Unless my story indicates otherwise everything that happens in JK Rowlings amazing books stays the same. My idea is to fill in what happens behind the main story and will focus mainly on how Snape and Bella feel about Harry and Hermiones adventures. I hope you like it and would really appreciate qny thoughts, ideas, reviews and constructive criticism.

Severus Snape stepped through the floo from his Hogwarts quarters to the lounge fireplace in Prince Manor at precisely the same moment Bella Snape drove away from the house to collect the children from school, just as he intended. He needed time alone, time to think, time to plan.

Annoyingly Snape found himself aiming for the kitchen, the room his wife always referred to as the heart of their home. This was Bella's domain and it was very rare that he found himself here alone. He turned slowly and deliberately his teaching robes billowing as he surveyed the room with his keen eye. Everything was still immaculate and tastefully finished but the kitchen was nolonger just a place for Bella to cook. Since the children moved in so much more happened there now, there were school letters, certificates and pictures taped to the fridge, character breakfast pots shared cupboard space with the adult crockery, a small pile of Harrys toys occupied one corner of the room while Hermiones ever growing pile of books had their own space amongst Bella's cookery books. A busy family calendar took pride of place on one wall complete with photos of each member of the household including, much to his disgust, one of Snape himself. Other photos, a combination of both magical and muggle were dotted around the room.

His and Bella's life had changed completely three summers ago when Hermione had made them four. And Snape was acutely aware that everything was about to change again. But this time he knew the situation would be far more complex. The children had witnessed a tiny slice of his life, his real life, as it was at Hogwarts but the reality of day to day life with Professor Snape instead of Uncle Severus was not something he could prepare them for yet that was exactly what he had to do. He wanted to curse Dumbledore and his expectations into the afterlife, he'd grown to appreciate returning to Prince Manor and the life that came with it, but now his two realities were about to bleed into each other and the two letters he held in his hand were the catalyst.

Pulling out his usual seat, he settled himself at the scrubbed pine table and neatly squared up the thick cream envelopes in front of him, the elegant green script identifying the recipients. Unusually for him he felt indecisive, a sensation not accustomed to sitting on his broad shoulders. He knew what had to be done, the Headmaster had made it all too clear, but how had not been addressed. Did Snape allow the children to enjoy their last summer in relative innocence or did he use the time to prepare them for what was to come. He'd already envisaged Bella's response and knew whatever approach he took would result in discord between them.

He felt the wards shiver and adjust indicating that the rest of the household had returned to Prince Manor. As an outward sign of his inner turmoil he made to straightened the already aligned envelopes as he locked away his bitterness and indecision in the already bulging recesses of his mind.

His face was devoid of emotion as he heard the front door open and a happy blend of voices entered the hall. The kitchen door banged open and Harry came barreling through closely followed by his sister. They were like chalk and cheese. After a day at school Harry was dishevelled, his shorts grass stained, his shirt untucked and his hair was ... just pure Potter, while Hermiome was just as neat and tidy as when she'd left that morning.

Harry spotted him first.

"Uncle Sev you're home. Are you staying?"

He sounded happy about the idea, which even after all this time still surprised Snape.

"Glad to see all the money we spent on eye tests and glasses wasn't a complete waste." Snape answered sarcastically but immediately regretted his tone as Harry looked unsure.

This was a recognisable pattern with his Godson now, money always proved a sensitive subject even after their talk that first summer, and Harry always seemed a little wary of Snapes sarcasm at the beginning of a holiday, as if he expected the man to turn on him. With a silent sigh Snape tried to atone for his slip.

"Yes I'm back for the summer, Merlin help us all. Hogwarts has finished and the dunderheads should be safely home by now. I will have to floo back to collect some of my things. You can come if you like." It was an olive branch of sorts. "I'm sure Hagrid would appreciate a visit."

"Can I come to.?" Asked Hermione shyly, stepping up to give him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Obviously." Responded Snape unable to keep the drollness out of his voice.

Just as Harry had his issues, so did Hermione. The usually confident know it all became shy and unsure of herself once he returned home. The balance changed and it always took a few days for everyone to find their rhythm again.

He smelt a familiar scent and the pressure of a kiss on his head. As always her presence seemed to soften the atmosphere.

"Welcome home." Her voice carried the smile from her lips to his ears. "You need to wash your hair." She gently reminded.

"I've been brewing this morning." He grumbled his eyes narrowing defiantly.

"I know." She answered good naturedly , cheerfully ignoring his tone as always.

