Disclaimers: All previous disclaimers apply.

A/N: Thanks to Capo Executor for his ideas about Severus' great-uncle, and Death Eaters kidnapping Muggleborn children.

Chapter 53

"What!" James yelled jumping to his feet. "Lily's married to Snivellus? She can't be!"

"No, she's just using his name because she's tired of her own name," Frank snorted loudly.

"Mr. Potter, please sit down and be quiet," Dumbledore said. "You're being extremely rude."

James sat down looking stunned and sick. "It's not right! Her being forced to marry that slimy, greasy snake."

"Nobody forced her, James, you idiot!" Remus snapped.

Lily walked up to get her award from Dumbledore and glared at James. She went up to the podium, shook Dumbledore's hand and took her award to great applause. She smiled and gave a little wave to Harmony who was waving and bouncing up and down on Hal's lap. Lily sat down next to Severus and had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling over Potter's reaction. "I hope Harmony doesn't make herself sick. She's bouncing around so much," Lily said worriedly. "Be sure and wave at her when you go up there."

"Our next award is the Alastor Moody Award for Excellence in Defense Against the Dark Arts. This year it is awarded to Remus John Lupin also of Gryffindor House."

Remus went up to collect his award from Dumbledore, shook his hand and returned to his seat to enthusiastic applause.

The next award is the Beaumont Marjoribanks Award for Excellence in Herbology and this year it is awarded to Alice Abigail Downing of Gryffindor House."

Alice walked up to the podium, accepted her award and shook Dumbledore's hand then returned to her seat to a lot of applause.

"Our next two are being awarded to the same person. He not only was our Head Boy this year, but has invented many spells and potions, the most important being the Wolfsbane Potion. The awards are the Nicolas Flamel Award for Excellence in Potions which has not been awarded in 78 years and the Bridget Wenlock Award for Excellence in Arithmancy which was last awarded in 1960. This year they are awarded to Severus Tiberius Snape of Slytherin House."

Lily threw her arms around Severus and gave him a passionate kiss. He was rather flushed when he went up to receive his awards. He accepted his them and shook Dumbledore's hand. As he was coming back, he took a detour and swept up Harmony from Hal's lap and took her back with him to overwhelming applause.

Dumbledore smiled. "The next award is the Mortimer Gamp Award for Excellence in Transfiguration and this year it's being awarded to Sirius Orion Black of Gryffindor House."

Sirius rose and walked to the podium to receive his award, shook Dumbledore's hand and returned to his seat to much applause. Orion and Walburga looked proud of their eldest son and Reg was clapping enthusiastically as were the Evans.

"Our last award is the Kennilworthy Whisp for Excellence in Flying. In all my years as headmaster, I've never seen as talented flyer as this young man. Maybe not until his son or daughter attends, Hogwarts perhaps," Dumbledore joked. "This award is very rarely presented, but this year it goes to Mr. James Charles Potter of Gryffindor House."

James jumped to his feet and strutted up to Dumbledore to receive his award. He'd show Lily the big mistake she'd made marrying that greasy-haired git! She'd be sorry that she'd rejected his offer of marriage when Snivellus showed his true colors! He accepted his award from Dumbledore to enthusiastic applause, most of it coming from Marlene, his parents and hers who were all clapping enthusiastically.

Dumbledore began handing out the diplomas. The diplomas were tied with red, green, yellow, or blue ribbons. James cringed again when he heard Dumbledore call out Lily Elizabeth Snape. When he called Severus' name, Severus carried Harmony up with him. She took Severus' diploma for him and said, "Tank you," and then giggled.

"You are most welcome, Miss Snape."

When the diplomas were all handed out, Dumbledore said, "I wish the Hogwarts class of 1978 the best of luck in whatever career path they choose."

As soon as the ceremony was over, Marlene rushed up to James and gave him a big kiss. "Jamie, I'm so terribly proud of you!"

Lily and Severus were surrounded by their friends who wanted to know all about their marriage.

"When did you get married?"Alice asked.

"How come you got married?" Missy wanted to know.

Lily smiled. "Sev and I were married on December 24th of 1976. We got married because Mr. Potter wanted to betroth me to Potter and my dad refused. We were afraid Potter might do something nasty to force me into marrying him and then bond me so I couldn't ever get out of it."

"Dumbledore married us, but we couldn't tell anybody because the Board of Governors probably would have forced us to leave if they'd found out," Severus continued.

"I wish all of you could have been at our wedding, but it just wasn't possible at the time" Lily finished.

"It's okay, we understand," Alice said.

