Keeping Emma

Chapter 15: The Conspiracy Begins

Viola was quiet during the drive back to Hampshire. They arrived at the mansion at five and made their way upstairs. Mrs. Trumbell met them in the foyer to the apartment. "I've made roast chicken for dinner tonight," she said. "The Ambassador called. He will be back a bit later tonight, around six."

Emma and Severus went to her room and lay on the bed. He'd hoped she'd want to fool around, but all she wanted to do was talk about the damned nursery furniture.

"What did you think of that white nursery set, Severus?"

There was a white set? "The white was...um...nice, Emma," he said, nuzzling her neck.

"Wouldn't it be pretty if we painted each wall in the baby's room a different color? Maybe light petal pink on one wall, sky blue on another, yellow, and for the fourth wall, either pale green or lavender. Then we'd get a white crib, dresser, and changing table. Doesn't that sound pretty?"

She was kidding, right? Did she really think he cared about color schemes? "Whatever you want, Emma," he said, slipping his hand under her sweater.

"Or, we could wallpaper, tiny pink rosebuds on a white background, light pink carpeting, sheer pink pricilla curtains. Either the white or the oak furniture would go well in that room, don't you think?"

The only pink rosebuds he cared about right now were, well, never mind. "Yeah, great, Emma. Just turn on your side a bit, love; let me undo your bra," he said.

Emma shifted onto her side and felt his hand go right to the hooks. Then he shifted her back onto her back and pulled the long sweater up and began to nuzzle her. "Of course, white furniture is great for a girl, but oak can be for either a girl or a boy. If we get oak, we can reuse everything in case we have a boy next time."

Next time? What next time? He looked up into her eyes. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Oak, Severus. Oak nursery furniture can be used for either a boy or a girl. If we get oak, we can reuse it in case we have a boy next time. White is very feminine."

Severus sighed and lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Well, that was certainly a mood-killer. "Don't you rather think we should concentrate on getting this one safely out before you start thinking about another?"

"Well, you do want more than one, don't you? I mean, really, both of us were only children. It was awfully lonely. You don't want our daughter to be lonely, do you? I was thinking that if I could get pregnant again as soon as possible, they would have each other to play with. Then, we could wait a few years and have two more."

Four kids? She was putting him on. She'd really had him going for a second there. Well, two could play that game. "That sounds great, Emma," he said. "In fact, I was thinking, there's this potion I can brew up so you can start popping them out two and three at a time. I only wish I'd thought of it when we'd conceived this one. You see, I was thinking that I'd really like to stage my own Quidditch games."

He'd already explained the game to her. "So, you want seven children?"

"No, actually, fourteen, for two teams, so they can play each other," he said. "I can be the referee."

"You want fourteen children?"

"At least fourteen," he said. "Maybe three or four extra for alternates. You know, in case a couple of them get hurt."

"Severus, there's no way in Hell I'd want to be pregnant that often," she said.

"If you take the triplet potion, it'll only be five more pregnancies, tops." He stood up and hurriedly took off his own clothes, stopping to finish pulling her sweater off and threw it across the room. Then he plopped back down and said, "Now, where was I? Ah, yes."

"Severus, children cost money, you know," she said, sitting up in the bed and pushing him away.

"Well, if you breast feed until they are four or five, it'll cost a lot less. Lucky kids," he said, diving for one of hers again.

"And I'll sure save a lot on buying sweaters and blouses. I'll never have a chance to put one on," she said, beating him on his back.

"Now that I can live with," he said, "coming home at night, seeing you walking around half naked. That's my idea of heaven."

"No, Severus, four children are plenty. To be honest, though, having twins would be cool. Can you really do that?"

Severus looked at her and sighed, wondering what line she was in when they were handing out a sense of humor. "Umm...no, Emma, there is no twin or triplet potion. I was joking because I thought you were. And, by the way, pink is a disgusting color."

"Why would you think I was joking about having more children?"

That was a loaded question, Severus thought. If he answered it wrong, he'd be in the doghouse for the night. "This pregnancy is enough for me to worry about right now."

"Why are you worried, Severus? Come on, babies get born every second somewhere. I'm sure everything is going to be wonderful and we will be cooing over our very own baby girl."

