Disclaimer: I'm back!!! As usual, I don't own Harry Potter!!!!

THIS TAKES PLACE WHEN JESSICA AND ALYSSA ARE 20!!!!

The sun shone painfully bright into the bedroom window. The girl stirred in her be then opened her eyes. She gazed at her clock and saw that it was only 7 in the morning.

"Damn summer mornings!" She said, wiping away a small layer of seat gathering at her forehead. She stood up and stretched, then messed up her newly cut hair, which was once past the small of her back and now is above her shoulders. Also, it was, at one point, a mousy brown but now was dark blond from always being out in the sun so often. She grabbed a nice, floral sundress with warm summer colors and took a shower. Afterwards, she dried and straightened her wavy hair with a flick of her wand. She then put on a pair of flip flops and then the uncomfortable, yet necessary, holster on her upper left thigh for in which she stashed her wand. She grabbed her magical coin purse which was a lot deeper than it appeared and locked the door and set off the edge of her property.

When she looked both ways at the edge of the property, and realized it was safe, she crossed and started going towards an abandoned playground. Why were so many playgrounds abandoned lately? Well, it happens to be because the most notorious murder was on the loose, and the muggles believe that he was out to murder random people including children. Little do the muggles know, this notorious murder was the dark lord, Voldermort! Many people just end up having to believe that he is running around with many weapons that can harm, but it's more that his followers are the ones that do the harm. Once Jessica got to the street by the barren and dead grassed playground, she removed her wand and pointed it in the sky.

A big purple bus rushed over at her when she was almost done stashing away her wand. The Knight Bus director, Mike, was trying to finish his speech while he stared down at her exposed leg. When everything was situated again, she stepped onto the bus and into a seat while saying, "Hi Mikey!" She paid him and told him where she would like to be let off. The bus then took off with a deafening bang!

When the bus let her off at the Leakey Cauldron, she went inside and greeted Tom, the keeper of the restaurant/inn. He knew her very well because she had to enter threw this very way almost everyday to get to work. Once the bricks had separated to make the arch way to Diagon Alley, she walked in and saw how quiet it really was there. If she thought that the muggle streets were bad, then she had obviously not seen these streets before. The witches and wizards, who had visited here, knew full well who Voldermort was and what he is capable of.

She saw as a trio of witches, one older than the two teenage girls, walked out of the Apothecary. The eldest witch gave Jessica a small nod in acknowledgment which Jess gave back before the three witches left by apparating. When Jessica walked up to the table of laughing women, she saw her best friend turn to her with her now slightly more relaxed brown curls and big brown eyes and shout at her,

"You're the last one here!! First rounds on you!" Jessica rolled her eyes and sat down in the seat between her and a girl with pin straight red hair.

"It's not my fault!" She said, straightening her back and looking around, "The Knight Bus was running late!" People laughed and also scoffed at what she said.

"Then why not use the Floo Network?" The girl with the curls asked.

"Well, I don't want to run the risk of popping into an actual fire. And, Alyssa, I don't wanna ruin my dress!" She smoothed out her skirt as some of the other women nodded in agreement.

Among the women was Alyssa Black, sister of Sirius and who is soon to be Mrs. Lupin, Lily Evans, who is soon to be Mrs. Potter, Molly Prewett, who is soon to be Mrs. Weasley, Bathilda Bagshot, who was a good friend from the ministry, Alice Longbottom, who was a member of the Order and a great friend of Jessica and Alyssa's, and finally there was Jessica Potter, sister of James and dating Severus Snape and is obviously not going to get married anytime soon.

The women talked and talked, mostly about their home lives with their boyfriends, fiancée's, and husbands. They talked about the little things they do for them, and the things they wished they did. They also chatted about what the Ministry should be doing but, probably never will, to stop Voldermort from gaining more power than he already has. The conversations turned ugly for Jessica when everyone started talking about their sex lives though. It was more than evident that she was a bit uncomfortable with the subject,

"So, how's your sex life with Severus?" Alyssa asked, twisting her shoulders a little as if she was flaunting an expensive and new diamond necklace. Jessica tried to suppress a nervous giggle.

