Disclaimer: Not mine, doesn't belong to me. Belongs to JK Rowling
and her team. I make no money from this story. All the characters but
Alicia are theirs.
A/N: This is the continuation of my 3 part Wanted series, and now part of The Snapes on-going saga.
Part I
by: ataraxis
"Let's go somewhere warm, sunny and as far away from England as possible!"
Harry was shocked to hear those words uttered by his husband, because from the look of Severus, you would think he never ventured more than three steps from his cauldrons and his labs.
"Are you ill, Severus? You're not suffering from some rare disease are you? Or perhaps being a bit Imperio'd by our daughter?" questioned Harry.
Severus sat up briefly and placed a pillow behind his back to get more comfortable. He cherished the quiet moments in bed with his love just before sleep, and tonight was no exception. Both had had extremely busy days and this was the first moment they had actually gotten to see each other. "No, I'm not ill or cursed, I just think it's time the family went on holiday. It's been a miserable, wet spring and we've both been working hard and spending very little time with Alicia. Molly has been looking after her more and more, which is not right. For her, Alicia or us."
Harry turned on his side and propped his head up, letting his free hand caress up and down over his husband's pyjama clad body, coming to rest occassionally on the well loved hip. "True, our businesses have been doing quite well. We could afford, really and truly afford, to take time away. So, all right then, where should we go, when and most importantly, for how long?"
"We should give everyone at least a weeks notice of our closing up shop for two weeks. I've been thinking about Tahiti. Sounds nice and tropical, don't you think?"
"Oh, yes. Warm and lush. Did I not tell you about my 2 hour stint there to get a native Tahitian snake? It was about 3 weeks ago. It was inbetween a jaunt to Tibet and Siberia, talk about a major contrast in climates. Tahiti sounds perfect. I'm sure Alicia will love it."
Harry leaned up real close to his mate for life and gave him a slow, deep kiss of appreciation. "Thank you, husband mine. This is exactly what the family needs." Before Harry could pull away to lay down again, Severus reached behind Harry to anchor the young man to him and he gave a low, sexy growl.
"Speaking of things we haven't done, at least in a while," Severus leaned back in and captured the other's lower lip and nipped at it playfully.
"Mmmm, yes. It has been a while, hasn't it. I'm game if you are?"
"More than game."
Severus and Harry, though both tired from their long day at work, set about making sure the other didn't forget about what brought them together in the first place, and they spent the next several hours relearning and remapping the other's body, not caring that they would eventually have to get up and start another exhausting day of work all over again.
Before they both slipped into a contented sleep, nestled in one another's arms, both sighed and thought longingly of the vacation awaiting them in a weeks time.
.......
"Molly, Severus and I are taking Alicia on vacation and we're both temporarily closing up shop for two weeks while we're away. Since we'll be gone so long, we're making sure that our employees get a paid time off as well." Harry turned the glass of juice around in his hands as he sat across from his adopted Weasley mum.
"Well, all right. Though, you know it's not about the pay, Harry." Molly sat with her shoulders slightly slumped at this unexpected news. She looked forward to coming here each day, because it gave her purpose. She thought to herself, 'What will I do while they are gone? Two weeks of an empty house during the day. I could go visit Bill, Claire and their daughter, Charlotte. However, Arthur would hate not going as well, and he surely couldn't get time away from the Ministry on such short notice, especially with him being Minister.'
Harry watched the dejected look settle over Molly and he felt bad. 'Maybe Severus and I would need a child minder for Alicia for the times he and I would go out alone. This is like a belated honeymoon for the two of us. I'm sure Severus wouldn't mind Molly joining us.'
Harry smiled and reached across the table to take Molly's hand, startling her.
"Molly, why don't you come with us? Make it a paid tropical holiday. Hmm? I mean Severus and I could treat the nights like a honeymoon." The sparkle in Harry's eyes just thinking about what he and Severus could get up to in the nights caused Molly to blush and grin.
"Are you sure, Harry? I wouldn't want to intrude on your time as a family."
"Nonsense, you wouldn't be intruding, you'd be helping. Please say you'll come?"
"I... I have to discuss it with Arthur. Plus, you really should talk it over with Severus first. I need to know that you both want this." Molly placed her other hand over Harry's and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"That's fine. You talk with Arthur to see if he can do without you for a few weeks and I'll go over the idea with Severus. Though, I'm positive he'll say yes."
.......
"No!" Severus gave Harry his typical glare.
"But Severus, listen for a moment to see why I think it's a good idea. Sit down wil you and hear me out." Harry patted the seat next to him. He hated when Severus paced. His robes would flare around him, reminding Harry of an angry bat swooping around the room.
"Molly can look after Alicia, especially at night, so that you and I can have a proper honeymoon. You and I haven't really had a chance to relax and have a night out in months. We've both been working so hard, that neither of us have had the energy. Plus, I trust Molly with Alicia. I can't say the same of some stranger the hotel might recommend."
Harry's argument was convincing, especially about the part of wanting a proper honeymoon and Severus agreed.
.......
Harry and Severus were waiting downstairs, already packed and chomping at the bit to get going. Molly had convinced Arthur to let her go on this paid holiday, reminding him that he could spend some of his evenings with Ron and Hermione or the twins, or even freely playing with his Muggle gadgets out in the shed without her having to nag at him, while she was away. So Molly was upstairs helping Alicia pack, as well as convincing the little girl it would be best not to bring her wand along, as it could get lost or broken.
Harry and Severus had not even bothered to enter into the fray on that subject with the little witch, as they knew they'd lose; Alicia had her daddies wrapped around her small fingers.
So while they continued to wait, the two cowardly grown men heard the distinct sound of Apparition and the tingle of their wards being entered by someone they knew.
Severus looked questioningly at his young husband, who shrugged in response and they both go up from the sofa to answer the door before their visitor could knock.
As the door swung open and to the sound of trumping little feet down the stairwell, Harry and Severus blinked in surprise to see Albus Dumbledore. An Albus dressed up even more garish than ever, if that were possible.
Before Harry and Severus could welcome and then question the presence of the old wizard, Alicia ran straight past her dads yelling, "Grandpa Albus, you came!"
A/N#2: I'm moving all my stories to my new archive called HPFandom . net. I will not be posting anything else here. I apologize, but this is in protest to FFnet yanking all of my friends work. I'll understand if you don't follow me to the new site, but I ask that you at least visit once. The HPFandom is open to any and all HP works, with no rating limit.