"Cooing? I don't 'coo,' Emma. The pregnancy makes me nervous. The idea of childbirth makes me nervous. There's no way to control it. It just...happens. I don't like having to deal with things I can't control. And I don't like having to discuss every damned detail to death."

Emma lay, silent, not meeting his eyes. "You don't want any more children, do you?"

"No, Emma, I don't. I've gotten used to the idea of this one. I really have. I can't wait to see her, to see if she's tiny like you, and has your eyes. I want her to have your eyes. I look forward to teaching her everything she needs to know to be a great witch. But I like solitude and silence and focus. I could not deal with a houseful of children. Think about it, Emma. Could you? Really?" He lapsed into silence.

What he did not say was that he doubted that he would live to see this one grown. For now, the Dark Mark on his left forearm was still, but there were moments, when he walked the grounds of Hogwarts, or rode his broomstick over the Forbidden Forest that it prickled. Severus knew that the Dark Lord was out there somewhere, watching, waiting. It was not a question of if he would return, but when the attempts would begin.

He would take these years with Emma and enjoy this respite from darkness. Lily's son was now two. He had at least nine years of relative peace left, maybe more. But he also knew that when it happened, he would, most likely, have to walk away from Emma and his daughter, if he hoped to keep them safe. He had to keep his heart from overruling his common sense. A state of domestic bliss with a Muggle would compromise his credibility with the Death Eaters. He knew what signs to watch for. When it was time, he would send Emma and his daughter away. They could go to America. At least now he knew that they would have her father's protection. But this time, the now, was worth the pain that would come.

Emma rested her head on his shoulder. It was their first day back together and he had descended into his black pit again. He always did when she spoke of the future. The past was off-limits too. He wanted to exist in the present. She knew, from things that Minerva had told her, that Severus had been badly abused by his father. Some of the men her mother had brought home had been less than kind to her. He'd had no friends in school. She could relate to that as well. He was right about her too. She'd be pulling her hair out if she had to deal with the melee that so many children would cause.

"Maybe you're right, Severus," she said. "One child will be enough. Just because we were lonely and isolated doesn't mean that our daughter will be too. We won't let it happen. She is no more fated to relive our lives than we are to relive our parents' lives. Truth be told, I doubt that I could stand the noise of a houseful of kids either."

Severus smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "But we do have another issue we need to deal with," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Can we just fool around now, please?"

Emma smiled. "Yes, Severus," she said as she began trailing soft kisses over his chest.

Severus awoke to the sound of someone softly knocking on the bedroom door. He disentangled himself from Emma, found his clothes, and quickly got into them. He opened the door to see her mother there.

"It's time for dinner," she said. "Michael sent me to fetch the two of you."

"Emma is sleeping. She's exhausted. The trip to London, all that shopping, it took a lot out of her. Maybe if you can save her a plate, I can bring it in to her later, but I don't think she'll be up again tonight."

"Would you like to come have dinner then?"

"No, thank you. I do not want to leave Emma. I'll just wait until she wakes and have something with her."

Viola tried to peer past him into the room, but it was impossible. He opened the door no more than a few inches. Viola suddenly felt a profound sense of loss. Her little girl was no longer hers. Somehow, she had always thought that Emma would always be with her. She had to get used to being alone now. It's funny, but even when she'd been told that Emma was dead, she had felt as if Emma was with her all the time, just out at school, or making a run to the store. Having Emma married and pregnant, with this man running interference, was more final than death had been.

"Very well, Professor," she said. "I'll make sure to save enough for the two of you." Then she turned and walked up the hall and returned to the dining room where Michael and Natalie waited.

"They will not be joining us for dinner tonight," she said, taking her seat next to the one that Emma had been occupying. "Emma is tired from the shopping trip and asleep. I told...him...that I would save them some dinner for later."

"All right," said Michael. "But I do hope they don't make a habit of this. We only have five days before they and Natalie return to Hogwarts. I like us to have our dinner together as a family."

"I was thinking, Michael. I am going to make arrangements to return home on Monday. Emma will be gone, and with her my excuse for being here. I have to see if I still have a job after abandoning the restaurant during the holidays. I strongly suspect that I'll have to begin looking for a new one."

"I fail to see any valid reason for you to return home," Michael said. "You have no family, probably no job. Why not just stay and await the arrival of our grandchild?"

