Morgan glanced over at her husband and frowned. He was once again immersed in the Daily Prophet and was ignoring her. "Sev... put the paper down dear, you can read it later," she purred.

"Give me a few minutes Morgan and you shall have my full attention."

Morgan pouted, she wanted his attention now, "please Sev," she pushed. When she didn't get a response she grinned impishly, and moved closer to her husband on the large bed and ran a hand through his hair. When that didn't work she moved her hand down to his thigh, pretty sure that she could get a reaction that way.

Severus calmly removed her hand, "Five minutes Morgan, that is all I am asking," he was trying to read between the lines of the Daily Prophet to find out what was really going on in the Ministry at the moment, he was more than a bit worried.

Morgan tried to get his attention again, this time she lifted a few strands of his black hair and braided them together, only to find her wrist in an iron grip.

"Do not do that, you will find yourself in a lot of trouble."

"Not likely..." Morgan huffed.

"Try me."

Morgan moved her hands towards his hair again.

"Do it and I will spank you," Severus threatened in a dangerously silky voice.

"I don't believe you."

Severus only gave her a mildly amused look as he turned back to his paper, "by the way, why are you wearing my shirt?"

"Because I like it," Morgan replied. She had all sorts of silky and rather scandalous pieces of nightwear that her husband had bought her, but she preferred to wear his button down, collared, shirts to bed. She loved the way that the soft cotton felt, and the way it smelled like her husband.
"See if you can't stay out of trouble for the next two minutes..."

Morgan kissed her husband on his cheek, then quickly added another braid to his hair and scrambled for safety. She squealed as Severus easily caught her around the waist and hauled her back to the middle of the bed.

"I warned you," he said in a mild voice as he swept her with his piercing gaze, taking in her disheveled hair and the way that his shirt had twisted around her.

"I'm sorry Sev," Morgan looked at him with pleading eyes.

"You certainly will be."

A small scuffle ensued, which involved much giggling from Morgan's part, and ended up with her laying sprawled across her husband's chest. As she lay there she listened to her husband's heartbeat, finding comfort in its steady rhythm. She twined the fingers of her right hand with those of Severus' left, while he gently rubbed her back with his right. She buried her face in his shoulder, tears streaming down her face.

"Are you crying?" There was no mistaking the wetness against his shoulder, but it took Severus by surprise.

"Yes." Morgan sniffed.

"Why?" Severus gently brushed the hair out of her face.

"I'm sorry Sev, my emotions just caught up with me. I just love you so much, and I'm so glad that we have this time together, just the two of us. It means a lot to me."

While Severus was left to ponder the workings of a woman's mind, coming to the conclusion that he would never understand them, his wife once again fell silent, and lay very still.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"Our wedding night," Morgan quietly admitted. She smiled a bit, "this is a little different, isn't it?"

Severus laughed as he held his wife close to him. He remembered their wedding night well. They had finally been alone in their bedroom, and Severus had been so ready to consummate the marriage. But Morgan, who was only seventeen, was overcome by her emotions. The stress of getting married on short notice, of leaving her little sister behind in the care of their neglectful father, and her own fear took over. She simply sat on the bed and cried. Severus knew better than to try and push her, and had spent the night holding her while she cried herself out. It hadn't been what he planned.

"You're not falling asleep on me are you?" he asked as Morgan became still again.

"No. I love you Sev."

"And I love you my little Morgan."

Nimue hugged her knees to her chest and stared blankly across the small room. She sniffled a bit, but resisted the urge to cry. She couldn't believe that Latis was dead; the old woman had been so nice to her. But the prophecy scared her more... they had said that Latis would only die when she had met Sianna's successor, the one who would help bring the worlds of priestess and wizard back together, "but what if I don't want to be a priestess?" she asked out loud.

"Sometimes the choice isn't ours to make."

Nimue's head shot up, and she wiped away a few tears as Kalliope joined her. "I'm so scared," she admitted.

Kalliope sat down beside the trembling girl and wrapped a motherly arm around her, "listen to me. Sometimes prophecies are all they are meant to be, and sometimes they're just a load of made up nonsense. If you are truly meant to be a priestess you will find the strength to handle the job, and the goddess will guide you every step of the way. What is meant to be will be, and what is not meant to be fades into oblivion. Worrying about it is useless, just a waste of time."

"I wish I knew..."

"Perhaps you can," Kalliope looked down at Nimue, "you could try to See what will happen." She retrieved a bronze mirror and placed it in Nimue's hand, "clear your mind child, and call upon the goddess to help you."

Nimue gazed at the smoky surface of the bronze and took several deep steadying breaths. She let her vision fall out of focus as she prepared for a vision, and for once, the searing pain was not present. "Please," she whispered, "show me what will come to pass..."

She sucked in her breath as a blinding light seemed to flash from the mirror, and yet she knew that she was the only one who could see it. She watched in horror as the light faded and left behind a scene of flames and black clouds, shivered as it became obvious that the hand of death had held the familiar street before her in its grasp. It was Hogsmeade, and it was utterly devastated.

