"Hazel?"
"Hmm?" She looked up from where she sat by the fire, flipping through paint samples. "Hey, what do you think of this one for our room?"
Sev smiled at the ring that glittered on her finger as she handed the card over. "I like it." He dropped down beside her, taking her hands. "Do you actually want to be a Snape?"
"Of course, I love you, Sev," she frowned, wondering what had brought this on.
"I meant... Do you want to take my name? I've been thinking... maybe we should take yours. It's safer, and if I can get rid of one of the remnants of my father..."
Hazel put a hand to his cheek. "Sev, we can do whatever you want. It's a fine name, and in a few years it won't be dangerous. But if you want to change it, I see no reason not to. Even if we don't do it legally... or maybe we just use both? Whatever you want, Sev. I love you, and I'd love to have your name. Maybe we're the ones who make it better. But whatever you want to do. Think about it. We have time." She leaned in and kissed him, adding, "Why don't we move over to the sofa? I want your opinion on how I should paint my office. And it's warming up, so we're going to need to figure out if we want to add anything to the garden soon..."
The wedding was an extremely small one, and for good reason. Very few people knew they were still alive. It was the middle of spring when Xeno and Luna set up a few chairs in the garden. Her oldest friend served as their officiant, and her goddaughter played the maid of honor. Both of them wore robes of pale yellow, much less shocking than the ones they'd worn to Bill Weasley's wedding.
They were soon joined by Andromeda Black and tiny Teddy Lupin, who had just learned to walk a couple months before and took great delight in being a ring bearer, though he had no idea what it meant other than he was supposed to carry something and run over to his Aunt Hazel and Uncle Sev. They visited fairly often. Whenever they left, Hazel always felt a twinge of sadness, reminded of the nearly lifelong friend she had lost. Teddy took after Tonks a lot, but he had the same genuinely kind look in his eyes that Remus had, the same sincerity that was surprising for a child and well-respected in an adult.
Everyone fell silent as another small group apparated in. Lucius Malfoy was in the lead, warmly shaking Sev's hand and offering his congratulations and his presence as best man. Narcissa and Draco trailed behind, both of them conscious of the stares of the others. Hazel and Luna saw them arrive through the window, and were busy talking over what it meant when the front door opened. A tall, rather stern-looking witch in emerald green robes strode in, embracing Hazel immediately. "Professor McGonagall -"
"Minerva, dear. I haven't been your professor in ages." She gave a rare smile, saying hello to Luna. "Severus wrote after Potter cleared his name. He merely wanted to let me know that you two were alright and explain why you suddenly left the school. We kept up our correspondence, and I could never pass up a good wedding."
"Do you know why the Malfoys are here?" Luna asked curiously, checking the window again. She answered her own question in seconds. "Professor Snape must have written him. They're old friends, aren't they?"
McGonagall nodded. "Lucius took him under his wing many years ago, for better or for worse. It seems Narcissa and Draco have renounced their old ways, and Lucius... Lucius has as well, at least enough to convince the Wizengamot." Though she declared it with finality, she frowned, clearly disapproving of the man who had once claimed to be one of Voldemort's most ardent supporters only because of the Imperius Curse. "It seems like they're all ready. Miss Lovegood, you run on ahead, we will be out in a moment." Luna joined the small party, getting a short head start. "Are you ready?"
"Have been for ages," Hazel smiled, taking her arm and allowing McGonagall to lead her out and down the aisle of flowers Luna and Xeno had conjured.
She hardly heard the others as she walked, her eyes trained on the man who was already close to tears. "Hi Sev," she beamed, taking his hands as Xeno began to talk.
"Hi," he managed, neither of them paying attention to the thousands of photos Andromeda was taking.
"I understand you two have your own vows," Xeno said, turning to look at Hazel first.
"I - yeah." She took a deep breath. "Sev, I love you. I've loved you since we were in our seventh year. I've loved you since before I knew it. That's the one thing he couldn't take away from us - Voldemort - the one thing he couldn't understand. The one thing that brought him down. He always underestimated how far someone would go for the people they love. How much they would fight to live, how much they would be willing to go through. We've both been through so much, and I'm so glad we did so much of it together. There's a lot I wish I could change about our lives, but I'm so glad all of it constantly brought us back together. Professor Slughorn told me that he'd only had a handful of people..." She paused, steadying herself as tears began to cloud her vision. "He's only ever had to separate two or three sets of people because they couldn't smell anything when they were brewing Amortentia. The first set's been married for fifty-eight years now. The second set... they were my parents. We were the third. I knew what it meant when I was seventeen, I was just so afraid to admit it. But the minute I saw you again after all that time, I knew. It was inevitable. I don't know how I got this lucky. I don't know how I got lucky enough to fall in love with you three times, or to always be able to find you again or... I love you, Sev, and I'm so lucky that I get to fall in love with you a little more every day for the rest of forever."