"I'm here on a temporary tourist visa, Michael. I have to get used to the idea of Emma being gone, busy with her husband and a child. I need to get used to being alone, and it's better to do it in familiar environment. Besides, I can't just live here for the next three months."

"I can get that visa straightened out," said Michael. "And why can't you just stay here? I have plenty of room."

"We can't live here together, alone, after the girls go back to Hogwarts. It wouldn't look right. What would people think?"

"Who the hell cares what people think?"

"Well, you should. You're an important man. I doubt you can afford the scandal if it ever got out you're shacking up with some two-bit waitress. My God, what if the press ever finds out you're Emma's father? They could have a field day with that."

"You're not a two-bit waitress, and I don't care who finds out," he said. "I have every intention of claiming her publicly. I'm not exactly keeping it a secret. The staff here knows, and I've told my peers in London. I even told the entire story to the Prime Minister today. Everyone is happy for me, Viola."

"I need to go home, Michael," Viola said, a note of finality in her voice.

"Fine," said Michael, throwing his napkin down on the table in frustration. "I find I'm not all that hungry tonight myself. I'll be in my library." Then he got up and left the dining room.

Viola looked at Natalie. "I'm sorry this dinner was ruined, Natalie," she said.

"Well, I don't understand why you have to leave either. Don't you think Emma would like you on the same continent?"

"I don't want to end up one of those pathetic, needy mothers who is always vying for attention from her daughter, making it into some sort of competition and turning the son-in-law and grandchildren into the enemy."

"That's not going to happen," said Natalie. "No offense, Viola, but unless you are totally obtuse, my father likes you--a lot. You walk into a room and his eyes light up. I like you. I hate the idea of going off to Hogwarts and leaving him alone here. I'd been hoping that with Emma and me gone, the two of you would..."

"Natalie, that's sweet and a very romantic notion, but it isn't going to happen."

"Why not? He has a thing for you, and I see you watching him when you think he doesn't see it. Can you honestly say that your feelings toward my father are totally platonic?"

"You're very young, Natalie. What I feel does not matter in the slightest. Look at me. I'm a high school dropout, a waitress. He is a college educated man, an Ambassador who negotiates treaties, entertains presidents and kings. He is out of my league and always was. My father was a freaking garbage man. Neither of my parents even graduated high school. They barely spoke English. The best move your father ever made was leaving me behind. I'd only bring him down."

Natalie got up from the table. "Have you ever considered counseling to work on those self-esteem issues, Viola? When measuring the worth of someone, you don't use education or power or wealth as your yardstick. Hell, some of the biggest idiots I've ever met have been statesmen and senators, and some the nicest have been store clerks and housekeepers and...and...waitresses. My mother never graduated from college and they were happy together. You know, I'm not very hungry either." Natalie walked out of the dining room and went to her own room to watch television.

Emma opened her eyes in the darkened room and felt Severus' arms around her, his breath whispering across her back. She shifted onto her back and saw him staring at her. She brought her hand to his face. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I like to watch you sleep," he said. "Did you know sometimes you giggle in your sleep? What were you dreaming about?"

Emma smiled and gave a little chuckle. "I dreamed I had kittens, two of them, and they were frolicking around. I'd always wanted a cat when I was a little girl but we couldn't afford pets."

"When we're in our own house, I'll get you a kitten if you want. By the way, I have something for you," he said. "Close your eyes." When her eyes were closed, he sat up and turned on the light by the bed. Then he fumbled in his pocket for the ring he'd gotten her for Christmas. He grabbed her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, on top of the wedding ring. "Okay, you may open your eyes now," he said.

Emma opened her eyes and looked at the ring. It was lovely. Made of platinum or white gold, it was crested by three interlocking circles of tiny diamonds. The center circle was made up of yellow diamonds while the two side circles were white. "Oh, Severus, that is so pretty," she said. "Did you really pick this out yourself?"

Severus smiled, happy that she was pleased with it. That Friday they had been in London before Emma's court date, he had looked in one store after another, only finding rings that all looked pretty much the same. He had ended up walking past a small shop that had no window display except a neon sign that had read 'we buy and sell jewelry, watches, and precious metals.'