Somehow this hurt worse than any physical pain that had accompanied visions before. In them she had seen Hogsmeade in flames, but never like this. It was like the whole town had died, a black shadow hanging over it.

She choked on a sob as she, through the vision, looked down on the charred remains of stores and homes, the black, disfigured forms that were once the shopkeepers and families, all bathed in the eerily green light of the Dark Mark.

"Please, isn't there anything that can be done to change this?" Nimue asked desperately, she was so wrapped up in the vision, in a trance-like state, that she didn't now if she voiced the question out loud or if it was only in her mind. She peered desperately into the mirror, although she had almost become part of the vision at this point. As she watched the vision shifted ever so slightly. The grim visage that had been Hogsmeade was bathed in a soft purple light.

And then Nimue crumpled to the floor, as the vision ended, and consciousness left her.

Sirius wrapped an arm around Elizabeth's waist as the walked along the warm sandy beach. He couldn't imagine her looking more gorgeous than she did now, in a bright sundress and barefooted.

"Sirius..."

"Hmmm?"

"Do we have to go back?"

Sirius laughed, he swore that since the marriage he felt at least ten years younger, "I have a feeling that we should go back to the children sometime..."

"I suppose you're right. But that was something I wanted to talk to you about," her tone turned a bit more serious.

"Something about the children?" Sirius clarified.

"Mmm-hmmm..." Elizabeth kicked at the sand as they continued to stroll down the beach.

"What is there to talk about?"

"Well.... I just want you to be prepared."

"What do I need to be prepared for? True, William and I aren't on the best of terms, but that is getting better and Willow adores me. There's nothing to worry about."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her new husband, "Sirius, you have some surprises in store for you. Your relationship with William is very upfront, I wouldn't worry about that, just keep trying and the two of you will work out your differences. But Willow..."

"She was so excited about having me for a daddy, what do I have to worry about? She's a perfect angel."

"Most of the time yes, but she is still a typical four year old. I want you to be prepared for what parenting is really going to be like Sirius, temper tantrums, bad dreams, the increasingly annoying word 'no', all from your sweet little angel. Think you can handle it," she teased.

"Are you saying that she's going to test me out?" Sirius almost looked hurt.

"Of course, you have always been the 'good guy' for her. As soon as she realizes that you won't let her get away with murder things will be fine."

"But I don't want to be the bad guy..." Sirius looked genuinely concerned as he turned his eyes on Elizabeth imploringly.

Elizabeth threw back her head and laughed, "oh Sirius, don't worry about it. You will do fine. Besides," she shot him a wicked look, "it'll be good practice in case we have anymore on the way...."

"Daddy! Did you bring Ralph back?" Lily threw herself into her father's arms.

Harry laughed, realizing that he played second fiddle to a stuffed llama, "of course," he smiled as he handed the toy to his daughter, who clutched it happily to her chest. "I better get a better reward than that for bringing back Ralph in one piece." He smiled widely as his darling daughter threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.

When Harry moved to stand up Lily caught him by the sleeve, "Daddy..."

"What is it precious?"

"Do you and Mummy love each other again now?" Her eyes were very serious in her six year old face.

Harry took his daughter's face between his hands, "of course, and we're working on loving each other even more," he pressed a kiss to her forehead as he stood up, rubbing his knees from the abuse kneeling on the hard floor had done to them.

"Are you two coming to dinner or not?" Ginny asked as she appeared in the doorway, "because I'm not asking again, so you're either eating with the rest of us now or you can go to bed hungry..."

Harry gave Lily a comically upset look, "do you think she would really let us go to bed hungry?"

Lily hugged Ralph close as she shook her head, "not me, but you maybe..." she shrieked with laughter as Harry swung her up off the ground, tickling her unmercifully.

He shared a look with his wife as he carried their squealing daughter into the kitchen. They still had a long way to go, but they were definitely making progress.

"So, are we all still on for the concert tonight?" Dierna whispered to Kamen across the dinner table when Remus got up.

Kamen nodded, "Celeste and Nick are going to meet us there, along with some of the other guys from school."

"How are we getting out of here?" Dierna stood up as Remus came back, "I'm going to go read for awhile," she said as she stretched her back, "Lupin, would it be ok if I took something to knock me out, I'm not feeling that great and I think I really need to sleep tonight."

Remus gave his consent, "of course, just let me know exactly what it is that you're going to take."

Kamen immediately followed Dierna out of the room, "we wait until he's putting Willow to bed, and make our break for town. It's only a ten minute walk so we'll be at the concert before he even knows we're gone."

"And what happens when our esteemed head of house realizes that five of the 'children' he is supposed to be watching are gone?"

Kamen shrugged, "better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission."

"Alright Sev, out with it."

"Excuse me?"

Morgan rolled her eyes, "I'm wearing a dress that borders on scandalous and you have barely looked at me all night, something is bothering you."

Severus sighed and took a long draught from his wine glass, "I was just hoping that the children weren't giving Remus too much trouble."

