Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.

Chapter 51

Lily's birthday at the end of January and Valentine's Day two weeks later always strained Severus imagination as far as gifts. For Lily's birthday he'd created a special perfume that would be unique only to her body chemistry and smelled like jasmine and lilacs; she had adored his gift. For Valentine's Day he brought her a pair of ruby and diamond hooped earrings. They took Harmony to Hogsmeade, but decided rather than having a special dinner with just the two of them; they would celebrate the night with Harmony. Severus requested a special dinner from Cissy with cauldron cakes for dessert as it was Harmony's favorite treat. It was to be served in their suite.

Lily and Severus sat on the floor in front of the coffee table leaning back against the couch for support. Harmony sat in Severus lap and ate off his plate. After eating the cauldron cakes they exchanged gifts. Severus gave Lily her earrings and Lily gave Severus a silver cauldron which she'd ordered from the same shop where she'd gotten him the set of stirrers for Christmas. Severus had given Harmony a gold bracelet with a blue topaz that had a locator spell cast on it in case she ever got lost. He knew that tracking spells and locator spells could not always find somebody who was missing, but the locator spell in the bracelet would strengthen either spell. The bracelet automatically shrunk or expanded so it would always fit her wrist. Lily gave Harmony a plush red heart that was charmed to say in Lily's voice 'mummy and daddy love you' when squeezed. Harmony loved it, squeezed it several times, and squealed in delight each time she heard Lily's voice.

The next morning Severus and Remus went with Dumbledore, Hagrid and Aberforth Dumbledore, who was the owner of the Hog's Head, to see the site where they had already started building the werewolf village. Severus toured the site making sure the construction was sound and not shoddy.

Dumbledore had put Aberforth in charge of making sure the construction was up to code and to let him know immediately if there were any problems. Severus was sure he would do a fine job as the villagers of Hogsmeade wanted this to succeed as much as the people suffering from Lycanthropy did. The applications for living quarters were pouring into the Foundation office which at the moment was located in Reginald's office. Severus was certain there was enough land to build two more complexes if it became necessary, but the current complex would be able to house at least 100 families. The area was heavily warded to prevent attacks by Death Eaters as Voldemort definitely did not want this! Aurors had also been posted around the area.

Severus also checked on the rebuilding of the orphanage. It was scheduled to be done by the first of May and would be larger and more modern than the previous building had been. There would be a large playground for the children that would eventually be filled with slides, swings, monkey bars, and sandboxes. Wards of every kind would be placed around it to prevent any future attacks, guaranteeing the safety of the children and the staff.

In the middle of February, Lily received her acceptance into the Healer Program at St. Mungo's. She and Severus had a celebratory dinner with Alice and Frank and Remus and Missy. Missy was hoping to get her acceptance from the Ministry for her internship in the Department of Mysteries. Severus and Lily continued their celebration privately after their friends had left.

Remus had received word from Robert that the new werewolf healer program was a go. He would be taking some of the same classes as Lily, but his training would be more specialized to the complications caused by Lycanthropy. He would be working with Robert, another healer named Ian Faircloud, and Mind Healer Cromwell. He was most interested in working with the newly bitten people, especially the children.

Remus had finished researching herbs for the morning sickness potion with the added benefit of nutrients for the developing fetus and copied his notes for Severus who was going to share the credit with him. He gave them to Severus and Lily who were going to brew the actual potion. He also had a pile of notes for the antidote to the Cruciatus Curse. Remus was good at brewing Potions, but he didn't have the instinctive ability, the imagination, or the daring to experiment the way Sev did. He was however really good at research.

Severus meanwhile was not only working on a child's version of the Wolfsbane Potion, and an antidote for the Cruciatus Curse, but was reading anything he could get his hands on about Squibs. There wasn't much written because the Wizarding World mostly ignored them and even considered them an embarrassment. He truly believed what Merlin said – that Squibs were every bit as magical as wizards and witches, but for some reason they were unable to access their magical core so they were unable to do magic. He had two different encyclopedias on Herbology that listed all kinds of magical plants and their properties. He was planning to look through the library at Witches Moon for other Herbology books when they visited during Spring Break.

"You know I'm wondering if some of the herbs used in the Elixir of Power might be beneficial." Severus said. The Elixir of Power was only given when a magical person had exhausted their magical core and was in danger of losing it completely or damaging it beyond repair; it allowed their core to regenerate.

"Some of the herbs used in it are really strong," Lily commented. "Are you thinking that Squibs are born with some sort of blockage of their magical core and you could invent a potion that breaks through it?"

