This story is set in the Fixing a Family (FaF) universe and takes place before FaF begins. The focus is not so much on plot as it is on the in-betweens filling in some little gaps, since most of you should already have a vague idea of what happens. I'm fairly sure it still makes sense without FaF (maybe just extremely AU?), only you'll have less "aha" and "oh, I remember that!" moments ;)

April 2012.

Sliding out of bed to walk over to the window, Hermione pulled open the curtains and beamed as sunlight flooded into the room. Severus groaned loudly, not even having to open his eyes to know what she'd just done.

"Woman, it's not even seven-o-clock yet!"

"If I had my way, the curtains would always be open. What's better than morning shining through?"

"Come back here."

She did so, snuggling under the warm covers she'd just left behind. He slung an arm around her, cautiously opening an eye and wincing at the brightness. "What's better? Not killing my eyes."

Hermione smiled, placing a sweet peck on the cheek of her grumpy old man.

"How's Roman?" He lifted up the covers to peer at her small hint of a bump.

"For the last time, we are not naming him Roman! My child will not be an adjective. You might as well call him Italian while you're at it." She pulled the blanket back up and wrapped herself around it. "And no more pulling up the covers; it's cold."

"Roman is a good masculine name," he argued. "Besides, naming him Roman doesn't guarantee that we'll end up calling him that."

She laughed, snuggling closer into his chest. "Even you have to admit, no matter how beautiful Sydney John sounded in theory, it was too much of a mouthful in practice."

"But your choice… Julien with an e? Need I remind you that we live in Germany, not France?"

"Can't be helped. The hero of that Faulks book was French after all. I've loved that name ever since. I don't even like Julian with an a despite the fact that it sounds exactly the same as Julien with an e."

Severus coughed just then, and Hermione thought at first that he was mocking her. Only when he didn't stop after the first sound did she gaze up worriedly. "You alright?"

"Fine," he said, clearing his throat. "My neck and throat have just been itchy lately. Sometimes I want to do nothing but claw at it—inside and out—but that won't do."

"Have you taken a soother?" She had sat up and gazed at him intently, all humor forgotten.

"Yes, but it didn't do anything. Stop worrying."

Due to their early start, Hermione and Severus were still the only two up by the time they'd gotten dressed and toddled downstairs for breakfast. It wasn't to last, as the commotion of pots and pans woke Bryan up, who came down with his nearly four-year-old brother.

"Long day ahead," Severus said when they were all sitting at the table. "For me, at least. Minerva doesn't trust my successor to have the shelves stocked, so I'll be meeting with one of my contacts to see if I can extend our deal for at least another year."

"I still can't believe that you're leaving Hogwarts," Hermione remarked.

"It was a long time coming."

Though they'd lived in Germany for over ten years now, Severus had managed to still make teaching at Hogwarts work out. That did mean that he spent minimal time in the castle, only making his presence known during class periods and staff meetings. His quarters were merely used for short breaks in between classes now. He had long ago convinced Minerva to find someone else to serve as Slytherin's head of house, wanting to keep his own time free to spend with his family.

When Hermione had discovered that she was pregnant again just four months ago, Severus had gleefully handed in his notice without a second thought.

Maybe part of it was a heat-of-the-moment decision from the absolute joy he had felt after going through months—no, years—of disappointment from Hermione glumly informing him that she hadn't conceived yet again, but he knew that it was beyond time to leave. Whenever he was in the castle, his mind was always on his family and the clock, wondering when he could reunite with them for the day.

"I'm looking forward to the free childcare," she said, winking. As they were doing their best to keep the existence of their children a secret from the nosy papers, Severus could hardly bring them to his classes where his students could see. Hermione, with her cosy muggle bookshop, didn't have the same problem. She'd gotten quite adept at watching her boys out of the corner of her eye, and her job was made much easier when Bryan started primary school last fall.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Bryan?"

"Can I go with you?"

"May I go with you," he corrected. "And you'll be bored out of your mind. Business talks are no fun for a seven-year-old."

"Seven is big!" Johnny interjected. Beside him, Bryan sat up just a little bit straighter at his brother's padding. "Seven is—" he stared at his fingers, and they could all see the gears turning in his little head— "four bigger than three! I'm three." As if to emphasize his point, Johnny held up first his thumb, then his index finger, and finally his middle finger. "Three."

"That's my precocious boy," Hermione cooed.

Severus looked on proudly. "As I was saying, Bryan, I doubt it'll be as fun as you are likely imagining."

"You can make it fun," Hermione said suddenly.

"What?"

"Get your business done, but then take him somewhere you know he will enjoy. He's had a long week."