"We are going to have a small ceremony at the Muggle Registry office in Manchester probably sometime in August. We've decided we want to be married in both societies. You're all invited to that," Severus said.

"I'll help everybody get the proper Muggle clothes," Missy offered. She was always amazed at the bizarre outfit's wizards and witches came up with when they tried to dress like Muggles. It looked as if their basic common sense took flight.

The rest of the day was spent going to various reception and parties and it was nine in the evening before they got back to Spinner's End. Severus and Lily got Harmony into bed because it was an hour past her normal bedtime. Lily took Harmony's trunk out of hers and resized it. She took her doll and plush heart out of her purse, resized them and tucked them under the covers next to Harmony. Severus took her Big Wheels™ out of his robe pocket, resized it, and placed it next to her wardrobe.

Lily bent and gave her a kiss. "Night, sweetie. Sweet dreams."

"Night, Mummy," Harmony said.

"What would you like me to read to you tonight, Harmony?" Severus asked as if he didn't already know.

Harmony giggled. "Hoppin pot, Daddy."

Severus pulled 'Tales of Beadle the Bard' out of his robe pocket and began to read. He only got a few pages into it before Harmony had fallen sound asleep. He put aside the book, kissed Harmony forehead and whispered, "Good night, Little One. Sweet dreams." He got up carefully so he didn't wake her up and shut off the light, leaving only a night light burning. He went into his and Lily's room where Lily had just finished putting away or hanging up both their clothing.

"Is Harmony asleep?" Lily asked.

"Yes, I think she was really worn out."

"Just think, Sev. No more Potter ever!"

"And we'll always have the memory of the look on his face when he found out we were married," Severus added.

"I almost started laughing and I had to bite my tongue," Lily recalled.

"I don't imagine McKinnon was too thrilled with his reaction," Severus speculated.

Lily started getting ready for bed. "Oh well, she'll probably just blame me for it."

The next week was very busy. Severus had already sat his exams at college and was satisfied when he received his grades that week; he had passed with one Exceeds and two Outstandings. Petunia and Liam's wedding was on the following Saturday, July 1st. They were married in the church Petunia and Lily had attended as children and where Hal and Rose still attended. Petunia wore a beautiful ivory charmeuse wedding dress. It was very simple, classy, and elegant with deep V-neck, empire waist with a straight fit and a short train. She wore her hair in a tight chignon and wore a long sheer veil pinned to the back of her head. Lily wore a chiffon mock wrap A-line dress in lilac with gathered shoulder straps, an Empire sweetheart bust line, gathered midriff with bow accent, and draped skirt. She wore her hair in a French braid and had transfigured her shoes to match her gown. Lily came down the aisle first on the arm of Liam's brother and then Petunia came down the aisle on Hal's arm. Liam standing up on the altar looked completely stunned. Severus, who was sitting next to Rose in the front row and holding Harmony, grinned. He figured he must have had a similar expression on his face when he saw Lily in her bridal gown.

"Who gives this woman in marriage?" The minister asked.

"Her mother and I do," Hal answered and then sat down next to Rose.

Severus who had never in his life been to a Muggle religious service of any kind looked on the ceremony with interest. When Petunia and Liam were pronounced man and wife, Liam gave Petunia a chaste kiss. The Registration of Marriage would automatically be taken care of by the minister.

The wedding reception was in the church hall. Petunia and Liam cut their cake which Rose had made and was similar to the one she had made for Severus and Lily's wedding. Like theirs it was decorated with the birth flowers of Petunia and Liam. They were going to spend their honeymoon in Paris and stay at Severus and Lily's house there for two weeks. Petunia had wanted her and Liam's marriage to be bonded like Severus and Lily's so Severus arranged for Reginald to do it in a private ceremony before they left for Paris.

"That went really well," Lily said tossing her clutch purse on their bed and sitting down. She kicked off her shoes. "Didn't Tuney look absolutely gorgeous?"

"Yes, she did," Severus agreed. "Next weekend is Remus and Missy's wedding. I wonder if he invited Sirius."

"I imagine. Remus and Sirius have been closer since Sirius stopped hanging around with Potter so much."

Severus had already started his summer classes at the College of Potions on June 1st and he and Lily would also be starting their parenting classes at Ministry on Monday evening. Remus and Missy would be taking the same classes.

"Monday after class I'm going to see some realtors and pick up some house listings for houses that are for sale in London," Severus said.

"Good. I know your mum and Robert don't mind us living here, but they are newlyweds and should have some privacy," Lily replied.