"Yes, because nobody has ever done any research on Squibs. Nobody really knows why they can't do magic. As you already know our magical cores can be detected by healers; it is an actual physical component so a blockage of some sort is possible."

On the following Saturday, Petunia watched Harmony while Severus and Lily brewed in the Room of Requirement. She and Harmony had fun having pretend tea parties with the set Petunia had given her for Christmas.

Lily held up the vial of a moss green liquid and looked at it critically. "Are you sure we brewed this correctly, Sev? It doesn't look very appealing."

"It has stomach calming ingredients to prevent vomiting plus nutrients for the fetus. It's the nutrients that give it that color and it probably doesn't taste very good, but I think most expectant mothers would rather take an awful tasting potions that prevents morning sickness and has nutrients that will help their developing baby than spend all morning vomiting."

"You have a point," Lily conceded. "I know I hate sicking up! Are you going to send this to the Potion's Research Department at St. Mungo's?"

"Yes, I'll drop it off at St. Mungo's before I go to class on Monday. They'll want to do a trial run of probably six months and I may need to tweak it in between."

"Give Eileen mine and Harmony's love?" Lily asked knowing that he would stop in and see his mum while he was there. "Tell her we need to start planning her wedding because Spring Break will be here before we know it."

"I'll do that," Severus promised.

He dropped off the potion the next morning. The Potions Research Department was more than happy to accept it as Severus had a reputation for brilliant, thorough work. He stopped in the Brewing Department and visited with his mum and brought her up-to-date on his, Lily's and Remus' research efforts. He also mentioned her wedding and Lily's worries about it.

"Sev, are you sure you aren't taking on too much right now?" Eileen worried. "You need to make sure you take time to relax and have fun."

"Mum, I'm fine. Spring break is coming up and we'll be going to Witches Moon for your wedding so I can relax then."

"Tell Lily I'll floo over tonight and we can start planning the wedding."

"Will do," Severus said. He kissed Eileen's cheek, waved at her and hurried over to the College of Potions.

Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break

"Potter seems to be keeping his distance now," Alice commented as she and Lily were walking to Transfiguration after breakfast."

"Probably because he's so busy playing catch-up!" Lily stated. "After goofing off for six years now he's has to study his stupid arse off so he can make it into the Auror Academy."

"I guess he's gotten the message somewhere that Rufus Scrimgeour can't be bribed. He's trying to clean up the Auror program by letting in only the best candidates and the Potter's Galleons aren't going to make a bit of difference," Alice replied scornfully.

"I imagine McKinnon's giving him some 'encouragement' too," Lily smirked.

"What kind of encouragement …Oh! That kind!"

Eileen, Rose and Petunia were busy planning not only Eileen's wedding, but Petunia's also. Many nights Severus fled to the library to get away from the discussions about colors, cakes and caterers.

The fourth and final Hogsmeade visit for the year would be the day before they left for Spring Break. As on the two previous visits, the students rode down in the school carriages and Aurors were seen around the village. The sixth years were lined up in front of a vacant building waiting to take the Apparition Test. Severus waved at Regulus as they passed.

"Remember how nervous I was last year, Sev?" Lily asked as they walked to Gladrags. Lily had decided that Harmony needed new clothes for spring and summer. She also needed dresses for Eileen's wedding, their graduation, and Petunia's wedding.

Severus was carrying Harmony and grinned. "Yes, you were convinced you were going to flunk it or splinch yourself."

"Thank Merlin I didn't do either one!"

Gladrags was overflowing with new spring and summer clothing and dress robes. Lily took Harmony to the Toddler department while Severus was waylaid by the owner who wanted to express his appreciation about the Werewolf Village being built. "All the shop owners are ever so pleased because it will mean more business, a chance to expand and bring in some new businesses, but still retain the atmosphere of a quaint village." He was so pleased that he gave Severus and Lily half off all their purchases.

"Aberforth told me that some of the shops in Diagon Alley are thinking of opening branches here," Severus remarked.

"That's good. There are 100 new residents moving in and a lot of them are families, but they're all going to need the basics of food, water and clothing."

"I'm just happy they'll have a nice place to live and families can stay together. The Foundation will charge whatever they can afford to pay in rent and if they can't afford to pay anything, they can still live there and have the same services as everybody else who is able to pay. I won't permit any discrimination. Madam Pomfrey, Robert, and Healer Faircloud have volunteered to check on them after the full moon. Once Remus receives his healer mastery he will be able to do it."

"I hope it lessens the prejudice against werewolves," Lily said thinking of Remus.

"It's a step in the right direction for a change," Severus replied.