"He has?"

"As long as a seven-year-old's week always is," she said in a hushed tone so her son wouldn't hear. "Right, Bryan? You're ready for some one-on-one time with Daddy?"

Bryan's eyes lit up. Mum was the best; she always gave him what he wanted. Well, nearly always.

"Oh, alright," Severus allowed gruffly. "Just don't come crying to me when you'd rather be at home playing with your trains."

"I don't cry! Only babies cry!"

Severus shushed his outburst with a glare. Hermione giggled to herself. Her husband turned his eyes onto her and couldn't help the slight upturning of his lips. "And I suppose you have me to thank for taking the little troublemaker out of your hair for the day? Is it not enough that you're mostly free of him on the weekdays?"

"Bryan is never any trouble." It shocked her that she could say so with a straight face.

Across from her, Johnny frowned. "Mummy, you lie. Bryan is trouble."

Severus snorted. "And don't we all know. Tell me, what has he done to you this week?"

"He hit me with train!" A vindicated smile crossed Johnny's face while Bryan shrunk lower into his seat.

"With a train or his train. Stop forgetting your articles."

Hermione shook her head with amusement. "He's three, Severus. He doesn't have to speak perfectly yet, and he's already a very eloquent child for his age." Turning to face her firstborn, she trained him with a stern look. "Bryan! Didn't I tell you just last week not to hit your brother with things? Your trains are worse than pillows!"

Her eldest shrugged, not quite apologetically.

"Sooner or later you're going to get what's coming to you when Johnny's big enough," Severus laughed.

"Don't forget about him," she murmured, pointing at her belly. "He'll be dishing it out to both his siblings when he's older," Hermione laughed. "My third little man will be the strongest ever with two older brothers roughhousing him." Her eyes positively shone at the thought of having not two but three children.

"They'll run you ragged, and you're happy about that?"

"Just as happy as I know you are," she quipped sweetly.

They finished up their breakfast, with Hermione noticing multiple times Severus unconsciously putting his hand to his neck.

"Dad! Dad! Can we go there?" Bryan pointed at the toy store.

"At least it isn't a Quidditch shop," Severus muttered to himself. "Not now, Bryan. I told you, we have to meet an associate of mine first. After that, if you're good, I might take you." He may as well have been speaking to himself; he'd chosen to disillusion his son in order to protect him from outside eyes. He attracted enough attention on his own—it was a miracle that a combination of living abroad and not having many friends kept the wider public unaware of his family and children.

"What's an associate?"

"A contact."

"What's that?"

"A man from whom I buy potion supplies."

That was simple enough for Bryan to understand. Strolling purposefully beside his father, they made their way into a café.

"No one can see you, but you are to sit next to me all the same, alright? I'll just be having a conversation with that man there, in the dark blue robe. Come along."

Bryan went, feeling more than a little cheated. What sort of day out was this if he was to just sit and do nothing? As his father and the man began talking, he sighed loudly. He felt a hand surreptitiously nudge him under the table, a combination of a warning and a reassurance. After a few minutes, when it appeared the two were deeply engrossed in their negotiations, Bryan slipped under the table and made his way out of the café, delighting in the fresh air. Now where was that window with the trains again?

Hermione had just turned on the faucet to wash her hands when she heard shuffling outside the bathroom door, followed by a loud banging.

"Mummy, it's me!"

"I know!" she called back. Never a moment's peace, especially when using the toilet.

"Your son!"

Knew that too, she thought before drying her hands and opening the door gently so that it wouldn't hit him. Upon seeing her, Johnny beamed and scampered off again. She watched as he ran away and climbed in and out of a large cardboard box they'd left out in the living room. He'd been at it for a couple days now. You give them toys, and in the end they prefer the old storage bins, she and Severus had laughed.

Finally, after minutes of idle thought, she decided to make her presence known. "You alright there, buddy? You don't want to maybe draw a house or a car design on the box?" She was ignored, but Hermione couldn't tell whether that was because he was so focused or because he was choosing to be impertinent. She walked over closer, and he gave her a toothy grin. "Mummy, up."

"I know you're only asking because Daddy isn't here. Cheeky boy." Severus thought three was too old to pick up, but she was well aware that he still did it when he thought no one was looking. Opening up her arms, she hoisted him up and rested him just to the right of baby three. "Did you enjoy your thousandth hour in the plain old box?"

"Yeah! Mummy, I hungry." Except the yeah sounded more like ya, owing to the German ja. Bryan might've been just the slightest bit behind in language when he started at the muggle Grundschule, but she was confident that she'd be on track with Johnny when the time came.