He'd walked in and told the man at the counter that he was looking for a ring for his wife, but something different, not ordinary. The man said he had just bought a few lots from various estates, and brought out a tray of rings. Right away, Severus had spotted this one. Knowing that Emma would love the yellow stones, he'd bought it. He'd gotten a good deal too, using Legilimency to read in the man's mind the lowest offer he'd be willing to accept.

"Actually, yes, I did. I'd looked and looked and found nothing special but the second I saw this, I knew it was the one," he said. He took Emma's hand in his and held it up, admiring the sparkle of the ring on her finger.

"I'm starving," she said, looking at the wristwatch she'd gotten for Christmas. "We missed dinner."

"It's okay, your mother came by before and said she'd save us some food. Stay here. I'll go get us some." He got up and left for the kitchen.

He wasn't gone five seconds before the door opened. It was Natalie. She looked around at Emma's clothes, scattered on the floor wherever they had landed when Severus had thrown them and rolled her eyes. Emma's face began to turn red.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Emma as she pulled the covers up over her. "I'm not decent."

"Obviously," teased Natalie. "But I need to talk to you about your mother."

Emma sat up in the bed, tucking the blankets under her arms. "Okay, what about her?" she asked.

"Dinner tonight was a fiasco. Did you know that she intends to return to the States on Monday?"

"That soon? Well, she only has a temporary tourist visa," said Emma.

"Daddy can fix that. Come on, Emma. She is running away. Anyone with half a brain can see that she and Daddy have a thing for each other. Wouldn't it be great if they got together?"

"I haven't noticed this thing you say they have for each other," said Emma.

"Well, of course not," said Natalie. "You've been too busy moping around all depressed over not being with your Professor. And today, you've obviously had better things to do," she said, hooking her finger under the strap of Emma's bra, that had caught on the drawer handle of the small bedside table.

"Give me that," said Emma, as she reached out and grabbed it off her hand, her face turning red. "So, what can we do?"

"You need to keep her here. Cry, whine, say that you need your mother near you during this time, say that you want her here for the delivery, you want Daddy to bring her to Hogwarts on weekends for visits. Daddy will be the only one who could bring her. He'd have to do a side along apparition. And you know how that weakens non-magicals. He'll have to carry her in his arms, especially on the return trip. Imagine it, he'll carry her to her room, lay her on the bed, look down at her, and then nature will just take over."

"Nature will just take over what?" asked Severus, who stood at the door with a tray of food for the two of them.

"Our parents," said Natalie. "Viola wants to leave next Monday and she needs to stay so she and Daddy can get married."

"Umm....right," said Severus as he set the tray down on Emma's lap. "I also brought the jar of green olives from the refrigerator, Emma," he said.

As Emma began to eat, she said, "Natalie seems to believe that they have a thing for each other and that my mother, for some reason, is running away from it." She stopped to eat a few more forkfuls of food.

"I know your father is definitely attracted to your mother," he said.

"How do you know?" asked Emma.

"When he came to Hogwarts to talk to me, at one point during the conversation he let his block on his mind slip and he was imagining doing things to her breasts that were pretty indecent."

"Ewww, that's something I really did not want to know, Professor," said Natalie.

"Sorry," he said.

"Yeah, but let's be honest here. Natalie says my mother is leaving to run away from him. My mother has never run away from a relationship with a man in her life," said Emma.

"She admitted to me that she loved him at dinner, Emma."

"Oh come on, she came right out and said it?"

"Well, no. But I told her to deny it and she didn't. She said that what she felt wasn't important. She said that he's too good for her, too educated, too important, that he hangs out with all these important people in his work and that she is nothing but a waitress who dropped out of high school and she'd only bring him down."

"Come to think of it," said Emma. "When I was sixteen, I worked at the restaurant with my mom during summer vacation. There was this one man who came in a few times a week. He was a doctor at the hospital--nice looking, sweet, no wedding ring. He asked her out, but she kept turning him down. I asked her why, and she said he was out of her league. But every low-class loser who looked her way, those she said yes to."

"That's what she said about Daddy," said Natalie. "Maybe I could brew up a love potion or something and slip it to them."

"No," said Severus. "They already have feelings for each other. Love potions are too obvious and wear off too fast. Your father would know in a heartbeat what you'd done. Although, maybe he wouldn't care, but an aphrodisiac, however..."