They met Alice, Frank, Remus and Missy, who had Hunter with them, at the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

"I toured the new building with Directress Grovenor this morning and it's really going to be fantastic and we'll be living just outside Hogsmeade so I'll be able to continue my mentoring program," Remus said.

I haven't been inside it yet, but I know it's supposed to be modern – well at least as modern as you can be in the wizarding world," Severus said.

"Look," Alice said pointing. "McKinnon and Potter are headed this way.

They watched as James and his betrothed came in the door. McKinnon gave Lily a sickly, sweet smile as she came past and clutched James' arm tightly.

"Like she thinks I really care if she's betrothed to Potter. Good riddens to bad rubbish!" Lily snorted. "The co …" she started to say and then remembering what Eileen said about Harmony picking up words, spelt out, "c-o-w."

"Cow!" Harmony cried out, surprising both Lily and Severus, but then he shrugged and said, "I guess she just associates that word with McKinnon."

"I'll bet she's probably convinced herself that every girl envies her," Alice said.

"Of course, what else does she have?" Missy asked.

Severus and Lily sent the Prefects to start rounding up the students to go back to the castle at two o'clock. The sixth years were still partying about passing their Apparition tests successfully. Some, mainly the junior Marauders, wanted to apparate back to the school gate rather than taking the carriages, but Severus and Lily's orders prevailed – everybody was returning in the carriages or face point losses and detention.

Once everybody was back at the castle the Heads of House called roll. Severus and Lily went to their houses for roll call and then returned to their suite where Lily packed Harmony's new clothes in her trunk.

At dinner that night Dumbledore congratulated the sixth years on passing their tests and everybody else on returning to the castle at the scheduled time. He also announced that the invitations for the second annual Parents' Weekend had been sent out and like last year, the parents would be given the choice of flooing over, apparating or taking the Hogwarts Express.

"We know what your dad will choose," Severus said with a grin.

The next morning after breakfast, the carriages traveled the winding path to Hogsmeade, to the station. Severus wasn't shocked that he was able to see the Thestrals now; he had been expecting it. He decided they weren't really that scary looking. He and Lily helped out with the patrolling because all of the fifth year Prefects had stayed behind to study for their OWL's. Harmony was watched by either Alice or Missy while they patrolled. As he had last time, Severus had asked Blinky to pack a lunch for the train and as usual Blinky had packed enough for an army. Frank, Alice, Remus and Missy shared in the bounty of sandwiches, fresh vegetables and fruit, cold milk for Harmony, and bottles of chilled pumpkin juice.

"Anything going on with Potter and Pettigrew?" Severus asked.

"Nothing I can see. The junior Marauders stayed behind apparently," Alice said.

"Potter's probably staring longingly out the window and wishing for the good, old days when there were four Marauders and they thought they ruled the school," Frank laughed.

"No doubt," Lily said. "Even if they were still together, he's got another thing coming if he thinks McKinnon is going to let them to hang around constantly at Potter Manor."

Harmony took a nap after lunch, but woke up well in advance of the train arriving at Platform 9¾. She spotted Hal, Rose, Petunia, and Eileen as the train pulled into the station and began waving at them. Lily got her jacket on her while Severus shrank the picnic basket and put it in his pocket. They got off the train and Harmony ran immediately to her grandparents and her aunt.

The Potter's and Marlene were waiting for James to get off the train. When she spotted him she made a big production of waving and calling out his name. She walked past Lily with her arm clasped tightly around his. "Come along, Jamie. We're meeting my parents at the Golden Unicorn and finalizing our wedding plans," she said loudly.

Severus couldn't resist and called out, "Tell them you know me and they'll give you prime seats instead of the table by the kitchen door."

The Potter's all shot furious looks in his direction and stormed through the barrier without waiting for the guard to tell them it was safe to go.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Severus said chuckling. "They're such a bunch of puffed up popinjays!"

They went through the barrier and wheeled their trolleys to where Hal had parked the car. Severus helped Hal load their trunks in the boot while Lily strapped Harmony into her car seat and Petunia put Aesculapius and Morgana on the floor of the back seat. As they pulled away from the station, Lily giggled. "I think McKinnon expects me to duel her for Potter's affection. She can have the git with my best wishes! I ought to send her a sympathy card after the wedding!"

As was their habit they stopped in Birmingham for dinner and then Petunia drove the rest of the way to Manchester. Harmony was asleep by the time they reached Spinner's End. Lily and Petunia took her into the house and Eileen carried in both owls while Severus and Hal got the trunks inside.

