Nimue wandered back down to the main foyer, she had no intention of being involved in any thing that her siblings had or were going to plan. She found that she preferred solitude to their zeal for pandemonium.

She approached her father and professor Lupin, who were talking by the main entrance, hoping that she wasn't interrupting anything.

Severus slid an arm around Nimue's shoulders as she came up, pulling her close to him as she continued his conversation with Remus. However, the conversation was soon interrupted when the doors to the foyer banged open with the arrival of two more staff members.

"Sirius, Harry! It's good to see you two; I was beginning to wonder what happened to you." Remus smiled as the two men approached.

"Miss me that much, eh Moony?" Sirius grinned as he quickly embraced his friend, "I guess we are a little later getting here than we were planning on."

Harry turned to find Severus studying him intently, "good to see you again Severus, I hope that your summer went well." He smiled at himself as he realized that his former potions professor could still make him feel like a nervous school boy.

"As well as can be expected Potter. However, there is something I would like to discuss with you later, in private."

Harry looked quizzically at Severus, wondering what it was that he wanted to discuss with him.

"Did Ophelia come with you?" Nimue turned her violet eyes to Harry beseechingly.

"No she didn't. I had some other things to see to before I came here so she's staying at home till next week. Sorry about that."

Nimue's bright expression dropped a slightly, "Oh, well... that's ok; I'll see her next week." She turned to her father, "I'm gonna go see if Dierna and Serena are unpacked yet," she slipped out from her father's arm and headed back towards Gryffindor tower.

Severus watched her leave, "it is completely beyond me why my daughter has to best friends with a Potter." His voice was laced with antipathy as he turned his attention towards Harry.

Harry grinned sheepishly as he found himself under scrutiny. He absently ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know..."

Sirius cut him off, "that's an easy question to answer. It's because your daughter is charming and pleasant, unlike a certain greasy git I know."

"How... charming, Black. I can see that some things never change."

Sirius grinned unrepentantly, "that's true, you're still a greasy git, just like you were during our school days."

Remus quickly stepped into the conversation, "Severus, Padfoot, as entertaining as this debate always is I believe that we have a staff meeting to get to."

As they headed towards the staff room Severus turned towards Sirius again, "How is Elizabeth? I understand that congratulations are in order for your upcoming marriage."

Sirius smiled and his features softened at the thought of his fiancé, "Thank you, she was doing just fine when I left. Although, I have to say, leaving her and Willow behind was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"And what about William? From what I have heard of the situation it appears that he is not overly thrilled about having you marry his mother."

Sirius sighed, "He constantly reminds me that I am not his father and that he will never accept me as such."

"Give it time. He is still very angry about his father's death."

Sirius nodded slowly, "How do you know so much about the situation?"

Severus gave his long time enemy, now friend, a half smile, "he is my son's best friend Black, he spent a good deal of time in my home over the summer. I have a feeling he was trying to avoid you."

"I didn't think of that..."

"I gathered as much. Not thinking things through seems to be a Gryffindor trait."

Sirius let that comment slide. He knew that it would probably be a long time before William would accept his mother's decision to remarry. He would just have to try to win the boy over.

Draco Malfoy crossed the dark room slowly. The shutters were all closed, clocking out the glare of the afternoon sun. He scowled as he watched his followers attempt to put the room to rights. They were fools, all of them. But they were the force behind this movement.

Draco took a moment to criticize the quality of the work they were doing before he continued on, surveying the residence that they had taken over to use as their new headquarters. It had been no problem disposing of the muggle family that had lived there. And their removal had temporarily satisfied Draco's lust for violence.

The location was perfect for their needs. I had been the closest muggle residence to Hogsmead, but it had stood alone, isolated from any other houses. It was a perfect place for their activities to be centered in. Only a few for phases and the return could be completed.

Draco grinned sinisterly as he contemplated the future.

Severus swept a glance around the staff room as he entered. As he took a seat next to Morgan he couldn't help but be amazed at how much the staff had changed over the years.

The loss of Dumbledore was probably the greatest change. Severus missed the older man; he had always seen the best in people. And he had been able to make people see the best in themselves.

At least Minerva McGonagall made a very competent headmistress. She was strict, but fair, attributes that Severus respected. Plus, she was always a pleasure to spend time with.

Severus suppressed a smirk as his gaze took in Sirius, Remus, and Harry. Although none of them had been his favorite people, to put it lightly, in the past, he now considered them friends. Remus was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Severus had worked with. He had an infinite amount of patience, something that could come in very handy when teaching a dangerous subject, and he was easily able to maintain control in the classroom.

Sirius had replaced Minerva as the Transfiguration professor when she became headmistress. Severus had highly doubted that Sirius would be able to handle the job at that time, but that had been due to the negative bias that he had held towards the presumably guilty convict at the time. But, Sirius had proven to be an effective and dedicated teacher. But, Snape found himself wondering if Sirius would want to continue teaching now that he would be getting married.

