Severus stood outside in the bright sunlight waiting impatiently. The rest of the week after the Diagon alley trip had passed in a blur. He was rather happy that it was time to return to Hogwarts, although his students never saw it, he really did enjoy teaching.

He checked his pocket watch for what he felt was probably the thousandth time. Since their home was so close to Hogsmead there was no need to take the Hogwarts express, or any other form of long distance travel. Instead, Hogwarts had sent two carriages to take the family and their belongings to the school.

Now, if he could only get his children to move a little faster, they might just leave by sunset, he thought sardonically. He crossed his arms and waited with annoyance, their trunks were already out here waiting, along with Dierna and Nimue's owls. What could be taking so long?

Finally, Kamen and Nimue showed up, "where are your sisters?"

Kamen shrugged, "don't know, don't care."

Severus narrowed his eyes, he had been hoping for a more specific answer. His scowl only grew deeper when Dierna and Serena came around the corner of the house, "and where were you two?"

Dierna rolled her eyes; he tried to act so much more threatening than he actually was. Serena spoke up, "sorry Dad, but I had to catch Bast," she clutched her pet black cat to her chest.

Severus sighed, "I don't know why you insist on keeping that flea ridden pest."

"You don't have fleas; do you my sweet little Bastet." Serena cooed as she stroked the cat's silky ears. "It's not your fault if some people just don't like cats." She narrowed her eyes in the direction of her father.

Severus quickly loaded the luggage on the carriages. He desperately hoped that once they got back to the routine at Hogwarts he would gain a little bit of peace and quiet in his life. Not that he didn't love his children dearly, it was just that having four teenagers under his roof threatened to drive him mad some days.

Finally they were all ready. Severus frowned as his children began to get into one of the carriages together. He had every intention of splitting them between the two carriages. But he stopped when he felt a gentle arm on his shoulder.

"Let them be darling, they'll be fine."

He looked down at Morgan, "do you realized how much trouble they are capable of causing if we leave them unsupervised."

"Do you realize that they are all perfectly capable of spending ten or twenty minutes alone without your constant supervision?"

Severus frowned at that question.

"Besides," Morgan gently traced a finger down the front of her husband's shirt, "the two of us will have a chance to be alone if you let them all stay in that one carriage."

Severus leaned down closer to his wife; "you are incredibly good at convincing me to go along with whatever you say" he leaned in closer and whispered something in her ear that made Morgan blush.

"You're horrible," Morgan brought a hand up to her burning face, "but I've always loved that about you."

"I know that," Severus gently ran his hand down the side of her face, brushing a loose curl back behind her ear.

Morgan smiled as she raised herself up on her toes to gently kiss her husband. Every moment she spent with him was a blessing.

"You know, you were yelling at us to move faster and now we're stuck watching this mushy crap."

"Kamen," Severus' voice was dangerously low, his hand clenched into a fist. He tried desperately to control his temper. He realized how easy it would be for him to fall into the same dangerous attitude that his own father would have taken. That thought hurt him immensely, he tried to block out all emotion, it seemed like the only way to save himself.

"Sev..." Morgan placed a hand on his arm as she watched the familiar emotional mask fall into place on her husband's face, "Sev, its ok."

He didn't respond.

"Come on Sev, let go of it, please, don't let the past drag you down now," She placed a hand against his cheek, "please darling..."

Severus brought a hand up and placed it over Morgan's, "thank you darling, sometimes it seems like your touch is the only thing that can bring me back out when I start to drown in those memories."

Morgan smiled softly, "I just wish you wouldn't do that to me, it scares me when I see you put that mask on. It covers up the man that I love."

"I'm sorry. I scare myself sometimes actually," his voice became distant, "I can't help thinking that sometime I might actually..."

"Sev, you are not your father. I love and trust you, and I know that you would never do anything that I would have reason to question." Morgan reached for her husband's hand, "don't do this to yourself, there is no cause for you to blame yourself for something you had no control over."

Severus sighed, "You are right," he smiled dryly, "you always are."

"I know I am, maybe you should listen to me more often," there was a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Really? I somehow doubt that." He gently kissed her, "now, let's get out of here; I believe we are finally ready to leave."

