot allow you to go through with it."

"I'm an adult. I don't need your permission."

"You forget that you are a Squib." An unpleasant smile spread over his face. "As you reminded me in front of, oh, a few hundred people or so not too long ago."

Fear crept up her spine like icy fingers. Her eyes flickered to the door. "Just leave me alone, Father. Can't you just forget that you had a daughter? That's what you told me you would do."

He shook his head. "You have a distressing habit of popping up at the most inconvenient times. No, as long as you insist on running around with that Death Eater, simply forgetting you ever existed is not an option. So, my dearest daughter," he lifted his wand, and a second later caught Hannah as she crumpled, "I'm afraid you are coming with me."