Snape realized what a stress teaching at Hogwarts could cause in a marriage. The first few years of his own marriage had been rather rough, due to the need to keep Morgan safely out of the way. However, he also knew that having Morgan teach at Hogwarts, as the Ancient Runes teacher, was a godsend. It meant they could be together. Severus knew that Harry's marriage was not going well, and he strongly suspected that the long periods of separation were not helping. It might very well be that Sirius would look for another job that would enable him to devote more time to his family.

Harry had given up a career as a professional quidditch player to come teach flying lessons at Hogwarts. Severus knew that it was the emotional connections that had brought Harry back. He knew that Harry saw Hogwarts as his first home; Severus didn't blame him for wanting to come back.

Severus sighed as he continued to survey the assembled staff. The loss of Hagrid still caused him to feel a twinge of guilt. He still felt partly responsible for the death of the kind hearted half-giant. But, he was very glad that Charlie Weasley was the current Care of Magical Creatures professor. His years of working with dragons made him highly qualified, although he knew that it was hard for Charlie to be separated from his wife and their five young children.

The last few staff members trickled into the room. Severus didn't even try to hide his look of disgust over the fact that Trelawny was still there. He personally though that she was a disgrace to the institution.

Severus scanned the room, one person was still missing. He kept an eye on the door and wasn't surprised when a rather disheveled looking Neville Longbottom came hurrying in. After a brief hesitation Neville took a seat next to Severus, the only open one remaining.

"Running a bit late are we Longbottom?" Severus growled.

"I was preparing the greenhouse and I guess I just lost track of time." Neville hated himself for sounding so flustered. He was still very much in awe of the potions master, who was still able to make him very nervous at times.

Morgan leaned over Severus from her spot on the other side of him, "Neville, never waste time explaining yourself to this git, he's not worth it." She winked at him.

Severus glared at his wife, "I would watch what you say or..."

"Or what?" Morgan tried to look innocent as her husband continued to glower at her. She lightly rested her hand on his leg, biting her lip to keep from laughing at his expression.

Neville ducked his head and blushed slightly at the intimate nature of the Snapes' banter. He was thankful when McGonagall finally called the meeting to order.

"I would like to start by welcoming all of you back for the beginning of another school year," Minerva began. "However, I am afraid that we will have to take a few extra precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our students this year. As you well know there have been a handful of attacks made by a new group of dark forces, which we are currently assuming is made up of former death eaters, along with other supporters of Lord Voldemort. At this time I believe that Hogwarts is still one of the safest places to be. And, for the time being, I feel that it will be safe to start the school year without implementing any new restrictions on the students. But, the protection spells on the school have been reinforced, at the wishes of the Minister of Magic, and I would like to have a few extra patrollers out at night. Are there any questions or concerns anyone wishes to express." Minerva let the stressed silence hang in the air for a moment. She desperately hoped that there would be no problems this year, "as there are no questions let us move on to the next topic."

Kamen, Dierna, and Serena headed back to the Gryffindor tower, after being kicked out of the Great Hall by Argus Filch who had accused them of trying to cause trouble.

"This is cracked!" Kamen kicked at the wall, "we're the only ones here, we should have the run of the school, but instead we get banished to our common room by a janitor on a power trip. I'm going to find a way to get back at Filch for this."

Dierna grinned, "I'm sure that shouldn't pose too much of a challenge for you. So, what are we going to do now?"

"Kamen stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady, "I don't know what you're going to do, but I am going to get started on some of the homework I have due next week. I still have three essays to write."

"Damn, I had forgotten about that. Why do they even assign us homework over the summer? It's a waste of time."

"You two haven't even started on it yet?" Serena looked at her siblings incredulously.

"No, I'll do it later." Dierna shrugged.

"Just who I was looking for! I was wondering if I could get some help organizing my classroom, any takers?" Remus Lupin was smiling as her approached his three students.

Kamen held his hands out in front of him, as if to ward off an attack, "no way, I don't do manual labor."

Remus chuckled at Kamen's vehemence, "fine, but I'll remember that in the future Mr. Snape. How about it girls? I'm sure you would love to help your head of house out." He made sure to stress his title.

Dierna rolled her eyes, "fine, but I'm going to expect some points for this."

Remus smiled, "I can't give Gryffindor any points before the term starts and you know it."

Dierna shrugged, "well, it was worth a shot. But, since I'm such a nice person I'll help out anyways."

Serena grinned, "I'll help out too, because if we're working for you Dad can't make us help set up the potions class room."

Morgan leaned her head against her husband's shoulder, enjoying the protective feel of his arms as they wrapped around her. They were sitting on the couch in the living area of their suite of rooms, enjoying a bit of quiet after what had been a rather hectic day.

"Sev?"

"Hmmm..."

"Never mind..." She paused, she wanted to talk to him about something that had been on her mind for the past few days but this just didn't feel like the right time or place.

Morgan smiled to herself as her husband's arms tightened around her and she snuggled herself deeper into his embrace.

"Are you tired?"

"No," Morgan's response was muffled as she buried her face in his chest.

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Sure," Morgan pushed herself back up into a sitting position. "Where are we going to walk to?"

