Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Hey, I'm still on vacation but decided to update the story now that I have some time. As always thank you for the reviews keep reading and reviewing.

Happy Holidays

Chapter 25

Once they got to Hagrid's hut they were able to see the groundskeeper feeding Fang.

"Good to see you, I'll finish feeding this big old lump and then we'll get to the forest." Amy grabbed Severus' hand and pulled him to the forest. "Hagrid we'll meet you inside the forest by the clearing near the river." Said Severus, he was going to show her different potion ingredients he used.

They went around the forest, close to the edge; the muggle had never seen a forest so vast and full of unexpected creatures. Questions like what is that? They do really exist, and do you really use those? Were very frequently asked by Amelia. Severus patiently explained some of the uses. It was very refreshing to see this excitement in her. The only people interested in his lectures had been Draco, Hermione and Percy Weasley; they had been his best students.

They heard Hagrid approaching sans Fang. "Amy, first things first. I'll show you the bowtruckle and the unicorns. They are much harder to find these days, we'll have to go deep into the forest." The half-giant sounded excited.

"I don't think that would be prudent. The centaurs reside there and they have not fully come to terms with us humans." Severus drawled.

"Don't worry professor, we have a truce for today. I talked to their chief." Severus breathed easier and followed them. Amelia had a lot of questions about the fauna of the forest and Hagrid was the perfect person to answer her questions.

After an afternoon filled with excitement and questions Amelia and Severus got back to the castle. "I'm tired, I want to take a bath and sleep." She yawned and dropped her head to Severus' shoulder. He smiled and kept walking Hogwarts corridors.

"Is best if I retrieve the boys and you stay at the dungeons." Amy nodded.

Severus picked up the babies, thanked Minerva and left for his quarters. Draco was babbling and Harry just dropped his head on Daddy's shoulder. He had a great afternoon. Draco and him played ran in the office, they touched the pictures and talked to them.

"Bath time." Severus undressed his sons, arranged the bathtub and got their toys out. "Love, please make sure the boys don't drink bath water." Amelia's voice carried to the bathroom.

Severus rolled his eyes, that only happened once, it had happened because she was distracting him. "Please boys don't make a mess. Behave." He said sternly, both boys looked up and then looked at each other. They smiled and continued playing.

After twenty minutes Amy entered to see a soaked Severus splashing water at both boys who were giggling uncontrollably. "I should have known better." She smirked at Severus. The babies looked at mummy and smiled, Draco smiled delightfully and raised his chubby arms, "mummy."

"Yes, my baby love. I will get you dry and out of that water." She cooed and toweled the blond baby who snuggled to her warmth.

"Little traitor." Severus muttered while he dried Harry.

"Don't worry Harry, you'll get him later." He whispered and kissed Harry on his cheek.

Amy put Draco to sleep; he didn't put up any resistance and went to sleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. Harry was waiting for mummy to kiss him.

"Mummy." He whispered, "Shush, good night Harry love." Amy kissed him and rubbed his belly.

"Nox." The lights went out, Amelia grabbed Severus' hand. They went to their room and slept.

By Sunday night Amelia Williams knew much more about magic. The muggle had visited most of the school, the forbidden forest and Hogsmeade. She loved Honeydukes and The Three Broomsticks. Amy had seen the Shrieking Shack and turned white. That was a place she really didn't want to see, Severus nodded and diverted her attention to Harry and Draco. They were in a double stroller, playing with their shod feet.

"I can't wait to get home." Amelia dressed Harry and advanced on Draco. The grey-eyed little boy didn't want to get dressed. He was on his nappy running around with Scooby trailing after him. Severus magicked the toy to play with his son. Harry was tired and grumpy; he most certainly didn't appreciate Draco's attentions on him.

"mo, mo wan." Draco tried to squirm off his mummy's arms. "Behave or you won't have Scooby with you until night time." Amelia looked at the baby who seemed about to cry.

"I'm not daddy sweetheart." Draco cried and wailed, he tried to keep away from mummy's arms but she was faster and managed to dress him in record time.

"We are ready love." She said tiredly, they had already had dinner with Minerva and Hagrid. Severus managed to silence Draco by giving him his plushy back. "Hold on tight darling." He dissaparated all of them out of Hogwarts, thankfully Harry was too tired to even feel the dissaparation and Draco was too distracted with his toy.

