Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling. None of the individuals in the banner or the people who photographed them are in any way affiliated with me.

Pairing: Severus/Harry.

Rating: R

Warning: OOCness (sorry I tried, but Sev refused to stay mean)

Summary: Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

Author's note: Last of the pre-written chapters.

Author:Spirit

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Culpa Internum

The Fault Within

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CHAPTER THREE

o

"You have reached the Floo of St. Mungo's Hospital. Please state your name and the name of the individual who you wish to contact. If you are unsure, then stay in the Floo and a representative will assist you shortly."

The floating, turning crest of St. Mungo's was violently shoved out of the way with a hiss of disgust as Severus stuck his head in its place.

"Severus Snape," he snapped. "Healer Kehland."

The charmed crest sprung up again, nearly smacking into Severus' face if he had been a second too late on removing his head from the fire.

"We're sorry, but the Healer that you have requested is unavailable right now. However, Healer Michaella Kehland has permitted other Healers to assist you in her absence, Severus Snape. Please stay in the Floo and one of your next available Healers will be here soon. In the event that you are feeling faint, nauseous or believe that you need emergency assistance then step into the Floo and -"

The crest shimmered for a second then disappeared. The calm, tolerant face of Severus' 'next available Healer' smiled at him from the fire, but there was no mistaking the mischievous look in the dark blue eyes.

"Hello Professor. How are you feeling today?" Ron asked as pleasantly as he could, seeing as how Snape looked more annoyed than in desperate need of assistance.

"Weasley." Severus thrust a vial of potion forward so that Ron could read the label. "What in the nine hells is this supposed to mean?"

Ron dutifully read, "Dilute 1 tsp of potion with 2 tbsp of water for each dose of this potion. Do not exceed the maximum four dosage per day unless advised by your Healer. Do not -"

"Dilute!"

The potion was snapped back and this time Ron didn't seem to make any attempt to fight his amusement. The grin on his face made Severus wonder if perhaps seeing all those deaths in the war had not somehow addled Weasley's brain. He, like his two friends, walked around with the tired, saddened expression of those who had been too young to have witnessed such attrocities. They had been in the forefront of the war. Perhaps Weasley suffered more than others imagined and had not been able to readjust in life as Potter certainly had.

"Dilute!" Severus snarled again, teeth clenched together as he sneered angrily. "One of my potions? If I had wanted a bucket of water thrown into the concoction I would have added it myself! I invented a perfectly good Pain Relieving Potion. Why can't you fools as St. Mungo's leave well enough alone? Must you debase everything that your grubby magic touches? There is nothing wrong with the formula for -"

Severus' tirade was cut abruptly short as he sucked in a deep, sharp gasp of air. The headache that had started this rampage was getting worse the more he shouted. A particularly nasty bout made his head almost throb in agony.

Immediately, Weasley became as professional as possible.

"Professor Snape, are you alright?" Even through the distance and the fire, there was no mistaking the gentle prod of magic. "You have a migraine. It will only get worse, Professor, if you insist on worrying over minor annoyances."

"I refuse to take a diluted version of my own potion."

Weasley sighed patiently. "It's for your own good you know. You're right, you did invent one of the best Pain Relieving Potions and in the end we will need its potency to help when there are worse pain to endure. Right now, we can't afford for you to get immune to the potion so early in your treatment. While we could use one of the lesser potions, I'm sure you'd find more fault with those than you ever could with your own potion. So the best thing for everyone is for you to just do what we Healers ask."

Severus pressed the heel of one hand in the vicinity of his right eye. While that merely shifted the pain, it offered a small measure of relief for a few seconds. It was enough for him to curl his lips in disgust. He really should be writing this down as the day that a Weasley was actually making sense.

"If this is the way that -" was the farthest he got before Ron began to speak.

"Professor, don't you think that it would be better if you had a lie down now? I can sense that your headache is escalating. Take the potion and you can contact me again to shout as much as you'd like. The more energy that you exhert will just result in more discomfort. Rest and you'll feel much better."

"Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking Weasley! It is my body! I am well aware of how tired I feel or how much pain I can tolerate. I've endured far worse pain than a mere headache!"

Not that it felt like just any minor headache. Severus tried not to groan. The bright light from the fire and especially the gratingly calm voice that Weasley was using was really not helping. Severus took a deep breath and removed his hand from his face.