"I'm," she corrected gently. "You were saying it properly just this morning."

"Hungry!"

"Und auf deutsch, bitte?"

He glowered at her but complied. "Ich habe Hunger."

"Don't make that face, dear. You'll thank me later." She brushed his fringe to the side. "We just had breakfast not too long ago. You're not hungry, you're bored."

"Snack?"

His large eyes were so hopeful that Hermione had to laugh. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, she relented and carried him over to the fridge. "I suppose some fruits wouldn't hurt. Now, I'm not going to hold you and cut this peach, so you're going to have to get down."

Peach and knife in hand, she began cutting the fruit into slices.

"The house really is much quieter without Bryan here," Hermione remarked, knowing that Johnny could somewhat understand even if he couldn't respond completely.

Her boy smirked.

"That better not be a challenge, Johnny-boy! Merlin, it's only been seven months since your brother started school, and though it's only a few hours each day, I sure feel the difference."

Big hazel eyes stared back at her.

"I hope you don't remember this when you're older and tell him, but it's so less stressful watching over you while I'm working in the bookshop than watching him. I hope the little guy is like you in that aspect. I can't wait to see you as a big brother!"

She set the plate down in front of him. He seemed to be looking around.

"Daddy not here?"

"You know where Daddy is. He and Bryan went off on some business, remember?" Thoughts of Severus had Hermione worrying over his bothersome neck. He had coughed one too many times, and it seemed to really bother him. And the lozenges didn't work? That was unsettling.

Her fretting had Hermione realizing that she was actually a bit hungry herself, having not had enough to eat that morning as a result of her casual observations of her husband. Rising from her seat, she shuffled through the fridge until she found some leftover chicken that she could reheat.

"Mummy not hungry, Mummy only bored."

"Very funny, mister." She poked his nose and he laughed. Only then did she become aware of the fact that he was holding her wand. "When did you snatch this? I'll take it back, thank you very much. Eat your peaches."

Mind still occupied, she set the wand down on the nearest surface she could find away from Johnny before turning on the stove and placing the chicken in a pan. What could be the cause of Severus's discomfort? Her first thought was Nagini, but that was eons ago and the healers had pronounced it a miracle. Surely he was free of that. Had he eaten something off or inhaled a harmful fume from his class?

"Mummy, Mummy!"

"What do you want now?"

"Fire!"

"What?" She followed Johnny's eyes and looked behind her, spotting her wand in flames atop the stove. "Merlin's pants!" Why had she turned her back to the cooktop in the first place? As her wand was the thing itself burning, she could hardly cast Aguamenti. In her haste, her first reaction was not to attempt a wandless spell but to fling open a cupboard and grab a bowl, fill it with water, and dump it over her flaming wand. It sizzled loudly before going out in a gray smoke. Johnny clapped. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling more than a little overwhelmed.

"Yes, Mummy's very impressive, isn't she? Now Mummy's just going to see how badly she destroyed her wand."

It was charred and disfigured on the bottom, but tests of accio, scourgify, and tergeo, all worked perfectly fine. She shrugged to herself. At least there was that.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Two more years, Snape. After that it's up to whatever your successor can wrangle out of me. Why were you leaving again? Early retirement?"

"Something like that, yes."

While the two weren't close, they did cross paths semi-often. He was surprised with how quickly the other had acquiesced to the two-year deal. They'd been in the café for hardly ten minutes. Reaching to his right for his boy, he felt beads of cold sweat when his hand landed on nothingness.

"Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine," he managed to say even as his dread filled his heart, "I just remembered another commitment I had. If you'll excuse me." He rose out of his seat as slowly as deemed socially appropriate even though he wanted to sprint out of there. Why had he disillusioned the damn boy again? That would make him even harder to find, not to mention he couldn't go around asking with descriptions of him if no one had seen him.

Checking that Bryan wasn't just lurking somewhere in the café, he cast a discreet homenum revelio and confirmed with dismay that his seven-year-old was no longer in the same building. Horrific scenarios filled his mind as he rushed out of the café and into the streets. Kidnapped? Abducted? There were tons who still had a vendetta against him, but his and Hermione's careful efforts had ensured that few would recognize Bryan as his son. The boy knew better than to run off. He would have come back or asked, wouldn't he have? No, he thought with despair, perhaps Johnny would've asked had the boys been switched, but Bryan sure wouldn't have.

Putting a glamour on himself, he altered his appearance enough so that no one would be able to recognize him as Severus Snape, potions master and war hero. Once he was sure that his guise was safe, he began to shout, "Bryan! Bryan! BRYAN PHILIP LOUIS!" Onlookers gave him strange looks, but he ignored them. He only wished now that the boy weren't disillusioned.