"I don't know how I got this lucky," he stressed. "I, of all people, the redeemed Death Eater, the constantly-cursed - You see so much value in me that I rarely see in myself. You kept me sane for the horrible year I spent as Headmaster. The promise of having a chance at having a life like this with you... it kept me going through all of it. You've saved me more times than you know. I am so immeasurably lucky that I get to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. It's always been... hard for me to say this, and I know I don't say it to you enough, but I love you. I didn't - I couldn't - understand it for a very long time, but I love you. You've given new meaning to those words, and from this day forward, I promise I'll tell you as often as I can. I love you."
Dispensing with a lot of the formalities, Xeno spoke up. "Severus Tobias Snape," Hazel felt him grip her hands a little tighter at the mention of his incredibly-hated middle name, "do you take this woman to be your lawfully-wedded wife?"
"I do," he answered, his eyes not wavering from her face.
"And Hazel Amelia Ashmore, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," she beamed, Sev leaning in to kiss her before Xeno could say anything more.
It was surprisingly easy to venture around the world in disguise. They could be a new set of people in every city they stopped in, seeing the sights that Sev had never had the money to visit when he was young. They didn't need to worry about being recognized. Polyjuice Potion and a couple of clever concealment spells could work wonders. And a honeymoon was a lot more fun when they didn't need to worry about travel time and could just apparate wherever.
Nothing changed when they got back. They were just as in love as ever, unpacking the last few boxes from Spinner's End and going about their work. They settled in to brewing potions and writing books. Together they managed to keep an impressive garden full of mundane herbs and exotic magical plants. No matter where their work called them away to, they would travel together or apparate home late at night. They hadn't spent a night apart since Sev had come back into her life, and neither of them wanted to break that pattern any time soon.
Years ago he would have been disgusted at how much he enjoyed waking up next to her every morning, watching the sunlight stream in from their windows. He would've hated how domestic his life had become, how he let himself feel actual emotions, the revolting things. He would have sneered at how he found himself smiling for no reason. Yet now he loved all of it. He cherished the lazy mornings with her, both of them tired from working late into the night. He loved the routines they naturally fell into - stopping by the market on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings, making the rounds dropping off potions and picking up new requests on Sunday afternoons, making dinner together every evening even if they were busy with work, settling in beside each other in front of the fire every night. He loved catching himself smiling for no reason, since it reminded him of how lucky he was. If Hazel was nearby, he would get up and kiss her before settling in to work. If not, he would send their owl across the house to drop off notes. Sickeningly sweet, even for him, but he loved it.
Little did he know their lives were about to be nearly upended yet again.
"Would you ever want to have a baby?" Hazel rolled over in bed, intently staring at her husband.
"A - a baby?" Sev asked, a little surprised. They'd talked about it, sure, but as such an abstract thing that he'd never put much thought into the idea other than to decide he didn't want to be anything like his father.
She took his hand, lazily lacing their fingers together. "We always said we'd figure it out after the war, and here we are… after the war. We don't have a ton of time before it's not super safe. We're - I'm - better off sooner than later, if we do decide to... I figured we might as well talk about it."
"I don't want to be like my father," he declared, leaning in to kiss her. "What if it's something hidden, something I can't control?"
"I won't let that happen, Sev." It was a promise. "I'll make sure they take after you though, and grow up to be as strong and brave and caring as you are. All of the good things and none of the bad. You are a good man, though, Sev."
He smiled at her, the constant reassurance something he still desperately needed. "What if we… don't try to try, but just… forego the usual charm? I don't think I can… I don't think I'd want to... not practically every night like we would if we were really trying..."
"So if it happens, it happens?" she clarified.
"If it happens, it happens," he agreed, pulling her into his arms. "If we end up having a child, you're going to be the most amazing mother. But no matter what, I love you."
"I love you too, Sev. And if we end up having a child, you're going to be a great dad." With a tender kiss she held him close, glad that they could finally enjoy more than a moment of peace.