"I don't know, maybe down by the lake. I thought a moonlit walk might be romantic." He stood up and pulled Morgan to her feet. Gently cupping her face in his hands he kissed her tenderly.

Morgan smiled, "you can never do that too often."

Severus moved his hands down to her waist, "I'm glad you still like it."

"Do I ever give you any reason to doubt?"

"No", he took her hand in his as they started for the door, "but I still like to hear that you enjoy it."

Dierna sat cross-legged on the floor as she sifted through the box in her lap. She and Serena were helping Professor Lupin clean out the large cabinets in the back of his classroom.

"What's this?" She held up a bronze arrowhead.

Remus glanced up from where he was working, "that is a cursed arrowhead, they were occasionally used in ancient warfare. If you shot it at someone they died, not matter where they were hit with it. That one is very similar to the one used to kill Achilleus. The whole myth about his heel is wrong. He was simply hit with a cursed arrow in the only place he wasn't covered with armor and that just happened to be his heel."

"Wicked, will this thing still work?" Dierna turned the arrowhead over in her hand, examining it carefully.

Remus frowned, "I think you better give that to me."

"That means it still works, doesn't it?"

Remus ignored the question and held out his hand. Dierna reluctantly placed the arrowhead in his hand after giving it one last close look.

"Have anything else dangerous in these boxes?" Dierna started sorting again.

"I'm not completely sure, just be very careful." He frowned, trying to figure out if he should let the girls continue sorting through those boxes since he was unsure of their contents.

Serena looked at Dierna and rolled her eyes at the way Lupin was acting. Dierna suppressed the urge to giggle, "He's almost as overprotective as Dad," she whispered back.

"I heard that," Remus smiled.

"Oh come on Lupin, its not that bad," Dierna rolled her eyes at him.

"That's Professor Lupin to you," he raised an eyebrow at her and tried to look stern.

Dierna laughed at his expression, it was very similar to one she often got from her father, "you are as overprotective as our dad sometimes and you know it. You should have kids of your own Professor Lupin; you already have 'the look' down."

He smiled sadly, "with my condition I shouldn't..."

Both girls were well aware of his condition as a werewolf. Serena cut him off, "that's no excuse. You only turn into a monster a few times a year, our Dad acts like a monster much more often than that."

Remus laughed, "Somehow I don't think your father would appreciate that comparison."

Morgan raised her face to the moonlight. It was so beautiful. She felt the warm summer breeze gently lift a few tendrils of hair off her forehead. She smiled as Severus came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist.

They had just gotten back from a long walk down by the lake. It had been so wonderful to just be alone with him. It seemed as though they never had enough time together.

Severus pulled Morgan back into him and gently kissed the top of her head, he breathed into her hair, "I love you."

Morgan smiled to herself; this seemed like the moment she had been waiting for. She had been planning the best way to ask Severus this question for several days now, she hoped fervently that he would be receptive to this idea; it had already firmly planted itself in her heart. "Sev, what is it that you always tell me makes up the three pillars of love?"

He tightened his grip around her waist, "I believe that the three pillars of love are frankness, kindness, and understanding. Why do you ask?"

"Well, because I've been thinking about something for awhile now, and I think that I should be perfectly frank with you about it."

"Mmm... and I suppose that leaves me to be kind and understanding." Severus smiled into the darkness; he knew his wife was planning something.

"Well, its just that I've been thinking, I'm only 39 and you aren't very old either, and with Viviane getting married, and this being Kamen's last year at Hogwarts our home is going to seem very empty next year, so I wanted to ask you what you would think if we, well... can we have..."

"No." Severus tried to ignore the shock that was setting in. He had to maintain his resolve on this issue, they had had this conversation once before several years ago and he would not give in.

"Severus, please, just hear me out on this."

"No, I will not agree to it. Ask me anything else and I will not deny it to you, but I will not let you go through with this."

"But Severus, think about how wonderful it would be to have a baby in our lives again. I want another child."

"We will not have anymore children."

"Why can't you be reasonable about this? I've thought it out, and this is something that I really want."

"Morgan, look at me," Severus gently turned her in his arms so that they were facing each other; "I nearly lost you when you had Nimue, I will not go through that again."

"But, Sev, that won't happen again." Morgan was starting to get desperate, she wanted this so badly.

"You don't know that for certain, and I'll be dammed if I'm going to go through that again. I sat by your side for days, not knowing if you would ever wake up. You will not risk yourself like that again."

"Severus, it is my body, please, let me have this. Let's have another child while we still can."

Severus tried to block out the feelings of sorrow and pity that were pervading upon him. He had to maintain his resolve on this one issue. "Yes, it is your body, but I am your husband, and I say we will not have anymore children."

"Do you really think you can control me like this?" Morgan's voice grew cold with anger; this conversation was not going the way she wanted it to.

"Do you realize how selfish you are being my dear? You want this one thing so badly that you have not given any thought to the repercussions it might have for me or the five children that we already have."

Morgan wrenched herself from her husband's grasp and started walking away.

"Morgan, where are you going?" He took a few steps towards her.

"Severus, I just need some time to myself. Don't follow me." She walked off into the darkness.