An intense internal pain flared just under his jaw, but he couldn't be bothered at the moment. Still, he pinched the area with such force that it turned red, and he winced. At least now, the more intense pain was external, and he wouldn't have to stop himself from clawing at an internal spot he couldn't reach.

He strode right past the toy shop, which made him do a double take and wonder if maybe Bryan had wandered there. A quick scan and another homenum revelio later had him leaving without another word as he continued his frantic search.

He could hardly get the Aurors involved—they'd go poking and prodding into his private life—and were Aurors really that much more competent than he? You lost him, he thought, you're hardly competent. Visions of Hermione's anguish as he told her that Bryan was gone haunted him.

"You all right there?"

He didn't even look to see who had addressed him. "No, I most certainly am not! My son is missing."

The stranger jogged to keep up with him. "Oh dear! How old is he and what does he look like?"

"It's no use. I disillusioned him."

Still, the woman was relentless. "He wouldn't happen to have long blonde hair and be around six, would he?"

Severus stopped in his tracks, finally giving her the time of day. "Seven, not six. Have you seen such a child?"

"I was in Lionel's earlier and thought he seemed out of place without a parent."

"Lionel's?"

"Lionel's Trinkets. Although if that is your son, then he'll have gone a ways away. The place is all the way back there." She pointed to a spot in the distance behind them.

In his haste, he didn't even think to apparate—he simply turned around and began sprinting. It was on the other side of the café, he realized. He didn't know exactly where Lionel's was, so he stopped once to ask a passerby if they knew. Behind him, he could see that the lady was still following.

Skidding to a halt in front of the trinket shop, he almost cried when he spotted a blonde boy that most certainly wasn't Bryan. He turned around, directing his frustration at the lady. "You call that hair long? My boy's hair goes past his eyes in the front and nearly touches his shoulder in the back!"

"That wasn't the boy I saw."

"You—"

Just then, the boy-who-wasn't-Bryan moved out of the way and Severus's scathing retort disappeared when he spotted his firstborn. His relief was so palpable that he had to sit down. As the seconds ticked by and he watched Bryan interact with the shopowner, his relief turned to anger. He opened the door and glared murderously at Bryan, who clearly didn't recognize him with his glamour.

"You gave your old man quite a fright," the witch behind him said to Bryan. Why she was still here, he had no idea.

Bryan raised an eyebrow, looking between the two strangers before landing his eyes on Severus. "You're not my dad."

"Excuse us for a moment," Severus said politely. Marching over to Bryan, he grabbed the boy none too gently and dragged him into a discrete corner, trying to hush him from yelling.

"Of course I'm your dad. I'm just under a glamour. Or have you forgotten the rules about being out in public when we're not in the muggle world?" He let his glamours drop for just a moment to reassure Bryan that he wasn't being kidnapped by a stranger masquerading as his father. When he was sure that he would no longer struggle, he returned to the witch and gave her a curt nod. "I apologize for shouting at you. You were most helpful."

"You're welcome. I have no children of my own, but I would hate to lose one. Is he your only?"

As his identity was hidden, he didn't feel the need to lie. "No, he is one of two—soon three."

"Goodness, you've been busy!" When she received no response, she blushed. "Well, there's me and my mouth again. I'll just see myself out. Tell that boy of yours not to do that again."

"If he would only listen," he muttered to himself. At this moment, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hug or rattle his troublesome boy.

"I found a necklace for Mum, Dad! Come look."

"You're in trouble, young man." Still, he followed Bryan over to where the shopkeeper was hovering. "Tada!" He pointed to a heart-shaped necklace, and it was so gaudy and so un-Hermione-like that Severus guffawed.

"I thought you knew your mother better than that."

"I do know her! It's a heart because she loves me and I love her."

"It's a piece of junk," he said plainly, making sure to keep his voice low so as not to offend the owner.

"It's not junk to me!" That was a trifle too loud, but if the owner took any offense, he didn't show it. "And it won't be junk to her. She loves everything I give her."

"She cooed over the grass you plucked for her when you were younger. Not even flowers."

"Can we get it, Dad? Please?"

"You seem to have forgotten how much trouble you're in."

"If she doesn't like it, we can give return it. It's not for me, anyway."

Severus looked around the shop, having a feeling that returns weren't a thing given how cheap everything was.

"Come on, Dad, it's only two galleons!"

"Well, pity you didn't bring your own gold! That's right, you don't have any." He privately expressed that two galleons was far more than he was willing to pay for some scrap metal.

"I'll pay for it when I'm older and I do have gold of my own."

