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The door was there again. The sobbing woke her, and now she saw the room was back.
The door had just appeared one day. The Castle did things like that, and Mummy and Daddy were so happy when they found the room, talking about how they were going to decorate it. Daddy had seen her in the doorway, and swept her up near to the ceiling, and they had all laughed and hugged.
Then Mummy got sick, and she was sent away to the Potter family for a while, where the adults all whispered and wouldn't say what was wrong.
When she came back home, Mummy and Daddy both looked so sad, though there were still smiles and hugs for her. The door had gone.
No one mentioned it, but every now and again during the night there was crying from where the room had been. She'd tried asking once, but her mother just shushed her and looked sideways at Daddy, who was gripping his paper so hard he tore it, though he didn't look up. She never mentioned it again, and she didn't hear the sobbing for a while.
But tonight it was back, and so was the door.
It was ajar, and a light shone through the gap. She pushed it a little wider and peeped inside. There was her daddy sat awkwardly on the floor, clutching a small quilt just like the one she used to have, and Mummy was hugging him tight while he cried into her chest, and she kept saying 'it was no one's fault.'
She threw herself at them then, her head of black curls tucked into her daddy's neck as she cried out; "It's okay, Daddy. Whatever it is, it will be okay as long as you have me and Mummy, right?"
Severus Snape clutched his daughter tightly and gave a deep sigh and a shudder. Drying his face with a swipe of his hand he kissed her gently on the forehead and, smiling tightly up at Hermione, his wife, he found her hand and clutched it between his chest and their child.
"Yes, little one. I must never forget that, come what may, I still have you and your mother. Thank you."
He rose, and pulled his wife and child close. As the small family left the room, the door swung to a final time—until it was truly needed again.