"Nonexistent" The girls looked around as if they knew what it was; man problems. "Don't get me wrong, I love Severus but I'm just waiting until I'm married." Many people laughed but also nodded.

"I see….but it seems you're going to be a virgin until you're, like, 50 with the way your relationship with Severus is going!" Everyone laughed including Jessica.

"Well, at least I still have my honor! Am I really the only one here that is still a virgin?" She looked at her friends who were all looking at each other, then back at Jessica and said in unison,

"YES!!" they all laughed with Jessica rolled her eyes with a smile on her face.

"Another round on the virgin!" Lily shouted with a positive sound of hooting. Everyone enjoyed their drinks, but then they got down to business as one of the girls turned to Jess and asked,

"How's the Apothecary?" Jess then placed down her cup and crossed her legs and asked,

"Can't you tell?" She pointed at the empty store; "Nearly going out of business 'cause of You-Know-Who!" she sipped her coffee.

"Aren't you scared of him?" Bathilda asked.

"Nah! I'm as ready in this moment in time as I'll ever be!" Jess and Alyssa high fived and they all talked for at least 2 more hours. Finally, it was time to depart but not before paying and setting the next coffee date.

After the rest of them left, Jessica and Alyssa walked to Flourish and Blotts to check for the latest copy of Myth or Fact: One Mans Journey to Bring the Truth. When they entered, they saw a set of the longest and most blond locks either of them had seen. Lucius Malfoy turned when he heard them enter with a giggle and immediately tried to start trouble with the girl that he still disliked from school.

"Well," he started, "Look who has the courage to walk in the open with a notorious Dark Lord on the loose." Jessica grabbed the two books and walked to the check out counter and faced him.

"And look who has the courage to speak of him!" Jess paid for both hers and Alyssa's book. Lucius looked outside slightly defeated and saw a portly man with a large sign under his arm walking towards the Apothecary.

"I believe that you might be out of a job soon; Rent's due again isn't it?" He smirked, but Jessica didn't. She looked and then, without grabbing her book, she ran out of the door and towards the Apothecary. When she was about 5 feet away, she saw the man slap on a big "For Sale" sign and then she screeched to a halt in front of him.

"Sir! Please, you can't do this!" She pleaded as he turned around.

"Why shouldn't I? This store is behind 3 months in payments!"

"Because, um….Well most of my life I had dreamed of working in a store like this! And it'd murder me if someone just ripped this away from me! Did you ever have that happen to you before?"

"Actually, I have…." The man said and for a while he looked as if he were lost in a deep sea of sorrowful memories. Jessica turned to Alyssa who was holding the books in her hand and they exchanged looks of confusion. The man snapped back and said, "Fine! Keep it! But I will be back in next month and I expect you to have all 4 months paid to me in full!" He ripped the sign down and started to leave.

Jessica went inside to see the owner and the only person working fast asleep behind the counter. "BARNEY!" She shouted while slamming her hand on the glass counter. The man jolted awake and scrambled to his feet. He glared at her when he realized who it was.

"What do you want? Isn't it your day off?" She circled around the counter to be fully face to face with him.

"The rent collector came by just now and tried to take the shop again!"

"Well you shoulda let 'em! I'm tired of this place anyway! No one shops 'ere now that You-Know-Who is out there!" Jessica sighed and he got a brilliant idea, "You take it! I have no use for this place now!" Jessica's face lit up.

"Really?!" She was smiling widely. He nodded and got out the deed to the shop. He laid it on the glass counter and then sent out an owl towards Gringotts bank to get some one with legal experience down to the shop. Some one popped in a few moments later and read over the deed.

"Do you accept full responsibility for this shop?" the goblin in the tweed suit asked.