"Don't forget breakfast tomorrow," Rose reminded them as Petunia got back in the car. "Reg is going to come over early at nine o'clock so I'll have breakfast about ten."

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow then."

They went inside and after tucking Harmony in and kissing her goodnight, they went into their bedroom. Severus was busy scribbling notes into his journal that Lily had given him for their first anniversary when she came out of the bathroom. She was wearing the nightgown he'd given her for Christmas. "Sev, are you going to work on that?"

"I just wanted to write down a few ideas before I forgot …" Severus looked up and seeing how ravishing Lily appeared put his journal aside and replied, "I'm done,"

"Good!"

Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break

Rose was preparing breakfast the next morning when she heard the floo sound. Hal was in the living room so she kept on with her baking. Hal called, "Rose, Reg is here."

"Tell him to take his trunk upstairs, unpack it, and then come down to the kitchen," Rose called.

Reg appeared in the kitchen in about twenty minutes. Without saying a word, he got the dishes and silverware out and began setting the table. He moved over the stove. "What are we having for breakfast?"

"I thought something special this morning so I'm making Eggs Benedict."

"What can I do to help?" Reg asked.

"If you could toast the muffins that would help me greatly, Reg."

"Can do," Reg replied.

By the time Severus, Lily and Harmony arrived breakfast was being put on the table. They walked out into the kitchen and found Petunia and Hal along with Liam who had flooed over unexpectedly much to Tuney's delight. Reg was just finishing up toasting the last of the muffins and Rose was putting the slices of bacon, eggs and hollandaise sauce on top of them. They sat down, all squeezing in around the kitchen table and Harmony in her high chair.

"Mum, you outdid yourself," Lily said appreciatively.

"It's really delicious, Mrs. Evans," Liam said.

"Liam, you're going to be my son-in-law soon so please call me Rose or mum whatever you're comfortable with."

"All right, Rose," Liam replied smiling.

Wedding invitations had been sent out for Eileen's and Robert's wedding which would be held at Witches Moon on Friday evening. Liam and Reg were both invited.

"So, Dad did you and mum receive your invitations to parents' weekend next month?" Lily asked.

"Of course and I sent Cassiopeia back with our acceptance. I'm really looking forward to it as aside from the incident at the Three Broomsticks, we had a great time last year," Hal said.

Severus was seated next to Harmony's highchair and was sitting with his chin resting on his hand when a chocolate chip muffin floated by him. He looked at Harmony who was giggling and holding the muffin. "You know, Rose," Severus said. "I think you're going to have to secure the cookie jar somewhere safe or somebody's going to be summoning it and eating all the cookies."

"That little imp!" Lily exclaimed, but she tousled Harmony's hair and kissed her cheek. "She's been doing more and more magic."

"I think she must be feeling very secure and that's why it's happening more," Hal guessed.

After breakfast, Lily, Petunia, and Rose went shopping for a wedding gown for Petunia. Severus played with Harmony. When Lily came through the floo Severus was reading and Harmony was sitting on top of the back of the couch with her legs wrapped around Severus' neck and her hands holding onto his thick hair and giggling. She was barefoot too. She squealed in delight as she saw Lily.

Lily lifted her off of Severus and into her arms. "Sev, where are Harmony's shoes and socks?"

Severus looked around him. "Well, I took them off so if she kicked me in the face it wouldn't hurt as much." He spotted them underneath some notes he'd been working on. "Did you find Tuney a wedding gown?" He handed her Harmony's shoes and socks.

"Yes and a Maid of Honor gown for me. I also found a new dress robe I can wear to Eileen's wedding, Missy and Remus' wedding, Alice and Frank's wedding."

"Lily, you can buy a new robe for each wedding if you want to, you know?" Severus teased.

He and Lily had a few driving lesson with Hal before leaving for Witches Moon on Wednesday. The arrival times of the wedding guests were staggered over Thursday and Friday so Severus and Eileen wouldn't become exhausted by having to apparate so many people from Dragon Tail to Witches Moon.

Friday night the living room of Witches Moon glowed with candle light and was decorated beautifully due to the hard work of Rose, Petunia, and Lily along with suggestions from Audra. The air was scented by roses, Eileen's favorite flower. Like Severus and Lily, Eileen and Robert had chosen to be bonded. Reginald Winchester had the Ministry's authority to both marry and bond and he would act in that capacity tonight. There were many guests including the Lupin's, Longbottom's, the LeClair's, The Reisdorph's, and the Downing's. Many of Robert's friends from the hospital came also. Master Mind Healer Cromwell was there and also Healer Faircloud among others. Tiberius and Audra had moved into their picture frames in the living room to witness their daughter's marriage.

