Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
Harriet and Severus would have homeschooled Maggie, but they were both elated that she had ultimately changed her mind about Hogwarts.
Between Severus's earnings and Harriet's inheritance, the Snape family was not short on money.
When Severus and Harriet took Maggie to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies, they purchased their daughter the finest of items.
By mid afternoon that day, Harriet chatted with a clerk while Little Sev and Severus browsed around Madam Malkin's as Maggie blinked at her reflection in the mirror.
As she sat in her chair and admired her new school robes, she couldn't help but smile.
She felt rather official as she imagined her house crest, whatever it would be, emblazoned on her chest.
Maggie appreciated that the black, flowing garment completely covered her figure.
The heavy fabric mercifully hid her premature developments, which made her smile widen.
Once Maggie slipped her robe off, she spoke excitedly to Little Sev while Harriet and Severus gladly paid for their daughter's new school clothes.
Together, the Snape family left the shop and headed to the Leaky Cauldron for a bit of lunch.
Severus had never been one to enjoy shopping, but as he spent the day with his family, he found the activity much less loathsome than usual.
—————————————————————
Severus couldn't understand why his wife seemed to grow more anxious as Maggie's departure date crept closer.
In an attempt to soothe Harriet, he did everything possible to ease her nerves.
He spoke to her in gentle tones.
He aided her whenever he could.
He reassured her with loving kisses and protective embraces.
One evening while the children slept in their beds and Disencan slumbered down the hall in his own room, Severus frowned as he watched his wife stare out the window of their bedchamber.
"My love, you've been distant lately……it isn't like you to be consumed with mororse thoughts. Tell me…" Severus urged Harriet as he swept up behind her, "...What burdens you so?"
"I can't believe this much time has passed already." Harriet laughed dryly as Severus placed his elegant hands on her hips and began to massage his way up her waist. Harriet sighed as she let her head fall back against him while she shrugged, "I mean, I'm thrilled Maggie decided to go to Hogwarts, you know, that's brilliant, but……."
"...But?" Severus asked as he slowly enunciated the word.
"But she's growing up, Sev." Harriet concluded with a bittersweet smile.
"She is, yes." Severus replied as he gazed down at his beloved, "Every day she becomes more and more like her mother, beautiful, strong, kind-hearted…….."
"No!" Harriet laughed, "She's like her father, quiet, demure, and crafty."
"...I believe the word you're searching for is 'cunning'." Severus quipped.
Harriet chuckled as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
In a silent grant of his wife's request, Severus purred as he moved down and happily kissed Harriet's pink lips.
His hands brushed over her abdomen and ribs as she raised hers up to cup his face.
Their kiss quickly transformed from a sweet display of affection into a carnal statement of burning passion.
"Shall we move to the bed, Mrs. Snape?" Severus asked as he pulled back only far enough to whisper against Harriet's lips.
The soft groan that escaped her throat sent him pulling her towards the bed until he sank down with her on top of the covers.
He growled as she tumbled away from him with a laugh.
One Silencing Charm later, Harriet's happy cries filled the room as Severus did his best to cover every inch of her in kisses.
Goosebumps erupted across her skin as her eyes widened, electrified by the dizzying notion that her alpha was in no rush.
Harriet's heart pounded with the anticipatory thrill of the next, punishing hours Severus would surely put her through.
She knew he would tease her until she shattered in his hands, kiss her until tears streamed from her eyes, claim her as his until her throat cracked with hoarseness…………..
That night was indeed a pleasant torment.
Sometime later, as they both ignored the need for sleep while Harriet clung to the bedpost as Severus squeezed her hips in his hands and pounded into her from behind, she closed her eyes as he groaned through his release.
The idea made her body flutter around him as a wall of ecstacy crashed over her.
She could see it in her mind clearly, her own hopeful longing.
Although she was not in heat and had not experienced a cycle for sometime, Harriet still allowed herself to dream that as her mate spilled himself within her, their next child would finally be conceived.
Close to dawn, after the couple finally halted their exertions, Harriet and Severus kissed softly until they both slipped into a groggy haze of sleep.
—————————————————————
Harriet gnashed her teeth when her unwanted menstrual cycle arrived the morning of Maggie's departure to Hogwarts.
She knew she had no factual basis for expecting any other outcome, but regardless, the flow of scarlet blood seemed like an abhorrent insult to Mrs. Snape that day.
Maggie and Little Sev knew nothing about their parents' struggles to conceive and even if they had, their awe at the Hogwarts Express as they arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters would have wiped those concerns from their minds.
"Is that it, Dad?! Is that the train?!" Little Sev asked Severus excitedly as he pointed towards the red and black locomotive.
"It is, yes." Severus nodded as he glanced at his little boy while he pushed the cart that had been loaded with Maggie's things.
"WOW!" Little Sev exclaimed as his eyes widened while he gazed at the train.
Once the family came to a stop, Maggie seemed to grow anxious as an apprehensive frown twisted her lips.
"It's alright, sweetheart." Harriet smiled at her daughter, "Don't be nervous, this is a very exciting day! I met my best friends on my first ride to Hogwarts, you could too."
"You really think so, Mum?" Maggie asked.
"I do." Harriet nodded with a smile.
Silently, she waited for Severus to add in some comforting words.
As she glanced over and saw her husband stare at their daughter with a worried frown, she scowled in irritation.
"Sev……." She whispered as she gently elbowed him in the ribs.
