When Dumbledore first approached Snape with the suggestion that Rose and Savin join the newly-reestablished Order of the Phoenix, not long after the return of Voldemort was confirmed, the potions master was initially hesitant. Or, to be more slightly more accurate, he was downright furious that the Headmaster would dare to even suggest such a thing. Barely recovered from his own unpleasant reunion with the Dark Lord and looking ahead to an unknown length of time continuing in the uncertain role of spy and double agent, Severus Snape was well aware of the dangers that lay ahead in the war to come. He was also keenly aware of how young Rose and Savin were, though they were already several years older than he himself had been when he joined the Death Eaters, as the Headmaster pointed out when Snape declared the pair too young to be getting involved in something that would get them killed. Perhaps Dumbledore meant for this to be reassuring, a comment that they weren't really so young after all, since they were older than so many of the new recruits to the first Order of the Phoenix had been, but the potions master certainly didn't take it that way.

Struggling to keep his temper under control, Snape responded with a single curt word, spat out at the Headmaster like an accusation: "Exactly." He seemed to think that should be enough explanation, and when Dumbledore continued to look at him calmly, with a slightly quizzical expression, he lost it. In a voice growing louder and angrier with each word, Snape reminded the Headmaster that not only were Rose and Savin older than many of the original Order recruits at their time of recruitment, they were also older than most of those same recruits had ever lived to be. How many of those young people had died before reaching Rose and Savin's age of 23, or had their futures destroyed and the remainder of their lives spent in misery? Most of them hadn't had anyone to stand up for them, anyone to tell them what they were really getting into or try to convince them to remain out of danger, and whether lured in by thoughts of glory, thoughts of saving the world, a desire to fight back or to do good, they had burned themselves out in a futile attempt to fight off the Dark Lord. And while Snape may not have been able to save or keep anyone out of danger then, including himself, he would not (could not) abandon his children to a similar fate.

The Headmaster sat listening patiently as his potions master ranted, not bothering to try to interrupt. He knew from past experience that interrupting was rarely a good idea when Snape got going like that. It was only later, once the shouting had stopped and Snape seemed calm enough to at least listen to what Dumbledore had to say, if not necessarily to give it much consideration, that the Headmaster suggested a compromise, which Snape (very reluctantly) agreed to pass on for Rose and Savin's consideration. If they decided to join the Order of the Phoenix, it would be in a non-combat capacity. No dangerous missions, no infiltrating Death Eater hideouts or countering raids, and absolutely nothing that would put them anywhere near the danger-magnet that was Harry Potter. Instead, when Rose and Savin ultimately did choose to join the Order, after quite a long discussion with Snape in which he did everything he could to talk them out of it, it was in a behind the scenes capacity. They worked on spell and gadget development to aid the Order, took over some of the potions brewing work that had been Snape's responsibility, and relayed the occasional useful information that they overheard in the Alleys. In an additional attempt to avoid linking Rose and Savin to Snape publicly, even within the Order, the pair rarely attended the larger Order meetings at Grimmauld Place, instead meeting alone with one or another of the few other members who already knew who they were.

The rest of the Order was aware that Dumbledore had recruited a young couple to work as support for the group, but knew little more of them than that. Many Order members were not very pleased with the arrangement to start out, suspicious at the thought of people hiding and keeping secrets from their own allies. When the point was first brought up, at the first meeting that Dumbledore mentioned their recruitment, he acknowledged the point and, while carefully not looking too much at Snape, said that he would see what he could do. So, after some additional deliberation, negotiations between Dumbledore and Snape, and not too much additional shouting, Rose and Savin began to attend the occasional Order meeting in person. Still not many, partly because there was little need for them to be present for so many discussions of plans they had no part in, and partly because Snape was not the only member of the family to be slightly paranoid. The couple was introduced simply as "the Aurums," with no overt reference to any relationship with Snape, though some people, particularly those who had been at Hogwarts with the pair, may have found themselves suddenly remembering rumors that had swirled through the school for a time concerning a certain Gryffindor who Snape didn't seem to hate as much as the rest. But despite Snape's worries and predictions of trouble, Rose and Savin were generally welcomed into the Order, and quickly fell into their new routine, continuing their jobs in the Alleys and adding work in spell and potions research for the Order.