"Resting is not a feasible option right now," he pointed out almost softly. "I have a guest and while she has been far more manageable than I anticipated, you can hardly expect me to take care of a two year old with a raging headache, now can you? Taking a diluted version of this potion won't work. I made the potion Weasley. I had to test it on someone, didn't I? So if you're afraid that my tolerance level may get too high, bad news boy, it already is."

"Shae is there?" Ron's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Where exactly is she? Did you lock her in a room or something, or petrify her? You had better not have petrified her Snape, or Merlin help me I'll curse you with something far worse than a migraine."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "She is my daughter, isn't she?"

"You can look on her and doubt that?" The anger in Ron's expression changed to intrigue. "She looks just like you."

"She looks like him. She has his eyes."

"She does not! She has both your eyes. They change color depending on her mood. She has your smile and your...sneer? Whatever you call it, whenever you're both in a particularly nasty mood."

"I haven't seen her do much of anything actually, except sit and play by herself as if she's not sure if I'm real."

Ron smiled at that and the realization that Snape was being somewhat pleasant, all because his daughter was in residence. "She wouldn't know though. Harry's only shown her memories of you. The most pleasant ones are usually you just sitting in your office before you notice him. Try talking to her. Anything will do. She's a good listener, most of the time. She got that from Harry."

"She'd have gotten that from me, Weasley." Severus tried to school his expression into nonchalence. "Is there anything in particular that she would like to hear? When Potter dumped her into my arms he didn't leave any instructions on how to handle her."

"She's a child, not a vase, Professor. You don't have to handle her." Ron grinned. "It's not like Harry had a manual either. Sink or swim. If you do something wrong she'll let you know. General rule, tears mean you messed up, laughter means you're doing good."

"I did manage to break her of that ridiculous notion that she can refer to us with the same noun."

Ron had to laugh at that. "Good for you! Must be a record too actually, Harry has been trying for months now."

"It doesn't suprise me that he failed."

There was silence for a few seconds. Severus tried not to fidget. No matter how subtle Weasley was being, Severus could feel the trickles of healing magic that had been pouring into him steadily from the moment the conversation had switched to Shaelan. He could even sense the calming effect. Usually he would have thorought berated Weasley on trying to manipulate him in this way, but his headache was being comfortably reduced and now he had the excuse of being medicated while he asked questions that had really been weighing on his mind since he found out about her.

Everyone said that her very existence was a phenomena and the Healers had all been harping on how special she was, even in the cataloguing of her birth where information should have been less biased. Severus remembered how not-grateful he had felt when he was informed of what Potter had done. Everyone at St. Mungo's expected him to be ecstatic. He had been livid with anger, wanting to hunt Potter down and tear him to shreds for this demoralization. One made worse by the fact that he had always wanted a child to carry out his legacy and he had indeed felt grateful. They were feelings that he had never wanted to experience in accordance with Potter's name. Yet, he had Snape's child and just like a recurring hero with a complex, the boy had managed to show up just in time when he knew that Snape would have no choice but be thankful. It all seemed very calculated and Severus had spent hours wondering what kind of child this Shaelan Potter-Snape was and if she was anything like her younger father. Blood magic was the most potent charm in the magical world and the child could have been a horror to behold.

But from the second that he'd seen her, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her.

Her wavy black hair had looked as smooth as corn silk and he imagined it to be as soft as feathers against his fingertips. Later he had found out that it was just the way he had imagined. She hadn't been afraid of him at all as she stepped towards him with that open look of concentration and guarded acceptance. And he had frightened her with his irritation. It was amazing how seeing fear in his daughter's eyes - because from the moment that he had looked at her she had been no less - made him feel worse than any insult anyone had every tried throwing at him. Then she was in his arms with her small arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her perfect Potter-like nose pressed to his jaw, the scent of lilacs and lavender wafting from her hair and skin, her miniature-version black wizading robe clinging to her body as he held on to her. For a long moment he had been afraid to even put her down, for fear that she wasn't real and as beautiful as any little girl he had ever seen. And she was his. Even now that realization was unbelievable.

But he had put her down because the headache that had been taunting him all day had become a migraine and the potion that his Healers prescribed had a charm on it that made the potion return to the bottle if he didn't add water to it within a ten second period.

"Professor." Weasley's voice was soothing, no doubt he was sensing with the instincts that he had developed as a Healer, that his patient was feeling better. "Don't let her tire you out. Get some rest. I'll see what I can do about changing your medication. I know you'll get tempted, but try not to get all stubborn and attempt making your own brew. Do something simple to keep her busy like read her a story or talk to her."

