The funeral, a few days after the battle, was a small affair. Some might have thought it proper for Snape to be buried among many of the other casualties of the battle in the Hogsmeade graveyard, or even alongside the great white tomb of Dumbledore on the grounds of Hogwarts itself. Still others would likely have been horrified at the very thought, and felt it more suitable for the body to be disposed of the same way as the other Death Eaters killed in the fighting. For better or worse, though, the decision was not left to the wizarding public, but instead to Rose and Savin. So it was that Severus Snape was laid to rest in the little rundown cemetery where his own parents had been buried years before. There was little ceremony and few mourners other than Rose and Savin, holding each other up by the graveside, unable to say more than a few words in eulogy without choking on their tears. A few Hogwarts professors attended, led by Professor McGonagall, who despite all of their differences and disagreements had over the years come to think of Snape as a friend, though both of them would have denied it. Harry Potter went as well, standing awkwardly to the side - he had come from a sense of duty, and perhaps a little guilt that he was only beginning to stop hating the man now that he was dead.
It seemed as though the day of the funeral should have been dreary and damp, but instead the sun shone brightly in a shockingly clear blue sky. In the moment it felt as though the weather was mocking the grief of those below, though perhaps it could instead have been seen as a sign of hope for a brighter future. It was certainly not a simple or easy process for Rose and Savin to move on from Snape's death, or the impacts of the war in general, but they did the best they could, and no one could have asked more than that. The couple moved back into the little house on Spinner's End, leaving behind the apartment where they had spent the last year of the war hiding and waiting for bad news (for there seemed to have been no other kind during those dark months). They sorted through Snape's things and added their own books to the many bookshelves in the house, and generally did their best to make the house their own home without removing the many reminders of the man who had lived there before them. A few months after the Battle of Hogwarts, Rose gave birth to a son. Severus Daniel Aurum-Snape would not be expected to fill the hole left by his namesake in his parents' lives and hearts, but his birth certainly helped them rediscover that not everything in the world was bad and hopeless, and even after a great tragedy could come new beginnings.
Neither Rose nor Savin returned to the jobs they had abandoned during the war. The little shop where Savin had worked had been destroyed in a brawl that had turned into a riot in the lower alleys, and its owner had later fled the country, so there was nothing for Savin to return to there. He found a temporary job as an assistant in another shop, but found the work of selling magical artifacts to be much less satisfying than creating them, and stayed there only as long as he thought was necessary to save up a little money to begin working on and selling his own projects. Rose, torn between wanting to return to work and not being inclined to trust her new baby with anyone but Savin, spent the first few years after the war selling potions that she brewed in the little potions lab that Snape had set up in the house many years before. Eventually, the couple set up shop together as inventors, working together as they had in their last few years at Hogwarts, experimenting with potions, spells, and magical items. They mostly worked at home, selling their creations through existing shops in Diagon and the surrounding alleys, though they did eventually open a proper shop of their own just off Diagon Alley.
And so life went on. Little Sev learned to crawl, to walk, to run, to say words, then sentences, then questions about everything he could think of. Soon enough he wasn't the only one filling the house with the sound of little feet and childish laughter, and had a little sister to play with and occasionally torment. Little Meg (for Margaret Jennifer was much too long a name for casual use) was quieter than her brother, but no less inquisitive, both with their mother's dark hair and their father's bright blue eyes. Rose and Savin took both children to visit their grandparents' graves every year, and told them stories about all the family they had never gotten to meet. They hung photographs on the walls of the house: muggle photographs of Rose with her parents, wizarding ones of Rose and Savin together and with Snape, and newer ones of their own growing family, depicting the little happy moments that had characterized the family in its various incarnations even in dark times. At first the children's stick figure drawings and finger paintings were relegated to the refrigerator door, but in time, as they grew older and their attempted family portraits grew more recognizable, their works joined the gallery on the living room wall as well.
All too soon it was time for first one, then both, of the Aurum-Snape children to head off to Hogwarts themselves, after many years of anticipation. As Rose and Savin went to see each of their children off on the Hogwarts Express for the first time, they found themselves thinking back on the adventures and trials of their own school years. They couldn't help but worry just a little about what might await their children, which Houses they might be sorted into, what friends they might make. But, standing together with their arms around each other on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, watching the Hogwarts Express pull away from the station, watching their children go off and begin their own adventures and start their own stories, Snape's children were certain that everything would work out in the end somehow. After all, who would ever have thought that their story could turn out this well despite all the obstacles along the way?
Author's Note: Here ends the tale of Rose Aurum and Savin Silther, Snape's Children. Thank you to everyone who has read this far, and please let me know what you thought of the story! Reviews are always appreciated.