"I do." She said with the widest smile she had ever smiled. And with that, she signed on the dotted line and the Apothecary was hers.

"Good riddance!" Said Barney as he grabbed his hat and coat and went upstairs to his home. He went and packed all his belongings and came back down a few moments later. "Enjoy this rat hole! I'm going to France where I belong!"

"Have a nice life Barney!" Jessica said waving him goodbye. She shut the door and started jumping up and down with Alyssa in extreme joy. She finally accomplished one of her biggest dreams! Jessica was looking down at the silver key, then around the dusty shop. "I know what I must do. This place is too dark and dismal." She smiled, "It needs a woman's touch." She grabbed her wand and waved it once and all the dust was gone. One more flick and the shop was nice and bright and the fowl smell of rotten eggs and bad cabbage was gone. "Come with me to my house! I have to move in here."

Alyssa stepped out into the street followed by Jess who turned to lock the door. Lucius walked over and sneered.

"So you own this old dust bucket, huh?" He crossed his arms and put a little lean into his shoulders.

"It's not a dust bucket as you called it. It's now a much brighter, happier place!" She smiled at him.

"Then where are you going if it's such a 'brighter, happier place'?"

"None of your business, but I'll be back shortly." Alyssa had already disapparated. No matter how mean Lucius was to her, she still found a way to be nice to him. "How's Narcissa?" Narcissa was his fiancée and a girl that pretty much despised her but Jessica couldn't help but be nice to her.

"Excuse me?" Lucius was taken aback by the friendly question.

"How's Narcissa? You know, the woman you love?" Jessica smiled on.

"Oh, I wouldn't say I loved her but…..I mean….um…" Lucius stammered now realizing what he said. Jessica looked a little confused.

"I'll assume she's doing well. Have a nice day Lucius!" Finally she apparated to the same barren playground that she left earlier this morning. Alyssa was sitting on a swing, swaying back and forth. She stood up when Jessica walked over to her, "Ready to say goodbye to my little apartment?" Alyssa smiled and nodded. Jessica had been living in the same small, squalid apartment for over 3 years now. She had done everything she could to make it look better, but it just never worked. She entered her home and got her wand out again. She flicked it once to remove her bags from the closet. She flicked it again to have all her clothes, books and smaller possessions stashed into those bags. She flicked it one final time turn out the lights and grabbed her bags with Alyssa and disapparated once more.

When she popped into the store, she started to walk up the rickety spiral staircase to her new home. When she reached the top, she unlocked the door and entered. It seemed to be a lot darker than her first home and so she placed her bags down and flicked her wand to open the shutters to the living room/dining room/kitchens windows. There were two small windows, one by her dining table which she had brought from her old apartment, and above her stove which she used often. She looked around and saw the same furniture from her old apartment. She then grabbed her bags again and went to the next door that she, hopefully led to her new bedroom.

She saw another spiral staircase and so she ventured up to it and what she saw was so pleasant; her large bed was already in place and she saw 4 large bookcases that were plastered to the wall. There was also a large window/balcony that overlooked the street. On the other wall was another door, so she plopped down her bags onto her bed and she opened the door to reveal a large bathroom. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, the bathroom was a sparkling white with a large bathtub that had a shower head incase she needed to take a quick shower. There was a large white, marble vanity mirror with a sink in its table. She was going to cry from the sight that she couldn't peel herself from.

Alyssa came up the stairs and walked up to her looking at what was in her hand. She said to Jessica, "Hey, do you have any ketch….up…" she had looked up at what Jessica was staring at and after drinking it in, she turned to face her and said, "I am SO going to stay here for the night just to use your bathroom!" Jessica laughed and hugged her friend.

"I feel so lucky today!" Jessica said. Alyssa hugged back and said,

"I'm glad! But seriously, I'm gonna use your bathroom like…everyday!" Jessica smiled and agreed. She went back to her bed and unzipped her bags, then took out her wand. She started moving her books from bag to bookcase, and when she was finished, she noticed she had room for only one more book, which is were her latest copy of Myth or Fact would go when she finished it. She finished putting her clothes away and then opened the balcony door a little to air out the slightly musty room.