Severus had two classes on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and a lab and another class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He was usually home by twelve and spent most of the afternoon playing with Harmony. He took her Big Wheels™ outside and allowed her to pedal up and down the two blocks between the Snape and Evans houses with him walking beside her.

Remus and Missy's wedding was the following Saturday. Severus and Lily were in the wedding party. Lily and Alice were bridesmaid's while Severus and Frank were groomsmen. Sirius was Remus' best man and one of Missy's dorm mates was Maid of Honor. Like the majority of magical weddings, Remus and Missy had chosen to be bonded. Mrs. Downing watched Harmony and Hunter during the ceremony. Professor Flitwick attended the ceremony as Missy had been one of his favorite students as well as in his house. Missy and Remus were going on a short honeymoon and spending at week in the sea shore cottage.

On a Sunday morning two weeks later, Severus was stretched out on the bed on his stomach, looking over the house listings he'd gotten from the realtor in London. He and Lily had already looked at three or four house, but so far they hadn't found anything they really liked. Lily suddenly came rushing into the bedroom clutching the Sunday Prophet and jumped on the bed sending the papers flying all over. "Look at this, Sev!"

Severus rolled over and took the paper from her. The headline read 'James Potter and Marlene McKinnon married on Saturday, July 22nd.' The article went on to say that over five hundred guests attended the wedding, including Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold. Other guests included Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, and Delores Umbridge. The bride's gown was described as being made of silk with small seed pearls on the bodice. There was a big picture of Potter and his new bride in the society section of the paper. Potter was wearing the same dress robe he'd worn to the Yule Ball.

"Over five hundred guest? What did the Potter's do; stand out on the curb and give away tickets?" Severus joked.

"I can believe that Potter wore that hideous robe he had made for the Yule Ball," Lily giggled.

"I wonder if Potter took Sirius' advice and got some Amortentia for his wedding night," Severus snickered.

"Were you looking over the listings you just got from the realtor? Is there a house we might want to look at?"

Severus took his wand and summoned all the scattered papers he'd been looking at before Lily jumped on their bed. "Yes, this one. It's got eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, conservatory, swimming pool and sauna in the basement, a rooftop terrace, and hardwood floors throughout."

"Sounds lovely, Sev. We should make an appointment to look at it," Lily agreed.

"Why don't we do it on Tuesday after I get out of class? I'll stop at the realtor's tomorrow and make an appointment. You and Harmony can meet me at the college and we'll go from there. Maybe, your mum and dad can come too."

Severus and Lily were attending parenting classes four time a week in the evenings and would be done and eligible to adopt Harmony at the end of September. Because of their busy schedule they had only been able to visit Witches Moon a few times and just for the weekend, but Severus knew his grandparents understood.

"I can't wait until Harmony's ours and nobody can ever take her away from us," Lily said as they were walking out of class one night with Remus and Missy.

"Me, too," Severus said. He secretly worried that the Potter's would try and throw a wrench into things.

"Are you getting settled in at Nottingham Pines?"

"Yes, we absolutely love it!" Missy said. "We have a three bedroom apartment on the top floor that has a great view of the forest surrounding the complex. There's a fenced-in playground for the children and Hunter's made friends with some of the children his age."

Severus was glad to hear things were going well for them. Remus would begin his healer training on September 1st at St. Mungo's.

Severus and Lily with her parents and Harmony went to look at the house in the Chelsea section of London on Tuesday. "This is lovely!" Rose exclaimed once they had been through the entire house. "It has so many extra amenities."

"I love it too, Mum," Lily confessed.

A week of offers and counter-offers followed with Severus being advised by Hal, but finally the realtor and he agreed on a price. Severus took the money out of his vaults at Gringotts and put it in his Bank of Scotland account, made the down payment they had agreed upon and once he got the title, quietly paid off the house. Lily and Severus had given notice at the Registry office in Manchester of their intent to marry on July 14th, but the actual ceremony could not be performed until on or after July 31st. They decided to have the ceremony performed on August 5th.

In between buying their house and moving to London, Severus and Lily both passed their driving tests and got their permanent licenses. Severus applied to the Floo Network to have their fireplace connected and it was quickly granted and connected. They put Harmony in her car seat in the back seat of Lily's car and drove hers to London. Severus had shrank his and was carrying it in his pocket. There was a garage under the house at basement level. After Lily finished enlarging it, he placed his car next to Lily's and enlarged it. Lily had also magically enlarged the garage door so both cars could go in and out easily.