"I convinced Professor McGonagall to release these to me early so we can get a head start on organising your belongings for Hogwarts."

He swept the envelopes off the table and offered them to the children, butt quick as a flash, in an action reminiscent of their first few days together where she set fire to his attempt at organising the summer holiday, she plucked the envelopes from his pale fingers.

"No, no, no. Absolutely not. You are not taking over this. You'll have to speak to Minevra, they need to receive their letters in the normal way."

She rounded on him while Harry and Hermione stood with their mouths open. "This is going to be difficult enough without you interfering. Fix this Severus," she hissed "Or I will!"

The envelopes were vanished with a wave of her wand and her flash of temper disappeared just as easily. As if nothing had happened she smiled at her little family, deliberately ignoring the tiny pulsing vein in her husbands temple.

"Who fancies a welcome home bbq?" Bella was not naive, she knew there would be consequences for her defiance but she'd face them later. Even if she could postpone the inevitable for just a few days it would be worth it.

Since no one argued she continued with her plans. "Why don't you two get out of your school things and then you can help your Uncle set the pool up outside and light the firepit. We may as well make the best of the good weather while we can."

Snape allowed himself to be swept up in Bella's plan, he was used to her creative suggestions. Their discussion about this afternoons events could and would wait until they were alone. He would express his displeasure at her actions once little ears had retired to bed.

That night once the children were settled in bed and Snape had done his duty, Harry still enjoyed his nightly chapter and Hermione's list of questions seemed never ending, he poured a measure of fire whiskey and waited.

The sun was starting to sink in the sky when Bella finally emerged from her scented bath. She'd used several heating charms to refresh the water as she considered the best way to settle the confrontation she knew was brewing downstairs. Knowing she couldn't put off the inevitable she left her damp, wild curls to dry naturally, covered herself in a thin summer wrap and padded barefoot downstairs.

The lounge was unnaturally dark but by the glow of the kitchen light she saw her husband sitting perfectly upright in his winged chair, his legs crossed and his face impassive.

"You seem to have forgotten your place Bella." His voice was cold and hard.

All thoughts of a rational discussion disappeared as she felt a spark of anger ignite. How dare he!

She stalked towards him and liberated the glass which rested in his hand. Throwing back the amber liquid and relishing the burn of alcohol, she stared straight into his black eyes.

"By your side or so I thought." She responded bitterly and with a bang she slammed the glass down on his small side table.

Without a flicker of emotion he watched her prowl around the room, finally settling her restless body by the fireplace.

"You undermined my authority in this household."

"You should have discussed it with me first, they've not even finished their muggle schooling yet." She shot back.

"Bella this has to be done, the sooner they know the truth, the sooner they know who I really am, the more time they will have to accept what must happen."

"They already know the real you." Bella insisted impatiently.

"Wrong. I spend the majority of the year being Professor Snape and only a small proportion being Uncle Severus. So you tell me who the real me is. Snape is the man you met and Snape is who I am comfortable being." He spat venomously.

"Yes I met Snape and disliked him intensely but there must have been enough of Severus there for me to love him. Please rethink this."

"It must be done." He repeated.

"Why? Why must it be done, because Dumbledore says so? There must be another way." She implored, moving to kneel before him she placed her hands gently on his knees. "We could just go, take the children and leave."

Snape closed his eyes for a brief moment and tried to imagine being free, free of responsibility, free of Dumbledore, free of students. But then Lilys face obscured everything. He shook off Bella's hands and began pacing the room himself.

"No." His response rang with finality. "I made a promise, swore an oath. I will continue to teach and Harry will become a student at Hogwarts. We all must play our part if the boy is to be truly free. You may not understand but Dumbledore has his reasons for everything he does, even if he isn't willing to share everything."

"Dumbledore again." It wasn't a question more a resigned sigh.

"I owe him so much, without him I'd be in Azkaban." He reminded. "But it is more than that, the man understands me."

Bella captured his face in her hands. "I had to ask, I had to try, I had to give you a choice. Don't hate me for it Severus."

This time he allowed her touch to remain. "I made my choice a long time ago and now it is time to see it through to its conclusion. You must not fight me on this."

Bella sighed and sat on the sofa, silently inviting him to join her. Eventually he lowered himself down next to her.

"Perhaps you could explain. your ...reaction to these letter?" Snape was not stupid he knew he would need Bella's assistance with the children if they were going to make this work and they needed this to work if they were all to survive the Dark Lord.

Whatever he expected, her dreamy expression was the last thing he would have imagined.

