Hello my lovely readers! I am so sorry for how long the wait was. I have been very busy with work and then the hurricane came, but I will be returning to this story starting now. I hope most of you are still here and if you are new welcome! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Severus held his daughter tightly to his chest not wanting to let her go. He finally had a daughter, something he had always wanted, but thought would never happen to him. Hermione stood back and watched the two of them, in awe by how much love he showed their daughter. She didn't want to ruin the moment between them, so she stepped out of the room and decided to make some tea for the both of them. Sabrina snuggled into her father's hold, loving the feel of his warm arms. She honestly was the perfect daughter in Severus's eyes. He knew he had to go to work soon with Hermione by his side, but he didn't want to leave the couch he was sitting on. He felt tears sting his eyes and he quickly blinked them away. He never felt happy in his life after Lily was killed. He always felt empty and when she died a part of him died with her. It left a hole in his heart that he thought would never be filled again, but this little girl, his little girl, filled his heart with so much love.

It was going to be difficult to go home every night and say goodbye to his daughter. He wanted her close to him at all times, but the situation the two of them were in did not allow that. He wanted to be a part of every aspect in his child's life. He wanted to wake her up in the morning, he wanted to make her breakfast, he wanted to bring her to the park, he wanted to play with her stuffed animals and make her laugh, he wanted to read her bedtime stories, and he wanted to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight. He wanted to be there every moment, but living separately from her would not allow him to. He would be there for some of the time, but not as much as he wanted to and as much as she deserved.

Hermione reentered the room and set down the tray of tea and biscuits. She sat down in her armchair and started to sip on her cup of tea.

"We are going to have to leave soon," he murmured quietly. He let go of his little girl and sat her down next to him. He reached out and took the other cup of tea. "Thank you for the tea." He turned to Sabrina who started to nibble on one of the biscuits in delight. "Are you ready to see my shop again Sabrina?"

"Yes daddy!" She cried out excitedly as she continued to chew on her biscuit.

Hearing her call him daddy for the first time made him smile. It felt good. Not good, it felt right. Hermione saw the look of pride on Severus's face and she smiled at him knowingly. There was a sense of calm between them. The anger they both felt was gone.

Sabrina finished her biscuit and got up from the couch excitedly. "Mommy let's go! I want to play with all my new toys." She bounced up the stairs eagerly heading to her room to get dressed.

Hermione stood up from the couch and called out to her daughter, "Coming sweetie." She turned back to Severus and said, "Thank you Severus for being a part of her life. She deserves to be happy."

"No thank you Hermione for giving me the greatest gift in the world," he answered honestly. "I can finally feel happy again."

She smiled at him warmly and headed up the stairs. His words filled her with such emotion. She was starting to feel attraction towards him again, but she didn't want to say anything that might ruin this. They were just starting to be nice to each other again. As tough as it might be she decided then and there that she would keep her feelings for him at bay.

She reached her daughter's bedroom and saw her child jumping on her bed. "Get down Sabrina. You know you can hurt yourself." The child quickly sat down on the bed and smiled at her mother cheekily.

Hermione went to her child's closet and took out a yellow sundress. She held it out to her daughter. "What do you think?"

Sabrina nodded her head liking the dress her mother picked out. She slowly undressed her child taking off her fuzzy pink pajamas. She put on the sundress and twirled her daughter around. Sabrina giggled.

Sabrina grabbed her bunny from her bed and said, "Can Hoppy come with me?"

"You heard what Sev- I mean your daddy said to you yesterday. You can bring Hoppy with you anytime you want to. Now sit on the bed while I put on your shoes."

Sabrina sat back down on the bed swinging her legs slightly in excitement. She gripped her bunny tightly to her chest grinning from ear to ear.

Once her shoes were finally on her feet, Sabrina jumped up from the bed and ran down the stairs looking for her daddy. When she reached the bottom of the stairwell, she bounced all the way to the living room and found him cleaning up the biscuits and tea. She bounced over to him and hugged his leg.

It startled Severus slightly. He didn't see her come into the living room. He smiled down at his little girl and said, "Are you ready cherub?"

"Yes daddy! Do you like my dress?" She let go of his leg and twirled around for him.

"Of course sweetheart, you look beautiful. Are you bringing hoppy with you?"

She nodded at him. "Hoppy is excited. She wants to see the shop too."

"Of course she does."

Sabrina beamed up at him happy to have her daddy's attention.

Hermione entered the room and smiled at the two of them. "Are you two ready to go?"

Sabrina nodded eagerly. "Can I 'parate with daddy this time?"

Severus hesitated and said, "Cherub, I haven't done side-along in a very long time. I don't want you to get splinched."

"Splinched? What does that mean daddy?" She asked curiously.

He didn't want to scare his daughter by all the gruesome details. "You can get hurt. You should apparate with your mother. It will only be for a second."

Sabrina frowned and slowly relented. "Okay daddy. I will see you there." She walked over to her mother and gripped her hand.

"I will see you soon my little cherub." He apparated away from the house.

"Are you ready Sabrina?" Hermione asked as she readied herself to apparate. "Do you have your bunny?"

"Yes mommy I have her. I'm ready to go."