Rose, Eileen, Petunia, who now lived in Richmond and Lily shopped for furniture together, curtains, and throw rugs for the hardwood floors. They had moved Harmony into the lower ground floor bedroom. They had shrank her furniture from her Spinner's End bedroom and moved it into their new home.

By the time all the rest of the furniture was delivered, it was time to floo back to Spinner's End to get married at the Registry office in Manchester. Alice acted as Lily's maid of honor and Frank was Severus Best Man. Hal, Rose, Eileen, holding Harmony, Robert, Petunia and Liam, Reg, Paul and his parents and sisters, Frank and Missy all attended. Professor Slughorn, Professor Sprout, and Professor Flitwick also attended. Fortunately, Professor Sprout had more common sense about Muggle clothing than most and made sure they were all dressed properly.

Once that was over with Severus and Lily went back to their home in Chelsea and began arranging the furniture and unpacking their personal items. Using their wands they were able to get in all done in half the time it took normally. Lily smiled as she sat down on the couch opposite the fireplace. When they had told Tiberius and Audra they were moving into their own house they insisted Severus and Lily have Tita, her mate, Matius, and another female elf named, Amarantha to help them. Whenever they visited Witches Moon all three elves would return with them. On August 22, they attended the wedding of Chea and Amos and wished the couple a happy life.

Severus had just finished reading to Harmony and he hoped she wouldn't wake in the middle of the night and not remember where she was. They'd arranged her room as much as possible to the ones she'd had at Hogwarts and Spinner's End.

They had the master bedroom on the second floor. "I hope we'll be able to hear her if she wakes up during the night," Severus said worriedly.

"Don't worry, Sev. I'll cast a monitoring charm over her before we go to bed that will let us know immediately if she needs us," Lily replied.

They would be attending Frank and Alice's wedding on Saturday and in two weeks they would be starting at the Auror Academy. Missy would start her training as an Unspeakable and Remus and Lily would be starting as healers-in-training at St. Mungo's.

Before they went upstairs they checked on Harmony and found her sleeping soundly. Lily cast a monitoring charm over her. "It will seem strange not to go shopping for our school things in Diagon Alley or riding to King's Crossing on September 1st to catch the Hogwarts Express won't it?" Lily asked as they were going upstairs to bed.

"Yes, it will after doing it for seven years, but on the other hand graduating and having our own house now does have its advantages," Severus smirked. "As I'm sure mum and Robert are finding out."

"No arguments there, Sev," Lily replied ducking under his arm and going into the bedroom.

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

Alice and Frank's wedding on Saturday was held at Meadow View, the Longbottom manor house in Godric's Hollow. Frank and Alice would be living in one of the wings after their marriage since Frank was the sole heir.

Augusta had asked her good friend Millicent Bagnold, Minister of Magic, to perform the wedding ceremony and she'd consented. Lily was Alice's Matron of Honor while Severus was Frank's Best Man. Alice glowed as she became Mrs. Frank Longbottom. She and Frank had also decided to be bonded and Minister Bagnold concluded the ceremony with their bonding. Remus, Missy, Hal and Rose, Petunia and Liam, the Reisdorph family, and Rufus Scrimgeour were amongst the guests attending the ceremony. A reception was held after the ceremony on the grounds of Meadow View.

"I think we've gone to more weddings this year than any time before," Severus remarked as he dropped down on the bed and pulled off his dress shoes and wiggling his toes.

"Well, it was the last one we'll be going to until probably Harmony's wedding," Lily remarked.

"I don't even want to think about that!"

Severus and Lily had put up the strong wards all around their house. They had to do it at night so the neighbors wouldn't wonder what the hell they were doing. Tiberius had suggested using the Fidelius Charm and making him the Secret Keeper. Severus had never heard of a portrait being a Secret Keeper, but then Riddle would never think of a portrait as being such either. They did the same thing to the Evans' home and his mum and Robert's home.

The week before Lily started healer training, she took Harmony to the pediatric healer for her checkup and to get whatever shots she might need. Harmony definitely was not happy about that. She also took her to St. Mungo's daycare, Happy Hallows, to get her enrolled. Remus and Missy had also decided to enroll Hunter there too. Even though Nottingham Pines contained excellent daycare facilities, Remus felt if Hunter needed one of his parents for some reason during the day, he'd be close by.

The Directress of Happy Hallows daycare, Sherry Jancek, welcomed both Harmony and Hunter to the daycare. The children were aged from 2 to 5 so both Harmony and Hunter would have plenty of playmates. They would both start next week when both Lily and Remus started their training.

