~ by Yatzstar

“No.”

“Please, Professor! Just for one night!”

Harry and Ginny Potter stood within Professor Snape’s personal quarters at Hogwarts, facing off the stern man.

“No,” said Snape, more forcefully. “Can’t you send her off with the other two?”

“James and Albus will be staying at their friends’. No girls allowed,” Ginny said matter-of-factly.

Snape sneered. Stupid children and their preadolescent notions. “And there is no one else you can hope to burden?”

“No,” Ginny said. “My parents are away in Romania, and Ron and Hermione have their hands full. They are the only ones I would trust to take care of her, besides you, of course.”

Snape rubbed at his temple. It seemed that tonight’s plans of getting grading done were about to fly out the window.

“Please, Professor,” Harry said. “She loves seeing you.”

“All right!” Snape barked. “I’ll take her! But don’t expect me to give in to every whim and whine she may try.”

Ginny smiled patronizingly. “Of course not. As you know, she’s quite the little angel.”

“I should hope so, considering those other two hooligans you’ve pushed on me before.” Snape let out a sigh. “When am I to expect her?”

Harry’s eyes took on that mischievous glint that he had loathed in years past. “Well…tonight.”

Snape groaned.

Approximately three hours later, Snape’s fireplace flared again, this time bringing forth three figures.

“Unca Sev’wus!” Stubby legs carried a three-year-old Lily Luna Potter across the room surprisingly quickly, where she latched on to Unca Sev’wus’ leg with an iron hold.

Snape did his best to keep his stern demeanor as he patted the little monster on the head. “Yes, it is pleasant to see you again, Lily.”

Ginny could not help but smile at the scene. “Be good for the Professor now, Lily,” she told her daughter.

Lily nodded in the earnest way that only children could. “Yes, mommy.”

Harry looked at Snape. “We should be back before eight.”

Snape hazarded a glance at the clock on the wall. Only five hours with the child. Never had he been given custody of her for so long, but he might yet survive this. “All right.”

“Bye-bye, Lily. Mommy and daddy love you. We’ll be back later,” Ginny said.

“Bye!” Lily waved to them as the fireplace flared green and they stepped through. Then they were gone, only leaving the potions professor and her.

Snape chanced a look down at her. Wide green eyes met his. “I suspect you can find something to entertain yourself with.”

Lily tilted her head. “What’s entew-entewtaim?”

Snape sighed. Clearly that would get him nowhere. “What would you like to do, Lily?”

She played with his long robes thoughtfully before her face brightened. “Pwincesses! I wanna play pwincesses!”

“No,” he growled, mortified by the implication. It had been quite a while since he had last watched over her, and though she had come up with a myriad of ways to torture him, princesses hadn’t been one of them. If Potter walked in on him playing princess, he would suffer a fate worse than death. “No princesses.”

Lily’s mouth formed a pout. The sight of it almost made him reconsider, but he managed to keep a firm resolution.

“I’m sure you can find something else to do,” he said.

Lily crossed her tiny arms, looking comically like her mother. He stifled a sigh. This night was going swimmingly; hardly a minute in, and he had an irate child on his hands. So much for being a little angel.

A thought crossed his mind. “I know,” he said, keeping his voice as light as he could manage.

He crossed the room to the bookshelf while Lily looked on, irritation starting to give way to curiosity. He scanned the rows, his eyes lighting upon what he had been searching for. A picture book that had been given to him as some tasteless gag gift in a bygone year was stuffed between thicker volumes, almost hidden.

“How about this?” he asked, turning to face Lily. The book possessed enchanted pages whereon the figures walked across them. Hopefully that would keep her occupied for a while.

Lily stepped closer. “I wanna see!”

He handed her the book. She opened it curiously, and as a dragon flapped across the pages, she let out a squeal of delight that made Snape’s ears ring.

Success. He bit back a smile at her delighted expression. “Yes, er, I’ll be in the other room doing some work. I’ll leave the door open.”

“Mm-hmm.” Lily nodded absently, settling down on the carpet, enraptured with the book.

Snape swept across the room to his office. On his way, he chanced a look out the window. The darkening sky boasted of angry clouds. A storm was coming, no doubt, but he disregarded it and entered his office. He left the door open so that he would be able to hear Lily from the other room, and settled down to work on some grading, glad to get it done regardless of the circumstances.

