A/N: I have taken artistic license and jumped ahead three years in my timeline. This is mainly because I enjoy writing flashbacks and feel that I can better convey what happened in the intervening years in such a fashion. Anyways, here are the Snapes, three years later:

Three Years Later

Fourteen-year old Ariana Snape wished (and not for the first time) that underage wizards were allowed to use magic. Then she could have folded her laundry with a swish of her wand and been on her merry way. Then she might not have had to listen to the impatient little sighs of her sister as she paced around the room waiting for Ariana to be done.

Sometimes Ariana still felt little bits of Georgie floating around in her brain. She would have moments where she realized that Chopin was the composer of a piece of music Georgie was playing… and Ariana had never known anything about classical music. Other days she would look at Georgie and images would blast into her consciousness – images of Georgie's childhood.

Despite the strangeness of knowing that her adopted sister/second cousin lurked in the corners of her mind, Ariana was grateful to Georgie for daring to save her. This was the summer, mum had reminded her, that the illness should have been. This summer before her fifth year had been the anticipated date. Instead she was completely healthy and happy.

A top Potions student, a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and a sort of mentor to Harry Potter, Ariana sometimes felt as though she had everything she could want. Even this summer's Azkaban breakout and the threat of Sirius Black had done little to upset her. Of course, it wasn't nothing, and Ariana could tell that her mother (who had been mates with Black back in the day) was preoccupied by the matter. Her father had merely said not to mention it to Harry – Dumbledore's orders – and had dropped it.

"Are you girls ready?" her mother's voice called from outside Ariana's open doorway.

"Yeah, just a second," she replied. It was Georgie's thirteenth birthday. They had missed it the first summer she came to live with them because of the upheaval surrounding Ari's illness. No one had bothered to ask when Georgie's birthday was, and Georgie had neglected to mention that she had turned ten while she was at summer camp. They had more than made up for it the following summer when Georgie had received her Hogwarts letter.

By then they hadn't been all that surprised. Her magical mental abilities had been tested and re-tested by first Dumbledore and then her father. Georgie could never really tell them just who "Denny" was, but she had been taught tremendously well. Of course, that didn't make getting Georgie her first wand any less exciting.

"Ollivander's. I haven't been in here since I was ten years old. I'll never forget the way it felt to hold my wand for the first time. It's too bad mum and dad couldn't come. You really would think seeing you get a wand would be more important than some Hogwarts staff meeting," Ariana mused, and then she gave Georgie a little shove towards the door.

Unfortunately, Georgie had been in one of her dreamy states, and Ari's small shove sent her flying forward and straight into a small boy on his way out of the shop. Ariana recognized him at once.

"Why you're Harry Potter!" she exclaimed, gently pushing Georgie into the shop and shutting the door.

The dark haired boy stared up at her out of round glasses, his eyes struggling for recognition. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"Oh, um, not really. I go to Hogwarts. I'm Ariana Snape."

"What do you mean, not really?" he asked, scrunching up his face. "Everyone here seems to know me, and I'm not sure why."

"Well, I came to your house once. About a year ago actually. To try and meet you. Anyways, I have to go help my sister. See you at school!"

He looked so puzzled, and Ariana felt rather bad just leaving him standing there, but she didn't wanted to miss Georgie's wand choosing her, and Harry clearly still needed time to process everything. She was again struck by how ordinary he was, how little he knew of his place in the wizarding world.

How very wrong she had been. Harry was certainly not ordinary. The last two years had taught her that. Ariana's eventual friendship with Harry had only one flaw – her father. While he had been more than proud to see his adopted daughter sorted into Slytherin at the start of term feast, Ariana secretly wondered if that good news alone had balanced out his absolute distress over the arrival of one Harry James Potter. No matter how he had tried to wipe his face of emotion, the hatred had shone through. Her mum had to spend several hours explaining to Ariana just why he so utterly loathed such a nice young boy.

"Five minutes and we're gone!" her mother's voice called again, and Ariana shoved the last of her socks helter-skelter into a drawer.

"All right, Georgie. Let's go."

The tall red-head – almost as tall as Ariana – granted her a thankful smile. If they hadn't spent nearly thirty minutes braiding Georgie's hair, they wouldn't have been so late with the laundry, but Ari was forgiving.

As much as it could be a pain to have a little sister in Slytherin – friends with her horrible cousin Malfoy no less – Ariana couldn't help but be glad to have Georgie around this summer. Georgie had been one of the students petrified by the basilisk when the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and it had been a long few months without hearing strains of beautiful piano music wafting through the Hogwarts corridors.

Losing her favorite know-it-all Hermione had been hard enough, but life without Georgie had become unthinkable. She was eternally grateful to Harry and Ron for solving the whole business. It was doubtful her father felt the same, as he had often mentioned that it was really Professor Sprout who had de-petrified his daughter.

Severus was frowning when his family came into the living room. The silver, the blond and the red were all dressed in clean robes and Georgie even had her hair plaited. Severus wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that they might be running into Draco Malfoy in Diagon Alley.