Severus had gotten his grades from the classes he'd taken during the summer and was pleased to find he'd gotten two Outstandings and two Exceeds. He planned to take more classes than normal as he had carried seven NEWT classes at Hogwarts and gotten good scores in all of them. He was anxious to get done with college and began his apprenticeship.

The next morning's Prophet had an unsettling article that made both he and Lily uneasy. The article was about the disappearances of three Muggleborn children ages eight through ten, two males and one female. They were all from different parts of the country and there seemed to be no discernible pattern to their disappearances.

"Merlin's beard!" Lily exclaimed. "Their parents must be scared out of their minds!"

"As we would be if something happened to Harmony," Severus added. He frowned. "I wonder if Frank or Alice know anything more about this."

Harmony who was sitting in her high chair between them happily eating looked up when Severus mentioned her name. He tweaked her cheek and smiled at her.

"We'll fire-call them after breakfast," Lily decided.

After breakfast, Severus knelt down in front of the fireplace, tossed in the floo powder, and called out, "Meadow View Manor, Godric's Hollow," and stuck his head into the flames.

"Severus, how nice to see you," Augusta said coming over. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you on Sunday morning, Augusta, but I wanted to speak to Frank or Alice if they're not busy."

"No, they're in the breakfast room. I'll go get them."

"Thank you, Augusta," Severus said nodding.

She came back with Frank and Alice. They both knelt in front of the fireplace. "Mum said you needed to see us."

"Have you seen the Prophet yet this morning?" Severus asked.

"You mean the article about the Muggleborn children who have disappeared?"

Severus nodded. "Do any of the Aurors know anything about it?"

"There's been a lot of talk about it, but they're not sure what's happening to them. They haven't been killed or at least as far as they know so they don't think it's Riddle."

"Maybe, it's just a regular kidnapper. Are the Muggle police involved?" Lily said.

"What we heard is Scrimgeour has let his contacts in Muggle law enforcement know about it and they're checking their list of criminals," Alice replied.

"Is there any chance it could be Riddle or his Death Eaters up to some nefarious scheme with these missing children?"

"Anything's possible, Sev, but Riddle usually tortures and kills them and leaves them where their parents can easily find them."

"That's ghastly," Lily said growing pale.

"He can't stand Muggleborn children because he thinks Muggleborns stole their magic from Pureblood witches and wizards although I don't ever recall hearing about any Pureblood reporting that their magic had been stolen," Frank said sarcastically.

"He's totally insane so you can expect all manner of crackpot ideas from him and his followers," Severus said.

After they ended the call, Severus and Lily got up. "I don't know what to think," Lily remarked. "I hope they aren't torturing them or worse."

"You mean sexually abusing them? I don't think so. Riddle would probably consider that contamination."

"Should we put tighter security on Harmony?"

"It sounds like if Riddle is behind this, he's taking older children. Harmony's only two so I don't think we have to worry, but it doesn't hurt to take extra precautions."

"I think I'll put a monitoring charm over her everyday so I'll know immediately if something's not right."

"That's a good idea, Lily."

They went into Severus' lab where he was working on the children's Wolfsbane Potion and was preparing to brew his first batch of the formula that would hopefully allow Squibs to access their magic. They worked in their usual fashion with Lily chopping and Severus stirring.

"I wonder if using less than half of the Midnight Mussel would make the children's formula milder, but still effective."

"Well, I'm going to be tinkering with this for a long time I suspect because once a kid hits puberty, their hormones pretty much go crazy for a few years before they settle down again so I don't know yet whether they'll be able to take the adult version at that point or I'll need to keep adjusting it for a teen version."

They were both so involved with their brewing that they almost missed hearing the Floo sound. "I'll bet that's Remus and Missy. Frank and Alice probably told them about our concerns," Lily said.

"Nottingham Pines, the Orphanage and Hogsmeade should be warned to keep a close watch over their older kids when they're not inside the wards," Severus said. "We should let Remus and Missy know so if they haven't seen the Prophet, they'll know and can warn everyone."

But it wasn't either Remus or Missy who was fire-calling. The head sitting in the fireplace was a completely strange one. Both Severus and Lily whipped out their wands and pointed them at the fireplace.

"Now hold on, youngsters. I mean no harm," the man said. He had a strange accent; it was British, but it was tinged with another accent neither Severus or Lily recognized.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The man chuckled. "I guess I don't look as much like Tiberius anymore. Used to be when I started Hogwarts the teachers knew who I was even before they looked at their attendance scroll. I'm your Great-Uncle, Timaeus Alaricus Prince."