She and Alyssa went downstairs to the store when they heard someone knocking on the door. Jessica saw it was a frantic Narcissa so she opened the door.

"What's wrong Narcissa?" She asked as Narcissa moved past her into the room. She was fussing with her hands as Jessica walked behind the newly polished counter. Narcissa was pacing around the front of the store until she finally turned to Jessica and said,

"This doesn't leave this room, okay?" Jessica nodded in agreement then asked,

"Fine, but what's wrong?" Narcissa walked towards the counter and leaned towards Jessica.

"I need some….l-l-love potions. Do you sell them?" Jessica smiled.

"Is that what you're worried about Narcissa? Don't fret, I certainly do!" Jessica started walking towards the other side of the display counter and got out a medium sized pink phial with a small heart on the front. She walked back to Narcissa and placed it in front of her. "Here you go!" She offered Narcissa a sweet, reassuring smile. Narcissa smiled a little bit back to her and handed her 1 Galleon, 14 Sickles, and 22 Knuts ($20.00 U.S.). She rushed out of the store before Jessica could get her change out. So she shrugged and placed the money back in the cash register.

Alyssa rushed over to the counter and started giggling. Jessica nodded while grinning and looked at Alyssa.

"Nut job isn't she?" Alyssa asked. Jessica shook her head no and Alyssa gave her a quizzical look.

"Not so much crazy, as desperate to make him love her! He just wants to keep the strong pureblood name going." Alyssa nodded but still thought she was crazy. Jessica looked outside and saw that it was starting to rain so she sighed, went back upstairs to her room, shut her balcony window and went back to the shop. When she went downstairs she saw a small chocolate cake that was poorly frosted with more chocolate on top of the counter. She stopped and looked at Alyssa who was pocketing her wand.

"Alyssa?" Jessica asked.

"Wha'?" She was smirking but Jessica was trying not to laugh. She walked over to the cake and burst out into laughter. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" Alyssa seemed offended.

"It's just….you spelt…." She was wiping away tears from laughing so hard. Alyssa looked at the cake and sighed.

"Damn it…." Alyssa took her wand out again and corrected the spelling. "Is that any better, princess?" Jessica nodded regally. The cake said "Congratulations" on it and Jessica already knew for what. So the two had cake and laughed about the last time they had this kind of cake, which was Alyssa's 17th birthday when Alyssa almost set her hair on fire when she leaned too close to the candles.

After eating the entire cake, Jessica told Alyssa that she had to close the store and meet up with Severus.

"Ah…so you're going on a little date, huh?" Jessica blushed and nodded. "Where you guys going?"

"Hogsmeade to go to the –"Alyssa cut her off,

"Three Broom Sticks for some coffee and a bite to eat. I knew it!" She threw her arms into the air.

"What?" Jessica didn't see a problem in this plan.

"You two are so….so….so plain!" Alyssa walked over to her from around the counter. "Spice it up!" Jessica smiled then pushed away from Alyssa to pull the awning down so the rain wouldn't mess up the newly decorated windows. She walked in and locked the door and said,

"For your information, we're going to the Three Broom Sticks, then to Honeydukes and then back here to talk and such."

"…..and such or and such?" Alyssa winked but Jessica just laughed.

"The normal kind not that demented winking kind!" Alyssa sighed and bid her a farewell. Jessica went upstairs, showered and put on a new dress that covered her a little more now that the cold rain was pouring. She grabbed an umbrella and apparated into Hogsmeade with it over her head. When she entered the pub her boyfriend, Severus, had already reserved them a table.

The two of them talked and drank for at least 3 hours and decided to head over to Honeydukes before it closed. When they reached the front door, Jessica took out her umbrella and started walking holding Severus' hand. She looked up and noticed that he didn't have one.