Every now and then there would be a sound of delight from Lily in the other room. Snape also began to hear the occasional rumble of thunder, gradually growing closer, but it did not disrupt him. He scratched away at the generally dreadful papers for some twenty minutes until his peaceful reverie was rudely interrupted by a particularly loud peal of thunder that shook the building, swiftly followed by the shrieking cry of, “Unca Sev’wuuuus!”

Snape was on his feet in an instant, but he did not have time to take more than two steps from his desk when a tiny figure hurtled into the room. Lily flung herself at him, and he caught her up in his arms.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her softly.

“Th-thunder’s scawy,” she sobbed. Huge tears rolled down her face and her lip quivered. She buried her face in his shoulder.

“Ah.” He tried not to frown. Now what was he going to do? He had been saddled with the task of babysitting the two Potter boys in the past, but they had never been bothered by thunderstorms. They always found ways to entertain themselves that caused only minor disturbance, but clearly this was not to be the case with her now.

“Accio handkerchief.” The called object zipped into his free hand. “Don’t cry,” he told her. “It’s just a little thunder.”

Lily raised her head, green eyes bright with tears. “It’s scawy, Unca Sev’wus.”

“I know.” He wiped at her tear-stained face. “It’s just noise and wind.”

At that moment there was another loud crack of thunder, and Lily let out a frightened cry, her grip on him tightening further.

“Shh.” Snape held her to him, rubbing her back. He moved deftly into the other room so he could sit down on the couch. The picture book lay forgotten on the floor, and rain now drummed on the window panes.

They sat there for a little while, Lily cradled in Snape’s arms. Every time there was a peal of thunder, she whimpered a little, but he kept hold of her and did his best to comfort her, murmuring softly.

“Why don’t we do something fun?” he suggested finally, in hopes that she would stop crying.

There was a moment of silence from the small girl in his arms, then a tiny voice floated up to his ears. “Pwincesses, Unca Sev’wus?”

He scowled down at her. “You know I said I wouldn’t do princesses, Lily.”

“But it’s fun!” she cried, shifting in his arms. “Daddy always plays pwincesses with me!”

“Well, I’m not your father.” Thank goodness.

“No, you’re Unca Sev’wus,” she stated. “And I wanna play pwincesses!”

He frowned at her. No matter how much she stared at him with those sad green eyes set in that cherubic face, he would not let his dignity be compromised by—

“Pleeeeaaaase?” Lily stood up on his lap, grasping his face with two tiny hands and looking him directly in the eyes. She knew he couldn’t resist the sad face.

“Fine,” he snarled, giving in at the sight of her doe-eyed countenance. “But no dresses, bows, or anything else equally ridiculous.”

“Yay! Thank you!” Lily wrapped her arms around his neck in a strangling hug.

She knew how to play him like a fiddle. Snape huffed, but he was not as upset as he made himself out to be. He wouldn’t admit it, but it felt rather nice to make her happy.

There was a rumble of thunder from outside, but Lily ignored it in the joy that her favorite uncle had agreed to play one of her favorite games. She slid out of his grasp and off the couch.

“You’ll be the pwince and I’ll be the pwincess,” she announced.

“Obviously.” The stony sarcasm flew straight over her little head.

“We need names.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Why not use our regular names?”

“Because we’re playing pwincesses!” she stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Then she scrunched up her face in hard thought. “Hmm…”

He knew he was going to regret this. “You know, I used to go by the Half-Blood Prince in the old days. Perhaps we might use that?”

Lily’s face broke into a grin. “I’ll be the Half-Blood Pwincess and you’ll be the Half-Blood Pwince!”

Snape could not hold back a snort of amusement. “Very well.”

“Unca Sev’wus?”

“Hm?”

“What’s half-blood?”

Leave it to Potter to not discuss the simplest information of wizarding society with his youngest daughter. “A half-blood is someone of both muggle and magical parentage. I am a half-blood, and if my memory serves me correctly, you are also a half-blood by descent.”

Though she had no idea what “descent” meant, Lily accepted the idea readily. “I really am a Half-Blood Pwincess.”

“So you are,” said Snape. “What are we to do, princess?”

“A pwincess needs a horse!” she declared.

Snape rubbed at his temple. “There are no horses here, Lily.”

“Can’t you make one?”

“No, I can’t make one,” he growled. “Haven’t you been taught anything about magic?”

Lily shrugged innocently. “I know the Patwon-y spell makes animals.”

The Patron-y spell. Snape fought back a groan. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that she was only a three-year-old child, but it was no less mortifying to hear her butcher the names of spells.

“Can you do the Patwon-y spell, Unca Sev’wus?”