"I'll hold you to your word Weasley," Severus warned, but it obviously had no effect since Ron smiled. "I'll be in the living room should you need me. Remember to use the Floo, Mr. Weasley. I know that you're stupid enough to forget that Hogwarts still have anti-apparition wards."

That wiped the grin right off Weasley's face. Severus was satisfied. It still gave him a sadistic pleasure to know that no matter how old or mature his former students became, he still had the power to reduce them to mere twelve years olds mentally.

With a curt "Good day Weasley," Severus snuffed the Floo connection out and stiffly rose from the awkward position that was required for Floo conversations. He stretched gingerly. His headache wasn't all gone, as he'd need the potion for that, but it was certainly more tolerable. He looked at the Pain Relieving Potion in his hand again.

Dilute.

Well if he was going to have to add water to be able to induce the potion then he might as well get on with the distasteful task, he reasoned.

o

She was sitting exactly where he had left her on the large settee.

He hadn't petrified her to ensure that she remained where she was. He had simply told her that if she didn't stay on the chair then when he returned he would put her on the carpet and let it eat her. In hindsight it wasn't a very nice threat, but it did have the desired effect as she kept her legs tucked up to her chest, not risking having it dangling near the accursed floor.

Two steps in her direction reminded him of what Weasley had said. She was sobbing quietly to herself. He had made a mistake.

He sat down beside her, risking a few glances at her, but she kept her eyes locked firmly upon the floor as if she was afraid that he hadn't kept his word and the floor was soon to jump up and gobble her.

"You've been very good," he informed her softly. "It won't hurt you."

She sniffled then turned to gaze up at him sorrowfully. Her eyes were bright green like Severus remembered Lily's eyes to be when she was sad, shimmering with tears in just the same way.

"Will you forgive me if I apologize?" He asked as gently as he had ever dared to make his voice. Guilt was not an emotion that he enjoyed. "I could hardly let you follow me. What do you think would happen if one day you decided to try it and stuck your head into the fire while a Floo was not open. It wouldn't be very pleasant for you or anyone else who would have to look at you."

She sniffled again, tears still streaming down her face, as she rubbed a palm across her eye.

"I am sorry," he said, amazed that the words actually came out sounding sincere.

Gingerly, slowly, she leaned her head against his arm and shuffled closer to him for protection. Just as slowly, he reached out with his other hand to stroke his fingers soothingly through her hair and then across the smoothness of her cheek. The tears seemed to stop but the wetness was still there so he wiped them away in soft caresses.

"Is there anything that I can do to make you feel better?" She didn't answer. Severus considered further. "Would you like me to get you some ice-cream? The house-elves are very efficient. I've been assured on countless occassions that there is no food in the world that they cannot provide. This would be a reasonably good opportunity to test that theory."

He cleared his throat then shouted, "House-elf!". One appeared instantly, bowing with eyes wide, ready to please. "An ice-cream cone for the child. Strawberry. Make sure that there are real strawberries in it, mind you."

The house-elf dissappeared, then faster than should be possible, reappeared holding a cone that looked to be almost as high as his eager face. He handed it carefully to Shae, ensuring that it was firmly secured in both her hands. Then with another bow to each of them, he popped out of the room again.

"For me?" Shae asked, her eyes sparkling with disbelief. Severus nodded at her and she smiled with glee. "Papa wants ice-cream too?"

"I may as well take some of yours," he said, glowering at the tower of ice-cream. "If I make you sick, your other father just might decide not to leave you alone with me again."

They licked their way through the mass, and when she had enough, Severus saved his carpet from being ruined by finishing off what was left. By then she had somehow managed to fall asleep from the saporific effect of crying and licking and melting ice-cream. After casting a thorough Cleaning Spell to get rid of all the stickiness, Severus contemplated letting her stay in the position that she was in with her head resting at his side and his arm draped very loosely around her. But he couldn't resist very long, so in a swift but gentle movement her pulled her fully into his lap, cradling her close to his chest.

"You'll make an astounding Slytherin one day," he growled gently at her as he smoothed her hair. "Don't for a second think that I missed all that subtle manipulation that you just used. Raw talent like that needs to be honed and you've spent enough time with Potter to pick up his more Gryffindor ways, I'm sure. Well I plan on teaching you how to embrace your Slytherin side."

He risked pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before he returned to simply staring down at her, loving the way she felt in his hands and the intoxicating knowledge that she was his. Maybe Potter knew exactly what he was doing when he shoved her into his arms, Severus realized.

Maybe manipulation ran in their family.

o-X-o