Severus was dreading going back to London, as it appeared Amelia wanted to go to her house and rest. She said she had wanted to get home and a good night sleep. The wizard was waiting for Amelia to kiss him goodbye and leave him. "I'll get my baby loves to sleep." He nodded and went to take a shower, the weekend had been tiring in the sense that the boys were at their most disruptive behavior and also because Amelia had asked about a million questions per day. The muggle expected long and detailed answers. He kept thinking about all the creatures and artifacts they had seen when he felt her kissing his shoulder. He smiled and turned around.

"I thought you were anxious to go home." he pulled her under the showerhead.

"I am home, unless you want me to go in which case I could…" Severus stopped her by kissing her.

They went to bed and slept soundly through the night.

"I really don't think I should be going to work today, I think I have a fever." He touched her forehead and said, "You are fine, and you definitely cannot stay here." Severus kissed her pouting lips. Today was her first day back at the hospital. A week after their Hogwarts visit.

"I am going under duress." She stood up and grabbed some clothes from the dresser. They hadn't even noticed but Amelia hadn't really gone to her place since before their weekend away.

She showered and checked on her boys. "They are still sleeping, when is Hermione arriving?" Amy wanted to let her know that Draco had a new hobby; giving wet kisses to anyone he saw.

Severus was pulling a dark green almost black jumper over his head, "she should be here in five or so minutes. Hurry up, you should get going." The wizard ushered her.

"Heartless man." She finished putting her red lipstick.

"Why do you have to put that lipstick on?" he growled.

"Do you like it?" she pouted at him and blew him a kiss. She even winked at him.

"No, you are not coming any closer, you'll smudge my lips." She swatted his buttocks when he pecked her.

"I'll be good." He kissed her on the mouth.

"Stop, you ruined my make up." she chuckled when he bit her neck. "I'll fix it with magic." He kissed her again.

"What a helpful man you are." She smiled when his hands went around her back.

They heard the unmistakable sound of apparation and reluctantly separated from each other.

"We are finishing once I get home." Amelia put on her shoes and left to greet Hermione.

"Good morning Hermione." She kissed the younger woman and invited her to drink a cup of tea.

"Amy I've got so much to tell you." Hermione gladly accepted the cup of tea.

"Ron started his auror training last Wednesday. He is so excited and tired all the time but he loves it." Hermione gushed over the fact that they were already living together.

"Don't get me wrong we fight all the time. He is very untidy, it helps that we have magic but he is just disorganized." Hermione smiled.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, why are you smiling then?" Amy looked puzzled.

Hermione blushed but decided to talk to the older woman, since Ginny left Hermione didn't have anyone to talk with. Let's be honest she didn't talk to Ginny about this because it was weird. "Ron and I, we've always fought since we were kids. He infuriated me, we could argue for hours on end. Harry would have to literally take Ron away from me before we could say really hurtful things to one another." Amelia made an understanding face and encouraged her to continue.

The witch smiled, "well last Friday Ron came to the flat really late, I had a rough day at the ministry and we were both tired. There wasn't any food, we were hungry and we argued. He wanted Chinese I wanted Indian, we had a shouting match for about an hour." Amelia found this very interesting, she looked at Hermione and noticed her blushing face and glazed eyes.

"This time we didn't have Harry to stop us from fighting, he was flushed, heaving, his eyes full with fire. I just kissed him and pounced on him."

Amy laughed, "You guys finally had an outlet other than fighting each other."

Hermione nodded, "Ron was my first and I was his, we have nothing else to compare it to but it was the best night of my life."

They were about to discuss the details of said night when Severus entered with Harry on his arms. "Draco's still fast asleep, I grabbed Harry before he woke his brother."

"Hello Harry," Hermione got up and took Harry from her ex-professor's arms. Harry gave her a kiss, he liked Omy she always read him nice books.

"Omy," he grabbed her necklace. It was a beautiful silver necklace with a stunning ruby as a pendant.

Amelia remembered the necklace Severus gave her as a Christmas gift. That night when she left for South America she had decided to take it off but she couldn't. That piece of jewelry was supposed to be the last link between them and she hadn't had the heart to part with it. She never took it off now.