Severus gave his mum away. Eileen wore dress robes of sea mist color and had her black hair down in fancy curls. She wore a set of emerald earrings and a pendant that Robert had given her for a wedding gift and carried a bouquet of white roses. Severus was dressed in his sapphire blue dress robe which he now jokingly referred to as his wedding robe. He watched Eileen glow as she became Mrs. Robert Saxon. He felt Lily squeeze his hand and smiled down at her. Harmony was being held by Hal and had been on her best behavior all evening. She was dressed in a pale blue ruffled dress, matching sock and white patent leather Mary Jane's.

"I now pronounce you bonded in love and magic," Reginald said. "You may kiss your bride, Healer Saxon."

Robert gave Eileen a chaste kiss and everybody clapped. The reception was held in the dining room where the elves had a feast spread upon the table.

"Are your mum and Healer Saxon going to be living at your house?" Frank asked.

"Yes, they decided it was more convenient for Robert to move there rather than mum moving to his place."

"This is really a fantastic house, Sev," Alice remarked. "I'll bet you can't wait until Lily and you can move here permanently."

"That won't be for awhile yet I'm afraid," Severus replied. He excused himself to talk to Reginald who had been trying to get his attention.

"I wanted to let you know that every person you suggested for the board of the Romulus Foundation has accepted and we're scheduling our first meeting for the first week in May."

"I'm happy to hear it and I'm planning to attend the first meeting and after that only if you need my input on something."

The wedding reception finally broke up at eleven o'clock and everybody retired for the evening.

"That was really nice, wasn't it, Sev?" Lily asked as they lay in bed. Harmony was snuggled between them sound asleep.

"Yes, it was and I'm so happy for mum. She deserves all the happiness she can get after spending thirteen miserable years with Tobias."

"I wonder when Potter and McKinnon are getting married," Lily said yawning.

"It can't be soon enough for me," Severus replied.

"Yes, but I don't want him to get married before he finds out we're married and have been married since December of '76. It wouldn't be as much fun at graduation."

"I expect McKinnon will want a huge wedding so it will probably be after graduation," Severus added yawning.

The next day he and his mum disapparated their guests back to the Dragon Tail so they could floo home. By the time Severus got back home, he was exhausted. Robert waved his wand over him, looked at the parchment that popped up and handed him a vial. "Drink this, Sev. Your magical core is lower than I'm comfortable with. It's due to all the apparating you've done over the last two days. I had to prescribe the same regimen for your mum."

Severus recognized the Elixir of Power from the golden glow of the vial. He drank it down and then stretched out on the couch. Harmony climbed up on the couch and lay down beside him. Lily smiled as she saw the two of them asleep on the couch. Harmony was definitely daddy's girl.

The next morning they loaded their trunks and owls into the Evans' car and made the reverse trip to King's Cross. Severus who was carrying Harmony and Lily got on the train through their compartment door. Harmony stood at the window waving at Eileen and Robert, Hal, Rose and Petunia as the train pulled away from Platform 9 ¾.

At dinner that evening, Dumbledore announced that the children from the Hogsmeade Orphanage would be moving back to their newly built home the next day. Aurors and Wardsmiths had finished erecting the wards around it so now it was as safe as Hogwarts.

Remus cast a smile at Severus. Even if he wouldn't admit it Remus knew Severus was the orphanage's unknown benefactor.

"Hey Snivellus," James yelled down the table. "I hear that hag you call your mum got married. I hope she's using a birth control potion. We don't want or need another Snivellus!"

Severus didn't answer, but casting a wandless spell he made a cherry pie rise and smash into James' face and Lily completed the picture by dumping a bowl of whipped cream over his head with a non-verbal spell.

Everybody in the hall started laughing. "Hey Cherry baby! Can I have the next dance?" Reg jeered. For the next week James had to endure the taunts of 'Cherry baby.'

The first meeting of the Romulus foundation met in the board room off of Dumbledore's office and they heard reports about the building of the werewolf apartment complex, Reginald reported on all they applications they were getting for apartments and Severus reported on the latest information on the testing of the Wolfsbane Potion he was getting from St. Mungo's. He also reported on his own research into a children's version of the Wolfsbane Potion. Lily had come with him and sat holding Harmony who was very quiet during the meeting. Remus and Missy were there also.

Dumbledore made the final report on the wards and other security measures being used to discourage any attacks by Death Eaters. "Voldemort has been keeping a low profile since the failed attack at Hogwarts in January, but I'm sure we have not seen nor heard the last of him."