"Sure you will," Severus scoffed.

"I will!"

"Why do you want this so much?"

"Because I want to give it to Mum!"

Severus sighed. Bryan always asked for things, though he rarely got them. The fact that he was asking for his mother this time was… sweet.

The moment they got home, Bryan rushed excitedly into the house in search of his mother. He found her sitting at the table with Johnny on her lap, the two of them scribbling with markers.

"Muuuuuum!"

"Welcome home, dear," Hermione laughed, looking at the excitement in Bryan's eyes. "Missed me?"

"I got you a present."

"A present? What's the occasion?"

"Not her birfday," Johnny remarked. "No cake."

"That's right, kiddo." She ruffled his brown curls. "It's not my birthday."

"No occasion. I just saw it."

"And what is it?"

"I have it here," Severus told her as he made his way into the room with them. "Be warned, though," he whispered to her. He handed her a small bag, which she opened.

"Oh! It's—"

"ghastly?" He'd purposely chosen a word that, while exaggerated, was likely that Bryan wouldn't understand.

"No, it's lovely! What a dear!"

Bryan beamed, giving his father a told-you-so look.

"Can you help me put it on, Bryan? Oh, I think I'll wear this every day!"

With some difficulty, the seven-year-old managed after many tries to hook the clasp on behind her neck.

"I know you better than Dad does," he whispered loudly, as if it were a big secret. Despite himself, Severus laughed.

Way after they'd put the boys to bed, Severus found Hermione back at the dining room table brooding. Her eyebrows were crinkled, and he frowned at the sight.

"What's on your mind?"

She was so deep in thought that she startled at his voice.

"Are you regretting telling Bryan that you'll wear that cheap piece of metal every day?"

"What? No! It's from Bryan, and it's the thought that counts. Now, if you try to get away with that, it'll be a different story," she laughed.

"Bested by a child. And soon there'll be another for me to compete with. Ah, do I miss the days when I was number one. So, what's bothering you?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Your neck, more specifically."

The pain was mild now, but it flared up when he thought about it. "With the crazy events of today, I could register my neck hurting, but I didn't allow it to get in the way."

"What's so crazy about negotiating with an old contact and buying a necklace?"

"Oh, you're in for it. I for one am so glad that you didn't come along today. Not that you had planned to in the first place."

She automatically leaned in, waiting to hear the story. "Something I can't handle?"

"They say a parent's worst fear is losing a child. Your dear son ran off and likely chopped ten years off my life expectancy."

"My son? I never did that as a child. You, though—didn't you always run off to that playground across town?" Left unsaid was that his living conditions at home were hardly ideal, and that he wasn't to blame for running off all the time.

"Anyway, I would not want you to experience what I did today. I'm going to have to put Bryan on a leash the next time he's out."

"Next I hear you'll be feeding him a bone and sticking him in a doghouse."

They both laughed.

"Your wand," he exclaimed, suddenly noticing the chars, "What in Merlin's name happened?"

"I was distracted. Left it on the stove and then proceeded to heat up some leftovers right after that. Hey, at least it still seems to work perfectly fine."

"Well, you always have that." There was a comfortable silence. "Were you distracted by my neck?"

"What else?"

"Silly witch. I'm hardly worth destroying your wand over."

"Let me see." She inched closer, gesturing for him to tilt his head.

He didn't, instead fixing his eyes on her. "Come to bed."

"What? Focus! I'm trying to make sure you're alright."

"I'm really tired after that whole ordeal Bryan put me through. You can poke and prod at me there."

"It must have been quite a fright," she said conversationally, both of them rising to make the move up. "You poor dear."

"You can make it better," he whispered silkily while they were heading up the stairs. He squeezed her backside.

"I thought someone was 'really tired.'"

"Tired of talking," he smirked at her, "not tired of poking and prodding. So what do you say?"

"Julien is judging Daddy for how often he interrupts his beauty sleep."

"No, Roman is five months away from meeting the world and will have no recollection of any excessive movement."

"Excessive? Does that mean you plan to—oomph!"

She went weak, grabbing onto Severus's shoulders to keep from falling over as he unexpectedly brought his lips crashing down onto hers.

"You bastard!" she shouted—even though there wasn't any real venom in her voice. "We're on the stairs! What if I'd fallen?"

"I'd have caught you."

"Smartarse."

He chuckled at her expense before scooping her up and taking them to their room.

Now, how many past references from FaF can y'all find? There's plenty of 'em!

Also, some of y'all are worried about a sad ending? Well, without outright saying it, this story only spans a few months, and so that should tell you whether this story ends happily or not.