Morgan's gaze softened, "you were worrying about Dierna."

Severus grimaced as he realized how transparent he was, "yes, I was. I do not know if I can stand going home when she hates me."

"Oh Sev..." Morgan lay her hand on top of her husband's "she doesn't hate you. I guarantee that by the time we go home she'll be completely ready to forgive and forget. Although we could have saved this whole confrontation thing if you'd come to me first..."

"What do you mean?" Severus was honestly at a loss for where this was going.

Morgan shrugged as she took a sip of wine, "from what I understand, what really upset her was when you accused her of not being a virgin."

Severus felt his mouth drop open, "you mean, you know..."

Morgan gave her husband an exasperated look, "mother's can tell Sev, it's in their eyes."

Severus narrowed his eyes, "so, out of our children, which ones have..." he let the sentence hang.

Morgan studied her husband for a moment, "that's not for me to tell you. I was approached, in strictest confidence, on both accounts. It's over and done with, and since one of them is getting married in less than a week I have no qualms over it. And the other one will make better decisions in the future."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Severus said as he drained the contents of his glass. "Which one of our darling children is the 'other one', I'm assuming Kamen..."

"Well you assume wrong," Morgan gave her husband a small smile, "you can be awfully dense sometimes Severus."

Severus frowned, "well, since I can't imagine my little Nimue doing anything I would question," one look at his wife confirmed his assessment, "than that leaves Serena." His sighed, "I feel like we've failed..."

"Severus, don't you dare think that," Morgan squeezed his hand, "remember, Viviane is a grown woman, and we no longer can control her life. And Serena... well, she knows how I feel about her decision, it's been dealt with, and there's nothing more to it."

"I can't believe you knew about this and didn't tell me," Severus' expression grew dark.

"I had my reasons Sev," Morgan told him calmly, "the last thing your daughter needed, when she came to me crying, knowing that she hadn't made the wisest decision, was your explosive temper getting involved."

Severus continued to scowl at his wife.

"Please Sev, can we drop this now. I don't want this to ruin the rest of our vacation, I was thinking," she blushed a deep crimson, "maybe we could play a bit tonight..."

Severus sighed and brought his wife's hand to his lips, "of course darling, perhaps we could walk back to the hotel, I need some time to clear my mind."

"Coast is clear," William said as he joined the rest of the group, "let's get out of here."

After a quick look to make sure the hallway really was deserted Kamen, William, Serena, Dierna, and Sophia made their way across it, down the stairs and out the front door. They quickly made their way down the snowy streets of Hogsmeade towards the Three Broomsticks, which was already packed for the night's concert.

"Nick!" Dierna shouted as they got near, getting the attention of their friend, she fought her way through the growing crowd towards him, "Hey, you already found Celeste, lets get inside."

Celeste gave Kamen a nervous smile, "I'm not sure if I should be here, I'm not very good at the whole 'bad girl' thing, and I feel a bit overdressed..." she trailed off as Dierna, Sophia, and Serena shed their cloaks, somehow the three girls had come up with matching black leather pants and glittery tops. Celeste looked down uncertainly at her own jeans and sweater.

"You look gorgeous," Kamen assured her as he dropped a kiss on her cheek, "besides, don't worry about playing the 'bad girl' for me, I do enough of the rebellious thing on my own to fully appreciate an angel like you," he gave her a lopsided grin and a wink. "So tell me the truth, do you really like Mystic Acid, or you just come because I asked you to come?"

Celeste smiled and blushed, she was thankful for the dark lighting in the Three Broomsticks tonight. She shot a glance up towards the stage that had been set up on one side, and most of the tables and been cleared out for the concert, "I really do listen to them, but I would never have come to the concert if you hadn't asked me."

"Well, what do you think of all this?" William leaned down to ask Sophia as the band finished setting up.

Sophia's eyes grew wide, "I'm not sure, I have definitely never worn anything like this before," she had been more than a little skeptical about the leather pants, "but it's also exciting."

"I think you'll enjoy it," William smiled at her, noticing for the first time just how pretty the Greek girl was, maybe it was the Mediterranean eyes, or that flowing red hair... he pushed the thought to the back of his mind for the time being.
"Severus," Morgan held the flower he had bought for her to her nose, "I'm so happy we're here."

"Paris is beautiful this time of year."

"That's not what I meant," Morgan looked down at the ground, "I mean 'here', as in, our relationship. That even after all the stuff we've been through, I still love as much, no... more, than the day I married you."

Severus pulled her into his arms and kissed her roughly as they reached the hotel. He kept an arm snuggly around her waist as they climbed the stairs to their room. "Get ready for bed," Severus told his wife, smiling as he looked down at her, and ran a hand over her soft cheek.

Morgan gave him a quick kiss as she slipped into the bathroom, emerging a few minutes later wearing only a silk green robe, loosely tied around her waist, "are you ready for me Professor?" she said with an impish smile.

"I'm pretty sure I know how to deal with you Mrs. Snape," Severus assured her as he stretched a black silk scarf between his hands.