Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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The years had accustomed Harriet to being in the constant company of her children.
When she woke before her little ones one day, she cuddled against Severus to use his warmth as a shield against the autumn morning's chill.
Her movement instantly roused him.
Severus cracked his dark eyes open before he instinctively pulled his wife into his comforting embrace.
"My love……..?" He asked as Harriet laid her head on his chest, "Is it-"
"-No." She replied in an exhausted whisper, "No, it's not, but I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day, Sev. I'm exhausted."
"Have you spent another night not resting well?" Severus frowned as he let one elegant hand idly stroke Harriet's back.
"You know at this stage I can only sleep for an hour or so at a time now." She sighed as she pressed a hand to her belly.
Severus snaked his free hand between them to join hers there as he continued his attempt to relax her.
He watched his wife closely as her eyes began to flutter while he kept up his soothing ministrations, "Are you drowsy now, my love?"
"No, Sev……." Harriet yawned as she tried to fight off sleep, "I'm fine."
Severus let out a gentle purr as he kissed her forehead and held her close, "Rest. I'll occupy the children."
"No……" Harriet insisted. Her voice dwindled to a whisper as she closed her eyes, "...I'll be fine."
A slight smirk curled Severus's thin lips as he felt his mate go limp in his arms once she succumbed to her fatigue.
Although he stopped rubbing her back, his other hand remained splayed across the vast swell of her belly.
It made Severus want to smile as he felt the echoes of motion that rippled from within his mate's womb.
He laid there, with Harriet in his arms, as the morning's first light drifted through the curtains until he heard quiet voices issuing from the hallway.
Careful not to wake his darling, Severus deftly slipped out from under her and tucked a pillow in his place before he pulled on his morning robe, pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, and silently left the room.
As Severus walked down the hallway, he wore a frown of worry.
He hastened his pace in an effort to find his children and quiet them, his wife needed her rest.
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The two sets of Snape twins shared a single room with double bunk beds.
To outsiders, it may have seemed cruel, but the four boys had insisted on those exact sleeping arrangements since their second and third birthdays.
Severus did not begrudge the fact that the shared room also made addressing each of his youngest sons at once much easier.
Quietly, he turned the knob to the bedroom door and swept into the room.
Four sets of familiar dark eyes darted to him as the boys' whispering conversations came to a sudden halt.
"Good morning." Severus greeted his children.
Their answers came in singsong replies.
"Good morning."
"Morning, Daddy."
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
"I see all of you……are still in your pajamas. Once you're all dressed and ready, we'll go downstairs for breakfast……..However…..I must warn you…..silence is important this morning……Your mother is still resting." Severus said, using the same bitter drawl his former students would recognize.
"Is Mummy having the baby?" Demetri asked.
"Not currently." Severus promptly answered, "Now, if each of you will line up…….."
Most parents would have struggled to keep four little boys in any sort of order, but for Severus, curtailing his sons' behaviour had never been a struggle.
As a result of looking after rambunctious adolescents for years on a professional level, he found his innocent toddlers to not be a terrible challenge.
Severus's scowl was threatening and his voice held an intimidating ominousness, but his way was kind as he patiently readied each of his four sons for the day.
While Severus worked with one, the other three waited patiently for their turn.
Mercifully born with his reserved temperament, both sets of Snape twins knew how much their father loved them, though they wouldn't dare incite his anger.
Demetri, Samuel, and Maxwell had all been readied before the last of the boys, Vincent, stepped forward.
Severus saw his son's morning robe in his hand before he frowned as the small boy reached out from behind his back and handed him a folded piece of stiff parchment.
"May I ask what this is?" Severus drawled as he snatched the paper from his son with one flick of his wrist.
"It's a card I drew for Mummy last night." Vincent frowned, "...After I had a bad dream."
Severus narrowed his eyes and asked, "...Bad dream?"
"It was awful, Daddy." Vincent frowned, "When I woke up, I remembered it wasn't real! I was so glad that I made Mummy this, as a present, before I went back to sleep."
Extremely articulate for a child of his age, Severus was intrigued by his son's story.
He was quite aware of the talents his children had already shown in their young lives and as such, he furrowed his brow while he glanced down at the handmade greeting card.
On the front, a crude illustration of the Snape family had been drawn.
Severus shrugged that aside as he opened the card and found another misshapen representation of his little family and all in it with large letters on the right side that read:
I love you, Mummy. Feel better soon.
Severus looked up at his little boy before he handed the card back to his son.