The next two years passed quickly, with few major incidents affecting them personally. That wasn't to say they were not aware of various events taking place over those years, mostly affecting Harry Potter. They heard, along with the rest of the Order, when the boy used magic outside of school that first summer and was almost expelled, and were present at the subsequent Order meeting where the decision was made (after much arguing on all sides) to bring him to Headquarters for the remainder of the summer. Rose and Savin were not involved in the retrieval mission, and were not at Grimmauld Place when Harry arrived, nor did they do more than catch an occasional glimpse of him as they made their way in or out of the building for meetings. They heard pieces of news out of Hogwarts, through messages from Snape, updates at Order meetings, and rumors on the street, stories of Dolores Umbridge, Dumbledore's Army, and eventual chaos at Hogwarts after the Headmaster's departure. They were tipped off by Snape (in a message sent through their magic pendants, their main form of communication in a time when any other channel might be open to eavesdroppers) that something was going on the night of the battle at the Department of Mysteries, though neither he nor they were present at the fight. Little changed for the Aurums after the death of Sirius Black, other than the loss of Grimmauld Place as Order Headquarters, but it was in the months following that casualty that it became clear to Snape and his children that things were likely to get much more complicated for them in the near future.

It was during that summer that Dumbledore found and destroyed one of Voldemort's horcruxes, though even Snape was unaware of exactly what had occurred or why. All he knew was that the Headmaster had doomed himself to die within the next year by putting on a cursed ring, and he only hoped the man had not doomed the rest of the world along with himself. Snape had initially hesitated to inform Rose and Savin of Dumbledore's impending demise, since he assumed the man wanted it kept a secret, but after a visit from Narcissa Malfoy and an Unbreakable Vow sworn to her, silence no longer seemed an option. He met secretly with Rose and Savin, telling them everything he knew, which admittedly wasn't much. But a few things were fairly clear: Dumbledore was going to die within the next year, one way or another Snape would almost certainly be involved in his death, and depending on the exact circumstances, such an action would most likely change all of their lives, and not for the better. But with no way of knowing exactly how things would play out in the next year, all that any of them could do was continue on, and hope that they would be able to find a way through whatever came.

The moment they had been anticipating and dreading arrived at the first Battle of Hogwarts. When Dumbledore called on members of the Order of the Phoenix to patrol the castle that night while he was out, Rose and Savin were not among those summoned. Both still retained their behind the scenes roles, not participating in many of the more militant missions, and had never received much formal training in magical combat (although Snape had done his best to make sure they weren't entirely defenseless). There had been no expectation that there would be a full-scale battle that night, only patrolling and keeping watch while the Headmaster was out of the castle, so there had been no reason to call in any but the best combatants as a precaution. As things played out, this turned out to be for the best. By this point most if not all of the members of the Order were aware of the connection between Snape and Rose and Savin, and it would be difficult to predict how things might have gone had the younger pair been present that night, how they would have reacted and how others would have reacted to them in turn. As it was, by the time the battle was over and any of the Order members present thought to go confront Rose and Savin, Snape had already had enough time to send word and prepare them for what they would soon be hearing about Dumbledore's death and his own role as its cause. In the brief message sent through their linked necklaces, he informed them that he was going deep undercover and they would need to convince the Order that they had no idea he hadn't really killed Dumbledore and switched sides. He wished them luck, but left unsaid the hope that they would see each other again someday, a wish too fragile to speak aloud.