"No, you are not giving my mother an aphrodisiac," said Emma. "How could you even think such a thing?" During their honeymoon, she'd finally gotten around to asking him exactly what it was he'd tried to slip into her drink, and he'd admitted it was an aphrodisiac that he had invented.

"Aphrodisiacs are illegal, even in our country," said Natalie, ignoring her. "How can we get our hands on one?"

"Absolutely illegal," said Severus with a totally straight face. "I would never be caught dead with one."

Emma snorted so hard she nearly choked on a piece of chicken.

"Well, of course, not, Professor, being a teacher and all. It wouldn't look good," said Natalie, pounding Emma's back. "You really need to eat slower, Emma. Here, drink some water."

"Maybe lock them in a room together. One with anti-apparition and disapparition spells on it, a case of wine, some cheese. Put a sticking charm on the door. Maybe lure them to Hogwarts, use one of the rooms Dumbledore keeps his wines in the dungeons and make sure they have a few nice thick blankets. The anti-apparition and disapparition spells are already in place," said Severus.

"That's brilliant, Severus," said Natalie.

"I was joking, actually," said Severus. "Besides, if Emma's mother is leaving Monday, how could we lure them to Hogwarts on a weekend?"

"We could do it here. There's the pantry in the basement. It's filled with a wine rack and blocks of cheese aging down there. There's even a huge refrigerator and freezer and shelves Mrs. Trumbell uses to store other non-perishables, like jars of olives and canned goods. I could sneak a couple thick comforters down there, some fresh food, wine glasses, bread.

"That's where the olives are kept?" Emma asked. "Do they have pimentos in them? How many jars are down there?"

"Emma, could you please just forget the olives a minute," said Natalie. "Now, here's what we can do. Tomorrow afternoon, you ask your mother to go down there to get more olives. Mrs. Trumbell won't be here to do it because it's her market day. I'll have my shower on, but I'll really be hiding out in the cellar. Once she's in the pantry, which has this really heavy metal door, I'll close her in there. The latch will drop automatically. Then, when Daddy gets home, he'll wonder where she is and you tell him that she went to get you olives, so he'll go down there too. We'll have anti-disapparition spells in place ahead of time and seal the door behind him."

"Oh no. I'm not getting involved with this at all, Natalie," said Emma. "Are you sure your last name isn't Planters? Cuz I think you're nuts."

"You'd better put an anti-blasting spell on the door too," said Severus. "A sticking charm would work against Alohomora, but not a blasting spell. I can put the anti-disapparition spell on the room if you'd like. It's pretty advanced magic, but Dumbledore showed me how when I got the teaching job, in case of emergency. Once your father realizes the possibilities, I doubt he'll work too hard on getting that door open anyway. I sure as hell wouldn't."

"Don't you encourage her," said Emma. "Besides, wouldn't Mrs. Trumbell wonder where they are?"

"I'll tell her they went out to dinner," said Natalie.

"But you'll have to let them out sometime," said Emma. "I admit, my mother probably wouldn't even realize she'd been set up, but your...I mean, our father is going to be livid."

"Not if it works," said Severus.

"He's right, Emma," said Natalie. "Your only part in this is to ask for olives tomorrow afternoon. If this comes back to bite us in the ass, I'll take full responsibility. Let's see, I'd better put a bucket in there for them to use as a toilet. There's plenty of toilet paper stored in there, there's a sink for fresh water. I'm going to go get everything set up tonight while they're both sulking."

"I'll come with you to set those anti-disapparition spells," said Severus.

"Why are you doing this, Severus?" asked Emma. "You don't even like them, as far as I can see."

"What are you talking about? I think your mother is wonderful. I'm forever in her debt."

"For what?" asked Emma.

"For giving you these," he said, reaching out to grab Emma's breasts through the blankets and causing Natalie to burst out laughing. "But seriously, I know you'd be happier if she stayed in England, wouldn't you? And if she were married, I wouldn't have to worry about her coming to live with us. Think, Emma, this is the best possible outcome for all of us."

"Well, I guess, maybe," said Emma. As Severus and Natalie headed toward the door, she added, "Oh, guys?"

"What?" asked Natalie.

"Just in case, can you bring up an extra jar or two of those olives? I'll hide them in here."

"Sure thing, Emma," said Natalie, rolling her eyes. Then, she and Severus left the room to begin their mission.