"Hold on tight." The two of them apparated away from the house and appeared inside the alleyway. Sabrina let go of her mother's hand and grabbed Severus's hand tightly.

Severus smiled down at his daughter and said, "See I told you it will only be for a second."

She giggled and nodded at him. "Next time can I 'parate with you?"

"Will see Sabrina," he answered. The three of them walked out of the alleyway and headed down the sidewalk. As they walked, Sabrina kept swinging their arms back and forth.

They finally reached the front of the potion's shop. Severus took off the wards and opened the store for business.

Sabrina hugged her daddy tightly and said, "See you later daddy!" She ran inside her new play room and instantly attacked her new dollies.

He smiled as he watched his child play with her new dollies. He turned back towards Hermione and said, "Are you ready for your first day on the job?"

"What is my first task?" She asked.

"Do you remember how to make a pepperup potion?"

"Yes I do. Is that what I will be making for today?" She asked.

"For now yes. Let me show you the back room." He led her to the back of the shop. Inside the back room were bookshelves all along the wall filled with different ingredients. There also were two tables both with two cauldrons on top of them. "I need to finish the second step of the polyjuice potion. I want you to make two batches of the pepperup potion so use both cauldrons. The ingredients are along the shelves and are alphabetized. Help yourself as you will."

Hermione nodded and approached one of the shelves. She felt like she had to prove herself at this moment. She stared at the ingredient that she needed that was at the very top shelf. She looked back at Severus who started working on his potions. "Severus, how am I supposed to reach the top shelf?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her and said sardonically, "You are a witch yes?"

She blushed hard realizing her error. You have a wand Hermione use it. "Sorry Severus. I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously," he responded with a slight smile in her direction.

She took out her wand and accioed the ingredient she needed from the top shelf. She grabbed the rest of the ingredients and went over to her table. She stared at the tools that were laid out for her and grabbed the smaller knife out of the two that were there. She slowly started to slice up the ingredients with careful precision remembering what she learned back at Hogwarts. Once each ingredient was thoroughly cut she started the base of her potion for both cauldrons. Once she was sure the temperature was right she added the first ingredient. She stirred the potion and watched as the white base turned into a shimmering green color. She was just starting on the second ingredient when they both heard the bell to the front door go off.

"Will you get that Hermione? I can't leave the potion alone," Severus said distractedly as he continued to work on the polyjuice potion.

Hermione put a tempus charm on both cauldrons and walked out of the backroom. She approached the counter and saw the back of someone's head. "How may I help you today sir?" The man turned around and Hermione's face changed into pure rage. There in front of her stood Harry Potter, her ex best friend.

"Hermione is that you?" Harry asked, surprised to see her standing there.

"What you don't recognize me anymore?" She snapped at him.

He put his hands up in defense. "I didn't know you worked here. I'm just here for a potion."

"What can I get you then?" She asked impatiently. She wanted him out of here and fast.

"Why are you mad at me? I'm not the one who betrayed Ron. Remember him? The man you supposedly loved," he yelled angrily.

"We weren't together at the time and it was a mistake. Are you really still mad at me about that? Grow up Harry."

"Did you ever find her father or are you not even sure?" He asked nastily.

She slapped him across the face. "Get out of here."

Severus heard the shouting and quickly finished the part he was working on. He put a tempus charm on his own potion and walked out of the backroom. "What is going on here?" He boomed over the two of them shouting.

Hermione turned towards Severus and back at Harry.

Harry couldn't believe who he was staring at. He looked back at Hermione. "You knew he was alive this whole time?"

"I am no longer your friend Harry so when would I have told you. Besides I just found out yesterday," she answered calmly.

Harry looked back at his old professor. "Why didn't you go to the Ministry sir? You are a free man. I made sure of that."

Severus snorted and said, "Of course you did, but I did not want my whereabouts known. I do not need reporters or fans to show up at my doorstep and I trust you will keep this information to yourself. Now what is it that you need so you can leave?" he snapped at him. His anger towards the boy quickly mounted when he remembered how he treated his supposed best friend. He felt a strange overwhelming sense of protection over her and he would be damned if anyone hurt her again.

"Veritaserum for my case," he grumbled. "And please do hurry I got to get back to work."

"You forget who you are talking to Potter. You might be used to treating people like dirt, but you will not do that to me. I am still the most powerful wizard here. Now do you want to try that again or do I have to throw you out," He responded in the lowest octave possible.

Harry swallowed nervously. He did forget who he was talking to. He gritted his teeth and said, "Can I please get veritaserum for my case?"

Severus grinned at him, pleased to see that he got the boy beat. "Of course. How many vials do you need?"

"Just one," he responded in fake politeness.

Severus turned towards the bookshelf and kneeled down. He grabbed the vial and put it in a brown paper bag. "That will be 3 galleons."

Harry took out the money and slowly handed it to him and he grabbed the paper bag. He was heading out the door when he saw the young child in the play room. He turned back and said, "Is that your bastard child Hermione? She's gotten pretty big. Has she ever asked what happen to her useless father?"

Hermione opened her mouth to fire a rebuttal at him but Severus beat her to it.

"He's right here. Now leave before I hex you," he growled scathingly.

"You slept with your Professor? Wow Hermione you would do anything to get good grades." With a sickening grin he apparated away from the store with a loud crack.