By the time several Order members descended on Rose and Savin's apartment, wands drawn, to confront the couple, the two had managed to compose themselves enough to play their parts convincingly. They showed surprise and no little anger at the sudden arrival of armed Order members, which quickly turned to shock and grief upon hearing the news about Dumbledore, emotions which didn't really have to be feigned. And, more importantly to their continued survival and well-being, they managed to display just the right balance of disbelief and horror at Snape's part in the whole situation. It took some time to convince everyone that they had been unaware of Snape's apparent true allegiance, that they had never suspected such a thing, but that they accepted, albeit reluctantly, the news that their mentor had turned traitor, and were ready to deal with the ramifications of that. While the remaining Order leadership seemed to believe them, it was mutually agreed that it might not be a bad idea for Rose and Savin to play even less of a public role in the Order of the Phoenix than they already had been. It was assumed that many members would not be entirely convinced that Snape's own daughter had been unaware of his intentions, an assumption made no less inconvenient by being correct. So Rose and Savin made the decision to go into hiding, not only from Death Eaters (and later from the Ministry of Magic) but from the Order of the Phoenix as well. They agreed to still provide support and information as they could, but without attending any meetings or being given much information in return, an approach hoped to be safer for everyone.

Rose and Savin moved quickly after that, finding a new apartment in a random location and putting up all the protections they could while still keeping a low profile, informing their employers by letter that they needed to leave, and hunkering down to wait out the war. As with their previous home, they had chosen to live in a muggle location, so they were able to interact with their neighbors without too much concern, though they tried to avoid doing even that too often, and they were very cut off from the Wizarding World. They received infrequent messages from the Order of the Phoenix, vague updates on the war effort or requests for potions (including rather a large batch of Polyjuice towards the end of July), and dropped off the requested supplies in various designated locations without interacting directly with anyone. Even more infrequent were messages from Snape, who couldn't afford to risk his cover by sending even coded messages. The rare messages they did receive from him came only through the communication aspect of their necklaces, though he did not like risking even that too often. The pendants kept Snape informed that both Rose and Savin were alive, as they were kept informed that he was too, and often that was all they had to rely on.

Not long after Snape began his first year as Headmaster of Hogwarts (news which Rose and Savin only found out from the Daily Prophet, which they had delivered to a drop point rather than to their home, though there was no real indication that anyone was trying to use owls to track people), Rose discovered that she was pregnant. Given that this realization came only a few months after the Ministry of Magic began announcing legislation against muggleborns, including orders for all muggleborns to register with the Ministry (something that Rose avoided by completely disappearing as far as any wizarding authorities were concerned), it was obvious that the pregnancy, and possibly even birth, would have to be overseen in the muggle world. Savin, brought up in the wizarding world and with fairly little concrete knowledge of muggle medicine, was somewhat concerned by this, but Rose convinced him it would be alright, and it wasn't as though they had any other options. Neither of them had much skill or training in magical healing beyond a little first aid, and while knowledge of potions could be a decent replacement in some cases, childbirth wasn't really one of them. So, relying on the assumption that neither the Death Eaters nor the Death Eater-run Ministry of Magic would think to try tracking missing muggleborns through muggle health records, they decided to take the best and safest path forward and find a muggle doctor to oversee the pregnancy.

In any other time, the obvious next step would have been informing Snape of his impending grandfatherdom, and even then Rose and Savin considered whether it might be good to share some joyous news in such a dark time. But, after considering the danger and the pressure that they knew Snape was under, and fearing the distraction that this would cause him, they decided to hold off on telling him. They knew Snape well enough to know that this would only make him even more concerned about their safety, at a time when he couldn't do a thing to help them. In the best case scenario, news like this could make the potions master worry. In the worst case scenario, it could lead him to make mistakes and get himself, and possibly them and their unborn child, killed. So it was not until the middle of the winter, when Snape found a chance to meet with his children in person while away from Hogwarts on another task (delivering Gryffindor's sword to Harry Potter, though he did not share this information even with Rose and Savin), that they had the opportunity to tell him the news. By that point, while the pregnancy still wasn't too obvious, it was visible enough that they didn't want to rely on Snape not noticing. Besides, it seemed like as good a time as any to share the news with Snape.