"I'm late for work, thanks so much for babysitting." Amy kissed Hermione and Harry goodbye.

"Are you sure you don't want to apparate you." Severus opened the door for her.

"Positive, I need to drive my own car to work." She kissed him and waved her hand when she got to the driveway.

"Hermione, I'll get home by five, Amelia should be back before that. I read your essay on werewolves and their diminished roles in our society. You might want to tone down a little." He drank the last bit of his coffee and dissaparated before the inquisitive witch had time to formulate a question.

"Why does he always do that? He is infuriating." Hermione huffed, the professor always left her without answering her questions.

Harry imitated her irritated expression, "no matter Harry let's have breakfast." She went into the kitchen and put him a bowl of cheerios. Hermione tried to make this moment of serenity last. She knew that it wouldn't last, soon Draco would wake up and the boys would run her ragged.

The brightest witch of her age was having fun with Draco and Harry; the three of them were playing with snow in the backyard. Hermione cast a warming spell on them, Draco tried to walk but fell on the snow, he let out a cute giggle whenever he fell. "Omy, omy, omy." Harry chanted as he played with a toy shovel and snow.

It was snowing; both boys looked up and raised their little hands and fell back, "you're so cute together, I don't know how your mummy resists both of you." She grabbed the babies and got inside. She made chocolate and gave it to them in their sippy cups. They sat on the couch, the witch read them Cinderella this time around. "And they lived happily ever after." Draco was snuggled close to her while Harry was already sleeping by her side. Hermione placed both boys on the playpen; she put their blankets and dimmed the lights a little.

By five thirty both the professor and Amy were back. The boys played inside their playpen, they had Scooby and Doggie by their sides.

"This is ready, we should have dinner before the boys get bored with their game." Severus said while opening a bottle of wine. The three adults ate, eventually the conversation turned to Severus' research.

"Amelia gave me the most wonderful idea weeks ago. I approached the curse from another perspective. I had it all wrong, I was looking at intent and amount of wizards, they are important but not the only factor when it comes to surviving the effects of the cruciatus." Severus loved how both women were enraptured by his findings.

"I looked at the victims' biology and have a theory. While intent happens to be key to the strength of the curse it is completely unrelated to the after effects. It's our biology, which puts us to advantage or disadvantages." Hermione was about to ask how.

"Take us for example. I am a half-blood, you are a muggle born, in terms of human biology we are exactly alike and magically speaking we are most certainly matched but our biology differs a little. You are stronger than me, more resistant to magic and curses. I was exposed to my mother's magic from an early age, making me more aware of magic, more susceptible to it." both women understood.

"You are saying that purebloods have lower chances of recovering from the after effects?" Hermione said with a surprised tone.

"My data seems to confirm my hypothesis." Severus smiled.

"This is huge, when are you going to publish? May I read the drafts?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"St. Mungos already gave me the green light to publish, I have a copy for you to read in my study. I'll give it to you before you leave."

Amelia frowned, "love, could you work on a cure for the after effects?" she asked.

"I have a cure for them, the trick is to administer it on time otherwise the patients do not benefit from it."

"I'm sorry love but why were you studying the curse then."

"Many purebloods believe that the cruciatus is more effective on muggleborns, that they have weaker magical blood and therefore are weaker when it comes to resisting the curse." Ron said as he entered the room.

"Ronald, mastered silent apparation and dissilutionment charm. The aurors work fast this time, it is only your second week at training." Drawled Severus as he poured him a glass of wine. "Don't do that again." The older wizard said as he handed him the beverage.

"Sorry professor, wanted to know if it worked." He mumbled a little embarrassed.

"You were brilliant." Hermione kissed him.

He laughed, "Always the tone of surprise." The redhead kissed her head and sat next to her.

"Professor, this could affect the wizardry opinion very much. Blimey, every old bigot would read about this. Could you imagine Aunt Muriel reading that muggleborns are on principle stronger than her when it comes to resisting the torture curse." Ron looked ecstatic. They talked much more about what the implications of the findings could mean for their society.

The muggle born witch said, "I thought you were going straight home tonight." Hermione looked at Ron.