He wouldn't have minded. He had really grown to like the pale blond boy, even though he despised Lucius. Watching Draco and Georgie antagonize the Potter boy and his rule-breaking friends was often the highlight of his Potions class. Severus was rather impressed that Georgie's muggle-born status had made no difference to Draco. Perhaps it was that she was family, and somehow, mud-blood or not, Draco had taken a liking to her. Severus guessed it was her overpowering ambition, if not her subtle skills at manipulating people.

"What's wrong, Sev?"

Raleigh's voice broke into his thoughts and he his mind returned to the parchment in his clenched fist.

An owl from Dumbledore had informed him that he was once again passed over for Defense Against the Dark Arts. While he had grown used to the disappointment, the news of Lockhart's successor had practically knocked the breath out of him. What's more, Severus couldn't help but be suspicious, knowing that Black was on the loose and Dumbledore was allowing the murderer's best friend inside the castle. Not to mention that he was a werewolf. Or his wife's old affair.

"Just an owl from Dumbledore. Nothing important," he fibbed, and he would have gotten away with it were it not for a sharp look from Georgie. Damn her Legilimency prowess. He scowled at her, but she didn't flinch and simply kept her bright Lily-green eyes on his face.

"He's hired for Defense Against the Dark Arts," he muttered, feeling a bad taste enter his mouth.

"I suppose from your mood we're to assume it's not you?" Georgie asked in her usual pointed fashion.

"No," he said, biting off the word and refusing to meet Raleigh's eyes.

"Who's he hired instead?" Ariana asked, and he didn't miss the excitement in her voice. She had thought that idiot Lockhart was dreamy. No doubt she anticipated an equally handsome replacement.

It took a surprising amount of effort to let the name pass from his lips.

"Remus Lupin."

He heard Ariana's quiet intake of breath. He lifted his gaze to meet Raleigh's. He saw the shock in her eyes, and he knew it was a look that wouldn't go away anytime soon.

"We're late," he snapped. "Your grandparents are meeting us at Flourish and Blotts in ten minutes, and we haven't even apparated to the Leaky Cauldron yet."

He knew more words would come, but he wanted to wait. He wanted to wait until his anger had subsided. He wanted to wait until they were alone. And yet he felt the jealousy raging like a tidal wave inside of him, and as much as he tried to cut it off, the way he had done for over ten years, it was threatening to bring him down.

Raleigh's hand slipped into his, and it was ice cold.

"Both of you grab onto my arm," she told the girls, and soon the whole family was standing outside of the Leaky Cauldron, the warm buzz of the apparition already faded.

"Why don't you dears go on with grandpa and grandma? Your father and I will be along after while."

Severus could tell the girls had felt the sudden tension. They moved off without any questions, but he was sure that Ariana would be explaining everything to Georgie as soon as they were out of earshot. He turned to his wife, trying to sense how she was reacting despite the distraction of the fire in his blood.

He watched as the lines of her mouth hardened and she raised her head to meet his gaze.

"This changes nothing," she said firmly. "Nothing is any different than it was five minutes ago. I still love you more than life, I am still your wife, and you are still my husband."

Severus accepted the words with a quiet relief.

"But Severus," she said softly, "I cannot keep him from Ariana. He loved her once as his own child, and I believe that will not have changed. Do not ask me to stand between them if he once again feels the fatherly tug."

Severus didn't respond, merely shoved away the "but" at the beginning of her sentence and pulled her close against him.

"Things are changing, Raleigh," he whispered. "As soon as Harry arrived everything began to change. You-Know-Who is still a threat, and I have become merely a pawn in a very large game of death. I am Dumbledore's servant until whatever end. And I fear for what all of this means, especially Black's escape."

It was a long speech for a man of few words, but Severus felt the truth and he knew Raleigh had too. "He wouldn't –" she started to say, but cut herself off.

"I will not forbid you to see him. That would be childish. But I ask that you be wary. I have no intention of trusting him, and I will have no hesitation in exposing him should I feel he is enough of a threat."

He heard her swallow and then felt her nod against his chest.

"All right, then," she said, lifting her head. "Let's go buy some school books. I was thinking Georgie might like an owl for her birthday."

Severus knew the conversation was over, and he went inside with her hand firmly placed in his. His little Slytherin was thirteen today, and he wasn't going to let the past get in the way of celebrating.

Raleigh felt the pain of the lie as soon as it left her lips. The news of Remus had changed things. And yet she did love Severus, more than ever, and she had put the past behind her long ago. Still, the impending arrival of Remus had struck her, simply because she had never thought to see him again. After so many years, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to stand in his presence. Would he despise her? Would he still love her? Could they be friends?

The deeper questions she held at bay as her fingers wove through Severus'. She refused to consider if Remus was involved in Sirius' escape. She refused to ask herself if she still loved Remus, if there was danger in his coming.

She fought with herself, and in the end her heart warmed for her husband, and her girls. They had survived so much already these past few years. They would survive this too.