“It’s the Patronus Charm, and yes I can, but it won’t be a horse.”

“Can you do it?” Lily clasped her hands together. “Please?”

As much as he wanted to say no, Snape simply couldn’t. He drew out his wand murmured, “Expecto Patronum.” The silver doe burst from the tip of his wand and landed daintily on the carpet.

Lily stared, completely enamored, the silver glow lighting her face. She made to step towards the doe, but stopped, looking at Snape. “Can I pet it?”

“Yes,” he said resignedly.

She held out one small hand to the Patronus. The doe dipped her head and nuzzled her fingers. She giggled and stroked the wispy head.

“I like this better than a horse,” she said.

Snape found himself smiling as she engaged herself in a game of princesses, making up a fantastical tale about the Forbidden Forest while the doe patiently played along. He was perfectly content to sit by and watch, but soon enough he found himself being pulled to his feet by Lily.

“You’re the Half-Blood Pwince!” she cried. “You have to help us!”

He figured it was best to play along. “Help you with what?”

“We’re in the Forbidden Forest!” She then lowered her voice conspiratorially. “There are Dementows!”

“I see.” Potter probably told her the tale of his own encounter. “And where are these Dementors?”

Lily thought for a moment before stabbing a finger at the now dark window. “Out there! The thunder.”

The next half hour consisted of raucous “Dementor Hunting”, with Lily using her “magic” (which was purely effects conjured by Snape) to ward off the evil creatures. The game ended when the silver doe faded away, much to Lily’s dismay. But Snape managed to keep her happy by promising that the doe would come again, and had a house elf make her hot chocolate.

She sat at Snape’s table, her legs dangling over the edge of the chair. Snape sat opposite her, sipping a cup of tea.

“Can you tell me a story, Unca Sev’wus?” she asked.

“Which one?”

Lily thought for a moment. “Mm…the Prince’s Tale!”

“You know that’s not a very happy story, Lily.”

“It has a happy ending!” Lily declared. “You’re the best storyteller, Unca Sev’wus! Please?”

She gave him that wide-eyed, pleading look, and he found himself unable to say no. He launched into the story, and over the course of a couple of hours, he related to her the entirety of the Prince’s Tale (with the exclusion of some bits that weren’t exactly child friendly). He felt truly disappointed when the fireplace flared and Harry Potter stepped out. The attention of his captive audience—who was engrossed in listening to him talk about potions up until that point—was diverted.

“Daddy!” Lily ran to him.

“Hey princess,” Potter said with a grin, scooping her up.

“Nuh-uh! I’m the Half-Blood Pwincess now!”

For a long moment, Harry looked completely surprised by his daughter’s unexpected declaration. Snape waited for him to say something, anything, but he only started to laugh.

“Really, Potter, it’s not that funny,” Snape growled.

“I-it is too!” It took several moments, but he finally managed to gain control of his mirth. “I’m sorry, Professor. It just caught me off guard, is all. I trust everything went well?”

“Yes, save for a little incident with some thunder.”

“The thunder was Dementows, Daddy!” Lily piped up. “I chased them away!” She puffed out her chest proudly. “I’m not scared anymore.”

“That’s wonderful,” Harry said, mouthing a silent “thank you” to Snape, who nodded in acknowledgment. “It’s time to say goodbye to Professor Snape. It’s past your bedtime.”

“Wait!” Lily wriggled from her father’s arms and ran back to the couch on which Snape sat and clambered up on it. Without giving Snape any time to process what was happening, she leaned forward and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek.

“A Pwincess has to kiss her Pwince, or else she’s not a real one.” With that statement, she left the couch and returned to Harry’s side.

To his horror, Snape felt the blood rushing to his face. He reached up and touched his cheek, shooting his best glare at Potter, who grinned. “Not a word, Potter.”

“Ginny has got to hear about that,” he said.

“Get out of here before I hex you.”

Harry only grinned wider and looked down at Lily. “All right. Say goodbye, Lily.”

She waved at him. “Bye-bye, Unca Sev’wus! I love you!”

“I love you, too,” he replied in his most stony voice, giving Potter another death glare.

“Thanks, Professor,” said Potter seriously. “I’ll see you soon.”

And then they were gone through the floo, leaving Snape alone in his quarters. It was rather still without Lily there, he realized. Perhaps he should look into watching over her more often. He ran his fingers over the cheek she had kissed and smiled to himself.

The Half-Blood Prince had his Half-Blood Princess.