Family Is Everything (Stuck in Harry Potter)

For Which They Are Named

When she woke up, all she felt was warmth. All she could think was that she never wanted to leave wherever she was that was so incredibly warm. It was like that feeling that you had when it was a cold winter night and you were walking barefoot on cold kitchen tiles or wooden floors and you rushed to your bed and cocooned yourself in blankets. That was the kind of warmth she felt at that moment.

But it didn't seem descriptive enough. It wasn't the right description. Maybe it was like a cold winter's morning, and you're sitting in the living room in your favorite spot. Staring out the window watching the sun rise glisten off the freshly fallen snow. It made the snow look like a field of diamonds. You're wrapped and cuddled into your favorite, fluffy, soft, blanket with a mug of warm coffee, or your favorite herbal tea blend, or hot chocolate.

No, it's still not quite right. She felt the warmth around her shift a little. It moved in a familiar rhythm of up and down. Slow and steady with an undertone of a deep steady beat of a heart. She knew this feeling. This feeling of complete and utter safety. Where everything was right in the world and nothing could go wrong. Where evil did not exist; and if it did, whatever was shielding her kept all the bad away from her.

Yes. She knew this feeling. Not in this life. No. In the last one.

When she was Noreen.

When she would snuggle up against her father, tucked away into his side with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat at a steady pace and synced her breathing with his. When they laid on her parents' bed by the window with the sun's mid-morning to afternoon rays filtering through and warming their skin like a blanket in an afternoon nap while her mother took her two youngest daughters outside to play in the fresh green grass. An open window nearby with a late spring, early summer breeze that smelled so fresh and clean. The faint sound of a neighbor mowing their lawn. The birds chirping nearby.

Yes. This was that feeling.

The feeling of safety, of calmness, of care, of compassion, of love, of all things good. That feeling when you had the overprotective dad, but he never smothered you with his overprotectiveness. He knew when to let you fall and hurt so that way you learned, but he was there to protect and help and give advice when you needed it. He wasn't perfect, he worked a lot to support them, but he did it because he loved them all.

This feeling of a loving father. She could never forget it no matter how much time had passed since she felt it. Though there was a slight discomfort and there was an undertone of darkness. She opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of a still sleeping Severus.

That's why it still felt just a smidge different.

He wasn't her father. He wasn't her dad. But for one selfish moment she allowed herself to pretend. Pretend that her original father-her Dad-was right here. It was enough to calm her mind once again and hold all her feelings back and lock them away so she could think clearly without emotions to hinder logic.

Her brother and her were in what some would call a tricky situation. Severus wouldn't just let them go so freely. If they left abruptly he could probably track them down and find them. It wasn't hard. I mean just look at the color of their hair! They can't hide for shit! That's without all the injuries.

So she'll wait until they are both completely healed and then she'll figure out what to do next. This is just one of those situations you have to play by ear and take it one step at a time while still anticipating what your "opponent's" next move will be, or at least how they would react to what you do or say.

It helps that she has knowledge about Severus's character and has a basic idea about how he would react. Granted, Alan Rickman did an excellent job at portraying this character, so even she can't account for everything. She's not that smart.