Weasley shrugged, "I wanted to take you home. I don't like it when you apparate alone at night."

"Also mum wanted to talk to Amy about the boys' birthday party. Dad told me you ask you about a picture for their birthday cakes."

"Oh, yes I was supposed to owl those to Molly. I must have forgotten." The muggle went into the study and gave two pictures to Ron.

"This is for Draco's cake, that's Scooby and this is for Harry's cake, Snarf."

"Tell Molly I appreciate her doing this for the boys." Amy started talking about the birthday party. It was to happen this Saturday February 5th at the Burrow. Since the boys were deaged around July 5th Severus had decided to celebrate their birthdays every February 5th.

Andromeda and Molly went crazy with their preparations; they had planned things when Amelia came back about a month ago. Amy dropped her two cents every now and then but she was content with just watching things unfold. "You are very wise Amelia Williams." Severus had said reverently whenever his partner managed to escape the two witches.

"'Mione will Helen and Edward come to the party?" Ron asked.

"They actually are, they want to meet the boys," she simply said. Her boyfriend then changed the conversation to George's latest attempt to improve monopoly.

"It will be fantastic…" Ron explained the whole set up of the new magical game.

"I presume you are assisting George." Severus continued.

"I am just until he gets back to his feet. He's doing better now, Angie has really helped him." Ron looked sad, just like every time anyone mentioned Fred's absence.

They had dinner and more lovely chat. Ron helped Amelia put the dishes on the washing machine and stated with a yawn. "I'm awfully tired, these trainings don't get easier."

"We should get home, thank you for the lovely meal." Hermione put on her trench coat and her scarf. Severus gave her his rough draft.

Amelia kissed her cheek, "No, thank you for babysitting them. The boys can be a handful, they sure have a lot of energy." The adults could hear them giggle and squeal.

"At least, they are never bored. They have each other to play with." Ron smiled, he knew about that. As a child he always had a sibling to play with.

The young couple left, "how was your day?" he asked as he rubbed her shoulders. They were sitting in the couch in front of the babies. "I had three colicky babies and a dozen babies that needed immunizations." She sighed when he massaged a sore spot on her back.

"How did you do?" she asked.

"I wrote the journal draft and had a meeting with the directors." He explained that St. Mungos wanted him to improve potions.

Amy turned around and looked at him, "I thought you wanted to do theoretical research only."

"I do but for the time being I think it is best if I work on potions. I've missed brewing and I know I can improve some potions." He spoke carefully and then decided to say it. "I would be able to spend more time at home, with you and the boys." Amelia's eyes sparkled.

"I could work with that." she kissed his nose and hugged him. Harry decided to make his presence known; mummy and daddy were not paying attention to him at all.

"Daddy, hea, daddy, hea" the baby pointed to himself. Harry pouted and stood up.

Severus smiled and picked his son from the playpen. "I know you are here horrid little boy." He kissed his son and took him with him to the couch. "You want cuddles, you are such a needy baby." Severus chuckled when Amy frowned at him.

"I love him," He tickled Harry, who let out a guffaw.

"I'll get my Draco." Amy sat next to them with Draco on her lap.

"How was your day my love?" she asked the little boy. The blond baby started babbling.

"Hawy, Omy pway and snow. Snow big, fwom sky." Draco was very interpretative and used his hands to make falling snow.

"That's very nice baby love." Draco babbled some more until he just dropped his head on her chest.

"One down, one more to go." Severus whispered when Draco closed his eyes. Harry played with his daddy fingers, they were really long; Harry put them in front of his eyes and grabbed them again. The baby was very interested and focused. Severus decided to add more fun to it. The wizard created a ball of white light from one of his fingers. Harry tried to get it from the index finger but it disappeared to the pinky finger. The green-eyed baby looked at daddy, but daddy wasn't even paying attention to him. "ight, daddy , ight" Harry wondered who was creating the pretty white lights.

Harry giggled and continued tapping daddy's fingers, "Stop teasing him, you're supposed to tire him out not excite him."

Amelia came back downstairs after putting Draco to sleep, "come to mummy sweetheart. Daddy doesn't know how to follow directions." She cooed when Harry hugged her and laid his head on her neck.

"I meet you upstairs." She kissed Severus.