Sirius grinned as the car sped along the scenic road; it always felt like going home somehow. "Glad to be going back?" He looked over at his godson, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Harry ran a hand through his unruly hair, which looked worse than usual since he had the car window down. "I always love going back; it just kinda feels like home."

Sirius laughed, "I was just thinking the same thing."

Harry smiled, "I thought it might be a bit harder for you to go back this time."

Sirius smiled, "yeah, it is hard. But, I'm glad to know that Elizabeth will be waiting for me."

"How did her kids take the news?"

Sirius' happy expression faded a bit, "well, Willow is excited," he smiled at the thought of the adorable four year old who had completely captured his heart, "she doesn't remember her real father, so she's more than willing to accept me. William on the other hand," Sirius sighed, "I don't think he likes the idea of me marrying his mother too much."

Sirius lost himself in thoughts of the woman he loved. He had all but given up on the hope that he might get married until he met Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been recently widowed; her husband had been one of the few casualties caused by the new group of dark forces that seemed to be forming.

Sirius had lost his heart the moment he met Elizabeth. She was such a strong woman. She handled the death of her first husband well, and Sirius thought that she was doing a remarkable job of raising her two children, seventeen year old William and little Willow, on her own.

But Sirius couldn't wait to marry her. He was ready to be a father to her children, and he was ready to maybe have a few children of his own. He absently ran a hand through his graying hair. He would love to hold a child of his own before too long.

"Hey Sirius, looks like I lost you there for a moment."

Sirius shook his head as he realized that his godson had been trying to get his attention for some time, "sorry about that Harry, just lost in thought."

"Anything interesting?"

Sirius grinned, "Yeah, thinking about how being a family man is going to change my life."

"Thinking about increasing the ready-made family you're getting into?"

Sirius laughed, "Yeah, especially if I can produce another one just like Willow, that little girl is the sweetest thing I've ever laid eyes on."

Harry laughed, "She is adorable," his continued wryly, "just wait till she learns how to talk back to you, that changes things completely."

Sirius grinned at that comment, "missing your kids already?"

Harry nodded, "yeah, at least I'll have Brandon and Ophelia next week, I hate leaving Lily behind though. Although I suppose that it is for the best."

Sirius shot a sideways glance at Harry, "how are things between you and Ginny?"

Harry sighed, "I was afraid you might bring that up. Not good, is probably the easiest way to sum it up."

Sirius put a kind hand on Harry's shoulder, he really hoped everything word be alright, "Hang in there kid, I trust you to work everything out eventually."

Morgan rested her head against her husband's shoulder and playfully traced her fingers along his leg. She bit her lip to suppress a smile as she watched the effect it had on him. She lightly ran her fingers further up his leg.

Severus caught Morgan's hand in his own before it traveled any higher, "You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble if you keep doing that."

Morgan widened her eyes innocently, "now why would that get me into trouble?"

Severus tried to frown at her, but failed, "if you can't figure that out on your own...."

Morgan giggled, "Now, aren't you glad you left the children alone so that we could be together like this?" She tried to pull her hand back out of her husband's grasp.

"I don't think so my dear, if I let you go you're just going to end up in more trouble." He tightened his grip on her wrist.

Morgan narrowed her eyes, "fine, if you're going to play like that..." she reached out her other hand and picked up where she had left off, trailing her fingers along his leg, until Severus caught that hand in his grasp too.

"It seems that you are now at my mercy, whatever should I do with you?" Severus pulled her closer to him.

Morgan tried to wriggle out of her husband's grasp, but was hindered by the close confines of the carriage. She realized that she would never be able to free her hands from the steel grasp that he had them in. She was going to have to play dirty.

She shifted herself around enough so that she could lean in very close to her husband. She kissed him gently, "let go of my hands now darling, I can't touch you if you're holding onto me like that..."

She squealed when Severus pulled her roughly towards him, she ended up half sprawled across his lap. She narrowed her eyes and tried to free her hands from his grip once again. But she stopped her struggles when her husband leaned down and kissed her hard. When he finally let go of her wrists she twined her arms around his neck, enjoying the way he made her feel when he kissed her.

When they finally separated Morgan sat up, and glanced sideways at her husband, noting the ill concealed amusement on his face, "What is it?"

Severus smiled, "You look slightly disheveled my dear. It looks like you've been up to something rather wayward in nature."

