Title: Meant to Be?
Author: Requiem of a Dream
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
Severus' POV
12/30
Harry is amazing with the children. He always knows what's wrong. I'm hopeless when it comes to trying to calm down a screaming baby. They just don't respond to me the same way. It's been five months now since Harry had our three beautiful children. They all have black hair, and Jamison and Cael have Harry's unruly hair, whereas Isadora has straight, manageable hair. Jamison and Isadora have the brightest green eyes and Cael has dark almost black eyes.
They have changed so much in the few months they've been with us. They've gone from little quiet newborns to explorative, crawling, and mischievous rug-rats. I was a little intimidated by three children but I've grown comfortable with it. I remember the day that school started.
Harry was so nervous. He didn't want to leave the children, even though it was his own Head of House that was going to be taking them for first hour. He was running about our chambers getting together a bag of stuff that the teachers would need for the babies. He put about three dozen diapers in the baby bag and at least twenty bottles. He then stuffed every corner of it with extra changes of clothing.
I don't know how but I coaxed him into taking a shower ad letting me take the children to Minerva. As soon as he was in the bathroom I left nine bottles in there nine diapers and three changes of clothing and put the rest of the things away. Then I got out the stroller and took the babies to Minerva's office. She greeted me at the door and took the babies and left me to go to my classroom. When I was walking away from her office I began to feel anxious about leaving my children with her; even though I knew she would take care of them. I finally made it to my classroom and began to prepare for class.
After my first class arrived, I forgot about my anxiety and had that feeling replaced with anger and despair. I don't know why Albus insists on me teaching first years for first hour. They always get under my skin. I made my way through the first three classes and the walked up to the Great Hall. I walked in ad saw Harry sitting at the end of the Head Table already with Jamison, Cael, and Isadora next to him. My eyes swept across the table until I saw Minerva, Filius, and Irma. I smiled and nodded at them and they smiled back, then I took my place next to Harry.
"I see that you are doing better than you were this morning." I said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean you running around like a chicken with it's head cut off."
"I was not."
"Yes you were, but no matter you are doing better. When do you have your free period?" I asked.
"Third hour. When is yours?" He asked in return.
"The same."
"This isn't good."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you will be teaching a class and watching three, five month old children." He said.
"I can watch them fourth hour and still teach my class."
"I'm sure you can but you've forgotten what class that is, haven't you?"
"Seventh year Gryffindor/Slytherin." I groaned. Harry just laughed and we began to eat.
When Harry was done eating he slipped his hand under the table and squeezed my hand. I looked over and saw that Jamison, Cael, and Isadora had fallen asleep in the baby carriers. Harry and I got up from the table and I grabbed Cael and Jamison while he carried Isadora. We walked out of the Great Hall and to our chambers. We spent about a hour and a half in there playing with the babies, feeding them, and changing them. Then it was time for fourth hour.
We put each of the children into their carriers and brought a blanket and a bottle for each child. Then Severus took me down to his classroom through a passage that was connected to our common room. We set up a play area for them in the corner across from Severus' desk and then laid them on the pallet of blankets. They fell asleep immediately, and Harry went to sit at his desk.
I watched the expressions of the students as they walked into class. Most of them were shocked and others just had unreadable expressions on their faces. I was quite entertained by the looks of dismay that I was getting from the Slytherins. They looked as if they were trying to condemn my actions, as if their opinions mattered to me. I just shook my head and waited for the last of the group to trickle in. Then I began class.
It was very quiet during class. None of my students made a peep. About half way through class Isadora began to wake up and get fussy. Harry was busy making a truth potion that I had assigned the class, so I had to go and pick her up. I walked over to the pen and picked her up, laid her on my shoulder and let her look around as I went about my work. A few times when students called me over I would move her over to my hip and when she got tired I laid her down again. This is how we've been dealing with having to watch the children during class. Sometimes Harry would get up or Hermione to pick up one of the babies, but usually it was me since I didn't have much to do during the class.
I remember the first time that Harry came up to me during class and took Cael from me. I was trying to give a lecture, and I was holding Cael since he was getting fussy. As I began the lecture, Cael thought I was talking to him, so he began to babble. I would have to stop and get him to quiet down then start up again. Harry, after the third time, walked up to the front of the class and took Cael from my arms, then he turned around and walked back to his seat. I think the majority of the class had gone into shock because they were almost silent. It didn't phase Harry or I because he was always taking the babies from me when I couldn't get them to cooperate with me.
Harry's POV
I love watching Severus trying to interact with the children. He tries so hard, just to usually fail. He doesn't let go of his mask, and the babies sense that, so they don't react to him. He helps out though. Always willing to help feed them, bath them or put them to sleep. And whenever we're in class he always picks them up when they get fussy, and he does his best to manage teaching and caring for the babies.