"Where's your umbrella?" She asked. He looked down at her, his shoulders held up a little to try to ward off some of the cold rain, his left hand in his pocket.

"I don't own one!" He told her. She looked down the back at him with a smile and said,

"Then I don't want mine!" She closed her umbrella and tossed it in the air, where it just popped away. He stared down at her in slight disbelief. "What?"

"Why'd you do that?"

"'Cause I can!" She smirked. Then suddenly the two of them were running towards the candy store. Jessica ended up buying 2 cherry lollipops and a bag of chocolates. Severus bought chocolates and received a small box from the owner who gave Severus a small wink. She didn't ask what it was because she didn't want to intrude in his personal life. The two of them paid and walked around in the rain when she told him what had happened to her that day. Severus was overjoyed and so proud of her for being able to take care of the Apothecary on her own.

After a while they agreed to go back to Jessica's home. When they arrived they went straight to her home from the store. She handed him a towel and they sat accompanied by candle light and glasses of red wine for a while just staring into each others eyes. Suddenly, he asked her,

"Jess? Can I ask you something? Something that's really important for you to answer right now?"

"Sure Severus! What is it?" After this, he stood and got to her side and got on his knee and pulled out the box he received from the clerk at Honeydukes.

"Will you marry me?" He had such wonder and hope in his eyes. Jessica felt so overwhelmed with emotion at this point that her future started passing before her very eyes. In about 2 seconds, a life filled with happiness, joy, bright colors and BABIES flashed before her. She looked at him and smiled and answered,

"Of course!" He placed the ring on her finger and hugged her tightly. She gave him a kiss that seemed to last forever. They were finally to be married and extremely happy together, then suddenly,

"Ow!!!" Severus said, letting go of his bride to be.

"What is it?" She asked looking concerned. He pulled up his left sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark. She nodded as she saw the serpent wiggling on his arm. "You better go." She kissed him goodbye as he left. She sighed but smiled when she looked down at her ring. "I can't believe it! It's finally going to happen!"

She figured that it was time to go to bed seeing as it was 12 in the morning and she had to open the shop at 9:30. So she went to her room after blowing out the candles and falling asleep in her nice, dry and warm pajamas.

When she woke up, there was an owl pecking at her bedroom window. She stood up and messed up her hair and let the owl in, which stood on her desk. She walked over and grabbed the letter from its beak and opened it, it was from Severus! She smiled while she read it and wrote one back and gave it to the owl who took off right after it grabbed it. She closed the balcony door once again and grabbed a pair of black dress pants and a long but well fitting red short sleeve shirt. She went into the bathroom and showered, then dressed and went back to her room. She pointed her wand to her head and her hair not only dried itself, but pulled back into a high ponytail. She put on her black slip on shoes and went all the way downstairs and unlocked the Apothecary door. Jessica got a wild shock when she pushed back the awning to get some sunlight into the store.

There was a very long line heading down most of the Alley and it started right at the Apothecary door! She welcomed everyone she could fit into the store and immediately was bombarded by women asking for a phial of love potion that she gave Narcissa and men asking for a phial of both Felix Felicis (the potion of luck) and potions to boost their sex drive. She had sold more potions in that morning than she did since she worked there during Voldermort's reign.

At around noon, Alyssa came in and noticed a few people still at the counter so she waited. After they left, she stepped up to the counter and asked her how the business was going.

"Just look at the time jar!" The large jar was overflowing with money.

"WOW!!" Jessica was smiling widely again.

"And guess what!!!"

"What?" Jessica stuck her hand out towards Alyssa who just gazed at the engagement ring for a few moments before finally realizing what it was. "OH MY GOD!!!!" She was so happy for her best friend. "When are you two tying the knot?"

"Saturday!" Jessica said.

"Satur – WAIT! Saturday's only 3 days away!"