Morgan blushed, "well that's your fault." She pulled out a mirror and straightened her hair and clothes. She decided that now might be a good time to change the subject, especially since Hogwarts was now in view, "ready for another school year?"

Severus smiled as she diverted the conversation, "yes, although I hate that we never seem to have as much time for each other while school is in session."

Morgan smiled as he slid an arm around her shoulders, "at least I know you're there for me, I don't think I could handle any kind of separation."

The carriages came to a halt in front of the main entrance to the school; Severus got out and offered his hand to Morgan as she followed him. Severus slid an arm around her waist as she sighed, "What is it love?"

Morgan smiled, "I was just thinking that we send far more time here than in our own house."

"Do you regret that?"

"No, my home is wherever you and the children are."

Severus pulled Morgan into him and was about to kiss her when they were interrupted by the appearance of the headmistress, "Minerva, your timing is as impeccable as ever."

Minerva McGonagall smiled dryly, "Severus I'm glad to see you brought your usual sunny disposition back with you."

Severus narrowed his eyes, "damnable Gryffindors, I can never seem to get away from your arrogant attitudes.

"Watch what you say about my house you git," Remus Lupin smiled as he walked up. He had been back for some years as the defense against the dark arts professor and was now head of Gryffindor house.

"Lupin..." Severus' voice was dangerously low.

Remus just laughed, "How about a little wager on the quidditch tournament this year? I'm willing to place a fair bet that my Gryffindors will win the house cup this year."

Severus merely glowered, "I hardly call that a fair wager Remus, it forces me to either bet against my house or my children, which is something that I will not do."

Remus' smile widened, "yes, your children are a valuable asset to the Gryffindor team, pity none of them are in Slytherin. I bet you would have liked to have them in your house."

Severus felt his temper rising, it aggravated him to no end that all of his children were in Gryffindor; he would have loved to have at least one of them in his own house. He was preparing to give Remus his opinion on the matter when Morgan gently laid a hand on his arm.

"Trying to bait my husband again Remus?" She smiled warmly at Lupin who steeped forward to kiss her cheek, something that only darkened Severus' expression. Morgan turned back to her husband, "Shall we go get moved in?"

Severus nodded, keeping his glare trained on Remus.

Remus found the front that Severus put up rather amusing. Over the years he had realized that the strict potions master could be a great conversationalist and a loyal friend, if you caught him in the right mood. "So Severus, mind if I use your children for a bit of slave labor later on? I need to finish setting up my classroom."

That did produce a smile from Severus, "be my guest, I think it would be good for them. Besides, it might keep them out of trouble for awhile."

Dierna and Serena paused in the doorway of their room. Dierna smiled, "it is so good to be back in the Gryffindor tower, far away from the prying eyes of parents."

Serena laughed, "Have something planned already?"

Dierna twirled a curl around her finger as she looked up towards the ceiling innocently, "nothing yet, but as soon as Nick gets here I'm sure we'll have plenty to do that we don't want Mum and Dad to find out about."

Serena grinned at her sister as she thought about their best friend, other than each other of course. Nicholas Wood was another sixth year Gryffindor and keeper on their house quidditch team. The three of them were inseparable once school started, and were constantly causing chaos and trying to stay out of trouble for it.

The teachers who had been around for awhile often remarked that the trio rivaled the marauders and the Weasley twins for the amount of trouble they were able to get into. They reveled in the disorder they caused.

Their trunks had already been brought up and had been placed at the end of their four poster beds. The girls' rooms were decorated a bit different than the boys' side of the dorm. The beds still had the thick red curtains, but the walls were painted a smooth cream color. And along with several gilded mirrors all of the furnishings were just a bit more elegant.

Dierna set down her box that contained her letters from Stefan on her bed, as Serena set down Bastet on her bed. Dierna smiled as she reached over to scratch Bastet's ears. Her owl, Boudicca, was already up in the owlery. Serena often used Boudicca to send letters and Dierna often played with Bastet, they shared their pets as they shared almost everything else.

Bastet purred as Dierna continued to pet her. "So, you think we're going to get roped into performing physical labor for all the teachers to help them get ready like we were last year?"

Serena rolled her eyes, "of course we are. Especially if Dad has anything to say about it, he's convinced it will keep us out of trouble or something."