Severus is usually the first one up when the babies cry at night. He always goes in there first to try and calm them down and then if he can't he calls me in. And even though he doesn't show it as much as I do, I know he worries when we leave our children with the other teachers. I think the only person, other than me, that he trusts with our children is Molly. He sees her as their grandmother and so treats her accordingly, because he knows how much she would do for her 'grandchildren'.He's always thinking of their futures.
"What houses do you think they will be sorted into?" He asked me one day.
"Hufflepuff." I said just to annoy him.
"Seriously, Harry."
"Slytherin probably. The Sorting Hat said I should have been in Slytherin, but I didn't want to be near Malfoy so it put me in Gryffindor."
"Hmmm, I always knew that you were tricky, but I didn't know you had Slytherin qualities." He said as a backwards compliment.
"Although, they could all end up being muggles. You know with no magic ability at all."
"That would be more acceptable then them being sorted into Hufflepuff. But both fates are detestable." I just laughed and continued to do my homework.
I had fun with our children. And I finally taught Severus that he could be himself around our babies. He was finally able to drop his mask, and that was when he really began to bond with our children. And it made him more comfortable around other people.
There are times when I will hear Severus in the Nursery talking to the babies. He'll talk about the stress that he's been under, or about the worst class he had that day and all they do is giggle and clap; happy that their father is talking to them. After one of these 'talks' he is much happier and easier to be around.
Now it's Christmas vacation, and Severus, Jamison, Cael, Isadora and I are all at Snape Manor. We just took the babies outside for their first playtime in the snow. Jamison was the first one to pick up a piece and stick it in his mouth. He immediately took it out of his mouth and then stuck it back in again. He kept doing this until all of the snow was gone. Meanwhile isadora and Cael were busy throwing snow. They had the most fun throwing it in the air and having it land on their heads. After they were done playing we went in and sat by the fire while we fed the children. Then all too soon vacation was over and we had to go back to Hogwarts.
The rest of the year flew by quickly. Our children grew by leaps and bounds, and the NEWTS came too quickly for my liking. By I passed them all with either a E or W. Then it was time for graduation. We had a feast the night before we left as usual and there Albus announced who was graduating with what honors and achievements. Hermione was got top scholar, Neville was got Most Improved, Ron was got Best Athlete, and there were a few others mentioned that were from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw that I can't remember. Then the next morning we graduated.
It didn't go in any type of order, other than the fact that it went by house. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. Malfoy was the first to graduate from Slytherin and Hermione was the first to graduate from Gryffindor. I was the last person to graduate, and as I walked up to the stage, Albus began to talk about me. He told everyone about my life from the beginning to the present. Then he awarded me the Order of Merlin First Class for the defeat of Voldemort. Everyone applauded then we all walked back to our towers to get our things together and get ready to leave. I went with Ron and Hermione to say goodbye.
"I guess we'll be seeing you at the end of summer." Hermione said.
"Why's that?" I asked a little confused.
"Well because Ron and I were offered jobs here at the school. Didn't he tell you?"
"No he didn't."
"Ronald Weasley how could you not tell your best friend that we were offered jobs here at the school?"
"Because I was just going to show up and surprise him. That's why." He said defensively.
"Well that's great. What positions are you filling?"
"Well Hermione is going to be teaching Arithmacy, and I am teaching Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid doesn't enjoy teaching as much as he thought he would."
"This is great. I guess I'll be seeing you two at the end of summer then."
"Yeah we'll see you then." Hermione said. Then she pulled me into a hug. Ron and I shook hands and then I headed down to the dungeons. As I walked in the door I heard Severus' voice,
"Where did you disappear to?"
"I went to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione. But I didn't need to really because they are getting jobs here."
"Really and what positions are they going to be filling?"
"Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmacy. I'm sure you can figure out who is teaching what."
"Indeed. Molly Weasley has invited us to her house for a week, during the summer."
"When did you talk to her?"
"After the graduation ceremony. She came up to me and said that she wanted to see her grandchildren."
"Oh. Are we going?"
"I figured that you would want to so I agreed. She's invited us up next week."
"This is wonderful. Now you'll get to see how a family is supposed to interact."
"And what is that supposed to mean, brat?"
"It means that you don't know the first things about families." Severus just mumbled something then kissed my forehead.
"Are we living at the cottage or Snape Manor for the summer?"
"The cottage. I think it's much more like a home than the Manor."
"Well then we need to pack and move all of our belongings to the cottage. Nobody is going to be here at Hogwarts this summer. We all have lives now."
"Lets get started then." I said. Within a few hours we had packed everything, and had it sitting in the common room.
"How are we getting there?" I asked. "We can't apparate or floo."
"We are going to Hogsmeade and then take a small train, that leads to a very small town just a few miles from the Cottage. Are you ready to go, because the carriages are about to leave."
"Yes I'm ready." I pushed the stroller out of the room and Severus came out behind me, levitating all of the luggage. He locked the door and we headed off to the front of the school to go to our home.