"That was very thoughtful of you." He nodded, "You may present it to your mother once she wakes…….I'm certain she'll be appreciative."
Vincent smiled softly as his brothers watched from across the room.
Severus glanced over them all and commanded, "I beg each of you to remember what I said previously………Your mother is not ill……..She doesn't feel well because she's growing a new life. You'll all have mates of your own one day……Then perhaps, this will be less of a mystery."
The other three boys nodded but Vincent just gazed at his father while his smile melted into a melancholy frown.
There was something about the morose expression on his pale face that disturbed Severus as he stared at his son.
Eager to see to his children's needs, he asked, "Let's all go and have some breakfast, shall we? Take care not to make any noise…….lest you wake your poor mother."
The boys nodded as they all followed their father out of the room and down the stairs like obedient ducklings.
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For an alpha especially, Severus was more maternal than he cared to admit.
The loving tenderness he showed each of his four youngest children as he helped them all sit at the table before he began to cook bacon and eggs was touching to behold.
Once the food was ready, Severus set two extra place settings at the table just as Alexander and Lila walked into the kitchen, rubbing their eyes.
"Good morning." Severus greeted them both before his low voice was complimented by a chorus of similar statements from his four youngest sons.
"Good morning." Alexander nodded.
"Good morning." Lila yawned as she walked over and sat down at the table.
After Alexander joined her and Severus saw that his children were settled, he allowed himself to finally sit down as well.
Positioned at the head of the table, he could see and hear each of his little ones as they began to talk.
While the other children happily chatted amongst themselves, Severus mirrored Vincent's anguished expression as he watched his son play idly with his food.
"...Are you not hungry this morning?" Severus asked.
"I am, Daddy, my dream just made me sad." Vincent sighed.
As the other five Snape children happily carried on with their conversations, Severus asked, "...What did you see last night, son?"
"Daddy….." Vincent whimpered as he raised his hands and passed them over his face.
Severus frowned as his little boy met his gaze and exclaimed, "I know it was only a dream, but it's still terrible! I don't like thinking about it!"
"...What did you see?" Severus pressed as he stared into his son's face with a worried scowl.
"MUMMY DIED!" Vincent exclaimed, "...Mummy and the new baby died!"
Vincent's loud cry silenced his other siblings as they all looked over in his direction.
Severus's black eyes glimmered with fear as Vincent burst into mournful sobs.
He spent the next fifteen minutes consoling his distraught son with his other children's assistance until he heard motion above them, in the bedroom he shared with Harriet.
"I'll trust you two to look after your brothers for a moment." He nodded at Alexander and Lila as he rose to his feet, "I need to tend your mother."
After Alexander and Lila nodded in understanding, Severus swept out of the room and glided up the stairs.
A concerned scowl contorted his pale features.
Vincent had endured dreams before which had become harbingers of future happenings, from simple events like finding a new rock outside for his collection to who would win the next Minister for Magic election.
Severus sincerely hoped his son's dream about Harriet and their unborn child was nothing more than his young mind's expression of a deep-rooted fear.
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Silently, Severus opened the bedroom door and peered inside the room.
"Hey, Sev." Harriet called from the bed as she smiled groggily.
From her position nestled amongst the pillows and blankets, her green eyes glowed brightly.
Severus sucked in a breath as he found himself entrapped by her brilliant gaze.
He dared to let his dark eyes fall to the ample curves of her unrestrained breasts for a single second. The obscene way their hardened nubs pressed against the thin fabric of her nightdress nearly drove him mad.
"...Good morning, my love." Severus replied at last in a low, velvet purr as he closed the door behind himself and walked towards the bed.
Harriet moved over, but she had no need as he gently sat on the side of her nest and took her hand.
"What may I bring you for breakfast?" He asked thoughtfully as he stroked the back of her knuckles with his thumb.
"Nothing, right away, let me get my eyes open first." Harriet said sleepily, "Are the children up yet?"
"...Yes." Severus replied without hardly moving his lips, "They're all downstairs eating the day's first meal……I've left Alexander and Lila in charge."
"Then you'd better hurry back." Harriet chuckled.
The wry smile she cast at Severus broke his heart.
Before he could stop himself, he leaned down and pressed a loving kiss of pure adoration on Harriet's lips.
Although she hadn't woken with an appetite that morning, she eagerly accepted the addictive taste of her alpha's hypnotic kiss.
Severus batted away the fear in his heart as he gently pulled his beloved into his arms for a tight embrace.
Silently, he vowed to himself to protect Harriet and their little family at whatever cost.