It was an almost perfect moment: the three of them reunited after the better part of a year, Snape's expression of shock and awe as he gazed at the little family, watching how Savin put his arm around Rose and how she placed a hand, almost unconsciously, on her growing belly. For that moment it didn't matter that they were standing outside in the cold and snow, in an area that they hoped would stay abandoned until they left, all three of them constantly looking around, searching for anyone who might have noticed them. It didn't matter that in a few moments they would have to go their separate ways, Snape returning to his lonely and dangerous life as headmaster of Hogwarts and supposed Death Eater, Rose and Savin to their endless hiding and worry. For at least those few minutes, they were together, sharing good news rather than bad, with a reason not only to fight for the future, but to believe that they would have a future and a legacy. All too soon it was time to part once more, to return to the harsh realities of the world instead of lingering in dreams of what might be. They said their goodbyes quickly, aware that Snape had been away from his post for too long and needed to return before anyone thought to question where he had gone. Rose and Savin waited for a few more moments, standing arm in arm and watching him walk away before they too turned to go. None of them knew as they parted that night that it would be the last time they would all see each other alive.

When the Battle of Hogwarts occurred about four months later, a call to arms was sent out to every Order member and ally summoning them to Hogwarts to fight. Even those who had been noncombatants, including Rose and Savin, received the word, and even they went to fight. Savin tried to convince his pregnant wife to stay home, but she, already knowing that Snape would certainly get caught up in the fighting, refused to face the thought of both her husband and father fighting while she cowered at home, waiting and worrying. So in the end both Rose and Savin were present at the last battle, and it was only luck that neither was engaged in an active duel at the moment when both of their pendants suddenly flared with heat for a moment, before going cold as the connection with their third linked pendant, the one they had given to Snape so long ago, was suddenly severed. For a moment they simply stared at each other in horror, both instinctively clutching at their own necklaces, before Rose took off running through the halls of Hogwarts, running through the battlefield with no concern for her own safety, focused only on finding Snape. Savin chased after her, trying to deflect stray curses that threatened to hit Rose or himself as he ran. Through Voldemort's ceasefire, Harry Potter's death and rebirth in the Forbidden Forest, and the final defeat of Voldemort, Rose and Savin searched for, and then remained with, Snape's body. Both of them knew deep down that he was dead, had known since their pendants had reacted in a way that could have only been caused by his death, but they searched as if they might find him injured but alive by some miracle. Any faint hopes they might have held onto vanished when they reached the Shrieking Shack, after finally thinking to use a locating charm on Snape's necklace. There they found him, lying in a pool of his own blood where Voldemort, and then Harry Potter, had left him.

It was in this same spot that they were found, hours later, by Professor McGonagall and Harry. After Voldemort was dead and Snape's true loyalty was announced to all, she had cornered Harry and asked where he had left the body. She had not specifically noticed that Rose and Savin were not in the Great Hall with all the others rejoicing or mourning in turn, but she certainly wasn't surprised to find the pair with Snape when she arrived at the Shack with Harry. They had done their best to clean him up, get rid of the blood on the floor and cover the gaping wound in his neck, though they had done nothing to tend to any of their own minor wounds, unwilling to leave his side for long enough to summon help. Rose didn't even notice that anyone had entered the room, though Savin looked up, shaking hand reaching for his wand until he saw who it was. Harry stood awkwardly to the side as McGonagall approached, aware that he was intruding on something, though he had no idea who the young couple crying over Snape's body might be. McGonagall knelt down beside them, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder. It took a little convincing to pry Rose and Savin away from the body, but soon McGonagall was leading the pair back towards the castle as Snape's body, covered by a black shroud and carried on a floating stretcher, returned to the castle that had been the man's home, for better or worse, for almost three quarters of his too short life.

Author's Note: This is the end of the main story, though there is an epilogue still to come (one which should be much fluffier/happier than this last chapter turned out to be). Thank you to everyone who is reading, and please feel free to let me know what you think of the story.