"If you have any trouble at all, immediately contact your mother and I." Severus nodded.
"Of course, Dad……..Thanks." Maggie replied as she wrapped her sweater around her chest in hopes of concealing her breasts.
Rabbie hopped onto her lap as the first train whistle blew.
"Alright, then." Harriet sighed as she bent down, hugged her daughter, and moved back to let Little Sev do the same.
"I'll miss you so much, sissy!" He whimpered as large tears gathered in his eyes once he finally let go.
Severus bent forward and embraced his daughter briefly after Little Sev stepped away.
Maggie smiled at how tight her father's hug seemed.
Severus's dark eyes flickered down to Rabbie as he released Maggie and stood next to Harriet.
Although his relationship with his ancestor was not always clear cut, it did provide him an extraordinary amount of relief knowing an ancient, axe-wielding witch would be with his daughter at all times.
"Professor McGonagall has been kind enough to allow you a rabbit at the castle." Severus reminded his eldest child, "See…..that you do not….abuse….that privilege."
"Of course, Dad." Maggie nodded.
As the second whistle blew, other children scampered onto the train, but Maggie turned her head as she sat in her chair.
"How am I supposed to get on?" She asked as she looked back as her parents.
"I will carry you." Severus determined.
"Dad! No!" Maggie shouted with wide eyes, "Not in front of everyone! I -"
"Hello."
The Snape family looked over to see who had spoken.
Four sets of eyes fell on a pale boy in a black suit with platinum blonde, slicked-back hair.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I think there's a ramp over there." He explained as he pointed over at a wide boarding ramp that had been thoughtfully placed for the students' convenience.
"Oh……." Maggie frowned, "Thank you."
Severus and Harriet peered across the platform to see a very familiar face as a man stood and nervously looked in their direction.
"I'm a first year, by the way! My name's Scorpius Malfoy." The blonde boy smiled at Maggie.
Severus narrowed his eyes as he glanced back at the child.
Since the war, he had not been in close contact with his godson.
It surprised him that the child he had heard mention of Draco siring was already old enough to attend Hogwarts.
Harriet gazed at the boy with an incredulous gasp.
Beyond his light hair and grey eyes, she never would have guessed Scorpius belonged to her old rival.
He seemed so kind and gentle it was difficult for her to believe he was truly a Malfoy.
"I'm a first year too." Maggie nodded, "My name's Maggie Snape."
"That's a pretty name." Scorpius said with another soft smile, "And you've got a rabbit!...A BIG rabbit! Wicked!...Um, my mother sent a bag of sweets with me." He explained as he pulled a sack of candy from his jacket pocket, "I'd be glad to share them with you?"
"That sounds nice." Maggie nodded with an eager grin.
Severus and Harriet blinked at each other in disbelief.
"Oh…..These are my parents." Maggie explained with a gesture of her hand as an awkward silence fell, "...And this is my little brother."
"Nice to meet you all." Scorpius smiled anxiously as the Snape family cast him bewildered glances of disbelief.
"...Is it alright if your daughter and I sit together?" Scorpius boldly asked Harriet and Severus.
"I……." Harriet began.
While she was too stunned to speak, Severus stepped forward and escorted the children down the platform.
He stopped briefly and spoke to Draco before he walked Maggie and Scorpius onto the train.
Slyly, Severus guided them into a compartment with a broken door that could not be closed to ensure his daughter's new……acquaintance…..would not be allowed any true privacy with her for the duration of the journey.
"Mummy…..?" Little Sev asked as he frowned up at Harriet while he continued to cry quietly, "Are you sad too?"
"Yes, sweetheart……" Harriet whispered while she stared through the window at her daughter and Scorpius. She watched them begin to share the candy he had brought as Severus made his way off the train. "Mummy is very sad right now……"
Sad wasn't the right word.
Harriet was furious.
—————————————————————
"DID IT HAVE TO BE A MALFOY?!?!" She roared after she and Severus escaped to the privacy of their bedroom later that evening.
Severus quickly cast a Silencing Charm as he watched his enraged mate pace back and forth with her hands balled into fists and her emerald eyes narrowed.
"We finally convince her to go to school and the first thing she does is befriend a Malfoy!" She cried in exasperation.
"My love, if I may….." Severus began as Harriet looked in his direction, "It seems the Malfoy…….befriended her."
"You're not helping, Sev!" Harriet snapped.
"A boy and girl may only become friends." Severus reasoned, "Calm yourself and come to bed….you need your rest."
"Boys and girls may not only become friends!" Harriet shouted, "What if they end up as mates?! What if they-"
"-Do you hear the lie in your own words?" Severus calmly interrupted.
"...What?" Harriet scowled.
Severus began to explain in his low drawl, "You and the Weasley boy were friends and nothing more…….Professor McGonagall has been a close friend of mine for many years…..Never have we ever endured any sort of romantic-"
"But they…….Sev, I can feel it!" Harriet huffed as she came over and flopped down on the bed.
With Harriet in his reach at last, Severus wasted no time in seducing her into a state of calm.
"Our daughter will be safe, my love." He whispered as he pulled her into his arms and enveloped her in his soothing embrace, "I am your alpha, I will protect our children…….Trust in that."
Harriet sighed as Severus's skillful hands slipped over her curves while his lips met hers.
Trust in her mate………somewhere between her own dread and the comfort her husband provided, trust seemed like an excellent idea to Mrs. Snape.