"Don't you remember how it felt when that owl came sweeping through the window, the letter clutched in its beak finished with the official school seal. It was just so ..." But Bella struggled to find the word.

"Magicial." Snape couldn't resist sneering.

But Bella paid no attention because despite his tone he was right.

"Yes that's it. It was magical." Her face lighting up at the memory of sitting in the commune kitchen, the greek sun already high in the sky. She'd stared at the elegant green writing for the longest time before slipping her finger under the crimson seal and reading its contents. She'd heard of Hogwarts of course, quite a lot of people who'd passed through there island had been students there and Bella allowed herself the luxury of imagining what it would be like to go to school in the country her mother had left behind so many years ago and refused to talk about in any detail.

Even at the tender age of eleven the idea of leaving her mother didn't concern her. She'd known from a very early age that her mothers priority was not her only child but the wicca magic and commune she immersed herself with, after all the island was full of people happy to occupy and watch Bella. The only pang was the thought of not seeing her Daddy every day.

"Well we all know how well that worked out!" Snapes sarcasm cruelly dragging her back from the happy memory.

"I know." She retorted, as if she needed reminding. Her mother had swooped in, someone had obviously told her about the delivery, snatched the letter away and shattered Bellas dreams in a single moment. She'd been denied a formal magical education and suffered a long lecture on the out dated practice of traditional magic without any real explanation when she'd dared question the decision. "But you must remember how it felt as you held that letter, addressed to your own room as if you were really important. That feeling of knowing you belonged, that you were part of something bigger, a sense of future and adventure."

Her passion was like a physical fist to the stomach for Snape. Lily had said something almost identical as they sat under the shade of the trees in the park where they'd first met after McGonagal had delivered her letter to the Evans house on the same day his had arrived by owl. At the time he remembered wishing that he could share in her wonder and awe but for him the letter meant something completely different.

"Freedom." He whispered hoarsely

"I'm sorry." Questioned Bella confused by the change of direction.

"Freedom." He repeated, his voice stronger this time. "It meant freedom, the chance to finally get away from Spinners End, from them, the man who hated magic and the woman too cowardly to put her son first." He rose and started to pace as if the physical movement could put a distance between himself and the memories he did not wish to relive.

"Can't you see Sev, its the same thing, different words, but the feeling is the same. You once told me that Hogwarts was your home and in some ways it is for everyone who goes. What more of a sense of belonging could you have. I may have missed out on the actual experience but I still revere the feeling that came with that letter and no-one can ever take that away. This year is going to be so hard, so very different for them, at least let them experience their own unique emotion when that letter comes in the same way that everyone elses will."

Snape stopped his pacing and churned her words over in his mind.

"Please. I'll support you in everything else that must be done, just let them have this." She bargained.

He closed his eyes and expelled a deep breath. Was there any harm in her plea, his strategic mind could envisage any and because he struggled to refuse the woman he found himself agreeing to floo through to the deputy headmistress.

Bella was in bed when he returned to Prince Manor after a short but annoying conversation with McGonagall peppered with frequent 'I told you so's'. But unusually she wasn't asleep, instead candles burned illuminating the room and she was propped up in bed intently studying one of the cream envelopes she'd vanished earlier, he noticed the other one laying on her bedside cabinet. Without a word he undressed in the privacy of their en-suite before slipping into bed beside her.

"It's done." He felt there was no need for details or any further explanation and besides he knew that if his wife needed to know or say more Merlin himself couldn't stop her.

Silently Bella passed the envelope to him. He couldn't help but read the address as he took it.

Mr H Potter

The Dragon Bedroom

Prince Manor

Dove Town

Scotland

He couldn't see anything unusual about it so he passed it back.

"Hermione's is addressed to the butterfly room."

Again that came as no surprise to Snape, the letters were always very accurate to try and prevent any complications. He couldn't begin to comprehend her issue, why her voice wavered or why something suspiciously like unshed tears shone in her eyes.

"How do you think it would have been addressed if he was still with them?" The last word was spat out with utter disgust.

Now he understood.

"If he had of survived I cannot imagine they would have moved him from that cupboard." He left the rest unsaid.

With a small nod of understanding she gently laid the envelope on top of Hermiones, discreetly wiped her eyes and extinguished the candles with a wave of her wand.

Thinking that was the end of the matter Snape mentally prepared himself for sleep. He was so engaged in his nightly ritual of occulating his mind that he almost missed Bellas final words of support.

"It's ok, I understabd now. Better this than leaving him with them. Good night Severus."