Sometimes Severus seriously wondered what it was that caused women to want to be mothers. He hadn't harboured any specific need to procreate, but Hermione wished it so he had agreed. It had been her idea, and her wish, so he had honestly expected that she would be the one to take care of the baby's needs as well. It should be said that he tried his best to follow this philosophy, but Hermione rarely let him get away with it.
Make no mistake, Severus did love his daughter. She was his little angel and the apple of his eye. Just... Mostly when she was smiling or otherwise not requiring food, clean nappies, or comfort. At those times the girl turned into a little terrorist, screaming until Severus began to worry that he might go deaf. It wasn't because he didn't care to help; more because he didn't have the first idea of how to deal with babies or the patience to learn.
Presently, she had been at it for almost two hours and it was beginning to get on his nerves. He could only imagine (but preferred not to) how it must be for Hermione, in there with her. Nobody could bring Hermione to near hysterics as quickly as little Daisy Snape. Hopefully she wouldn't call for him this time.
"Severuuuuuuus!"
Severus winced. No such luck obviously. Drawing a deep breath he went into the nursery. Hermione was pacing back and forth with the howling Daisy on her arm, trying to get her calmed down.
"Here," she said, thrusting the child into his arms, "You get her to sleep. I give up."
It was with some reluctance that he took the baby, and he didn't try to hide it.
"And what do you expect me to do with it?" he asked her irritably.
"I don't care," Hermione sighed wearily and sank down into the rocking chair in the corner. "Just get her to calm down."
There wasn't really any reason to fight a battle he couldn't win so Severus turned his attention down to the unhappy child in his arms.
"Hush," he told her firmly. "Be quiet, now."
It only made the baby scream harder, and Hermione cringed and put her head in her hands.
"You can't talk to a baby like that, you dolt," she whimpered. "You've got to soothe her."
"How?!" Severus was aware that he was sounding borderline desperate, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The screaming was getting on his nerves to the point where he would happily have paid his teeth for just ten minutes of absolute silence.
"I don't know!" Hermione exclaimed, "Sing a lullaby or something."
Severus glared at her. She had told him on several rather more intimate occasions that he had a fantastic voice, but he thought there was rather a large difference between a sexy bedroom voice and singing to a baby.
"I will do no such thing!" he told her indignantly.
"Fine, suit yourself," Hermione said and got up from the rocking chair. "I don't care. Just make her go to sleep, please."
Severus stared disbelievingly at her back as she left the nursery and closed the door behind her. She had left him here with a screaming child and no way to shut it up. He wasn't the one who had wanted to have children in the first place! How could it suddenly be his responsibility to make the little girl be quiet? To be fair, though, Hermione had looked a bit too worn around the edges for his comfort. He hated it when she got so frustrated that it made her cry and think she was a bad mother. It made him disgustingly sentimental.
He looked around the room, hoping to find something with which he could distract Daisy's attention from crying. He had to think of something or he would be in here all night. If he came out before Daisy was sleeping, Hermione would either just send him back in again or he would have to spend the rest of the night assuring her that she wasn't a horrible parent.
He tried a wide array of the toys spread around the room. He shook rattles at Daisy's face, he gave her stuffed animals, and he even tried playing peek-a-boo a time or two, but nothing made the crying cease. If anything, it just got worse.
Reluctantly he cleared his throat.
"Twinkle twinkle little star..." he began cautiously, "How I wonder what you are..."
Daisy only started screaming at a higher pitch, and Severus took it as a clear sign that he should never attempt to sing at his daughter again. Obviously Hermione had been wrong in thinking that the sexy bedroom voice would work for singing as well.
"Oh, do be quiet!" he snapped impatiently at the baby, "You'll never amount to anything useful in life if you carry on wailing like that."
Severus wondered if Hermione was frustrated enough to allow him to give the child a small dose of Calming Draught, but decided that she most likely wasn't.
Perhaps potions really were the key to making little Daisy calm down though, only not in the traditional sense? Perhaps... Severus thought about it. It was a bit of a long stretch, but it just might work. It was worth a shot, anyway. Carefully he put Daisy back in her cradle and knelt down next to it. Gently rocking the cradle, he started reciting,
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began in a soft voice, "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic."
It seemed as though Daisy's cries were getting just a tad lower. Encouraged by this, Severus continued,
"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins,-"
Yes! It was definitely working! Daisy had stopped screaming at the top of her voice and had now resorted to small whimpers. It was difficult keeping the smug elation out of his voice, but Severus had a feeling that if he didn't, the entire speech would be ruined and Daisy would set off again.
"- bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper..."
Her little eyes had closed and Severus could tell by the child's breathing that she was fast asleep. Perhaps Hermione was right. Perhaps he really did have a fantastically magical voice.
"-death." he finished in a whisper, gently tucking the duvet around his daughter's tiny body and placing a soft peck on her forehead.
Yes, Daisy Snape would definitely grow up to be a Potions Mistress, Severus thought. Now all there was left for him to do tonight, was to try not to look too pleased with himself when he went out to Hermione.
Fin
Story Notes:
The characters and canon situations in the following story belong solely to JK Rowling. I am not making any money from the publishing or writing of this story.
Severus' speech about brewing potions is a verbatim quotation from Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone.
From 2007, betaed by Shannon730
Severus' speech about brewing potions is a verbatim quotation from Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone.
From 2007, betaed by Shannon730