"I know, but it's a very small and private wedding. Only you, Remus, James, and Lily are invited. Then we're all going out to go eat and stuff." Alyssa was baffled. "I know it's so sudden but –"

"But nothing! I think the amount of money you made today can cover your rent from the past 4 months, the next 6, your new dress robes and your –"

"New dress robes?" Jessica asked.

"Uh…duh! You're getting married so you MUST get something brand new for it!"

"Oh goodness. Uh, hang on okay?" Alyssa nodded and Jessica got a small brown draw string bag, filled it to its bursting point with galleons and got an owl. She told the owl to go to the tax collector and she grabbed Alyssa's hand and rushed out of the store. She locked the door and put a 'Back in 20 minutes' sign up. "You gotta help me! You obviously know a lot more about this wedding thing than I do!"

So Jessica and Alyssa went down to Madame Malkins Robes for All Occasions. She was fitted for a long white gown and was promised to have it by tomorrow morning. She paid for her dress and was back before the magical countdown on her sign was over. She took down the sign, and entered. She then went to the back room and started filling glass phials of all shapes and sizes with the swirling fluorescent pink potions, and then the same with a gold and bubbly potion and finally more phials with an equally swirling and fluorescent purple potion. Jessica restocked the store and the display case with the potions and she decided to have some lunch and discuss where they were to go after the wedding.

"How about Lily and James' house?" Alyssa asked.

"PERFECT!" Jessica said after finishing her drink. She wrote out the invitations, of which there were four, and sent all but one by owl to the recipients. She handed Alyssa her invite that she pocketed it and smiled.

"Look at the time! I gotta go visit Remus for a while and I promise I'll come back." Jessica nodded and cleaned up the counter after she left. The business when strong for the next few days until she had to close it on Saturday with a sign saying she was too sick but to send their friends to her if they wanted to be happy with their partners.

Saturday was a nice warm and sunny day. There was a small canopy set up in the backyard of James and Lily's new home. Severus and Jessica met each other at the mini alter or really Lily's new rose bed. After the ceremony, the 6 people went into the home and ate until they couldn't eat anymore and then the newly married couple cut their wedding cake and they ate more.

Finally, Severus and Jessica got a few moments alone in her home. Severus had moved in with her because she owned the store and he decided to try and help her in the store. Severus carried her over all three thresholds which means he carried her threw the store door, up the first staircase, threw the middle room door, up the last staircase, and then finally threw her bedroom door. He laid her down on the bed and then on top of her. She smiled and the two of them kissed. He started slipping off the shoulder of her dress and caressed her sides very carefully as if she was as fragile as a china plate…..

THE NEXT DAY!!!!

Jessica woke up in a very happy mode the next morning and even opened the shop early. She sold more on Sunday than she did earlier in the week. When the day was done, she went up the stairs and had a wonderful meal with Severus and ended up repeating their activities from the night before.

After a month or so, she was feeling sick in the morning and evening and having strange cravings.

She consulted Alyssa who said it just must be "that-time-of-the-month". Jessica started exercising a lot but gained more and more weight. She went to the doctor to ask what might be wrong with her. She went back to the store looking sicker than when she left. Severus was working back behind the counter and he waved her over, looking nervous after seeing her expression.

She walked over and he whispered,

"What's wrong?" She sighed and looked at him then just went upstairs. She laid down in her bed and Severus worked for a few more hours. He then arrived after closing and cooked him dinner. He brought up the dish and gave it to her, she ate it all and he sat by her side.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" She nodded but said,

"Nothings wrong…."

"What is it then? What did the doctor say?" She couldn't help but smile suddenly after finally realizing what was happening,

"You're gonna be a dad!" She said smiling wide. He looked at her in disbelief, and then hugged her tightly! They were so happy and they knew that this was the start of something new and extremely exotic.

END!!!

That's the end of the first chapter! Sorry it was so damn long! Well I promise I will write more but I have a pretty hectic schedule this week.

-Jessi!!!