Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Ixora and Hugo returned to their families for Hogwarts' winter break but not without saying goodbye to one another first after the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
"See you in three weeks, then?" Ixora asked shyly as Hugo chivalrously handed her trunk to her.
"Maybe sooner……I'll ask my mum to write to your mum." He nodded.
"Brilliant!" Ixora replied with a wistful smile before she turned, left their compartment, and stepped off the train to meet Severus, who patiently waited for her on the platform.
Hugo frowned as he watched through the window while they both walked away.
As soon as he arrived at his parents' house, he eagerly made his request to Hermione.
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Severus and Harriet rose before dawn the next morning to get a head start on preparing breakfast to welcome Ixora home.
Little Astrantia slept, along with the rest of her siblings while Harriet and Severus bustled around the kitchen as the day threatened to begin.
Halfway through cooking the sausage, Harriet blinked as a tawny owl fluttered up to their window sill and promptly dropped a single letter from its beak.
"Sev…….?" She called as she took the envelope, read the sender's address, and eagerly opened it.
"What is it, my love?" Severus answered as he looked up from his work on the adjacent counter to narrow his eyes at Harriet while she read over the letter the envelope contained.
"It's from Ron and Hermione!" Harriet exclaimed as she glanced up at Severus with wide eyes and a look of happy shock, "They want us to come to the Burrow for Christmas!"
Severus shot Harriet a scowl of disbelief before he swept across the kitchen and read the scrawled lines over her shoulder:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Snape,
Harriet, how long has it been?! Professor Snape, sir, we hope you are doing well. We understand Hugo and your daughter have become good friends with one another. We apologize it's been so long since we've been in touch, but we hope you can forgive us? Please know that your family is invited to spend Christmas evening at the Burrow this year. If you're able to attend, please write back and let us know.
We really have missed you, Harriet. Where have all the years gone?
Ron and Hermione W.
Severus kept his dark eyes narrowed as his black gaze flickered from the parchment to his wife.
The expression of pleading hopefulness on her fair face made him struggle to resist sighing in exasperation.
"We can go, can't we, Sev?" Harriet asked.
Severus silently recounted his devotion to his bride before he reluctantly agreed, "...Of course, my love."
While he much preferred to spend another year with his family in their cozy living room, how could he possibly deny his darling wife the simple request of seeing her friends?
As Harriet threw her arms around him and pressed a sweet kiss against his lips, Severus already began to think of coping mechanisms to endure an entire evening spent in the company of the Weasleys.
Harriet had always been his least favourite student, although her friends Ron and Hermione had been close runners-up.
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On the evening of December twenty-fifth, Harriet arrived at the Burrow with Severus and their many children.
The Weasley family's home was already in a state of cacophonous chaos, which became worsened by the arrival of ten additional people.
Harriet greeted Hermione and Ron with warm embraces before she moved on to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the rest of their children, and their spouses.
Severus was not inclined to partake in familiar affection outside of what he shared with Harriet and occasionally, his little ones.
Instead of hugging or shaking hands, he merely nodded at each of his hosts as he passed by in polite recognition.
Once the Snape children had all become officially acquainted with the many Weasley children, they ran off in a tumbling herd to embark on adventures throughout the Burrow's many curious rooms.
Hugo and Ixora walked through the hallway upstairs while their younger siblings and Hugo's cousins played together.
Ixora had worn the new velvet dress she had received as a gift from her parents earlier that day.
The richness of the blue fabric made her emerald eyes seem brighter and as they chatted, Hugo was moved to let her know.
"I like your dress." He said as their conversation came to a pause, "It's very nice……….I mean, it um…….it looks nice."
A coy smile spread across Ixora's lips as she shyly glanced down at the floor and tucked a stray strand of long hair behind her ear.
"Thanks, Hugo." She answered with a smile, "You look nice too."
Hugo shrugged as he glanced down at his black trousers and pressed white shirt.
"Well, my parents you know…….It was supposed to be more formal tonight, I suppose it got a bit out of hand." He shrugged, not willing to admit that he had purposely chosen to wear his best clothes in front of his darling, eager to seize the opportunity afforded by a special occasion off Hogwarts' grounds.
"Yeah, I had imagined it would be." Ixora chuckled.
"Sorry, it's usually busy at my grandparents' house. There's just too many of us." Hugo said sheepishly as he glanced over at his darling.
"Oh, no, I'm having a good time! I didn't mean that!" Ixora laughed.
As Hugo glanced over at her, his attention was called away while she looked behind him, pointed a finger, and asked, "...What's that?"
Hugo turned his head and scowled at the slithering green vine that crawled along the wall of the Weasleys' hallway and over top of their heads.
"It looks enchanted……….." He frowned as he took a protective step towards Ixora.
She blinked as the creeping vine stopped its path directly above them while Hugo clutched her close, ready to defend.
From that green vine, harmless mistletoe suddenly sprouted.
Their eyes widened as they looked at each other before they practically leapt apart.
"Sorry!" Ixora called over to her friend while they both looked in different directions, "Mum and Dad would kill me!"
"I understand." Hugo nodded as he rubbed his neck nervously, "I can honestly say the same about my mum and dad."
Very careful to avoid the mistletoe, the two companions took a large step forward before they continued their stroll down the hallway.
Downstairs, seated on the bottom of the staircase as they continued to use their view of the hallway through a tiny crack in the wood, George's twin sons snickered to each other, pleased with the mischief they had very nearly caused.
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While Ron's remaining siblings were busy with each other and their spouses, he sat with Hermione, Harriet, Severus, and his parents on the adjacent sofas in the Burrow's main living area.
Hermione cuddled little Astrantia while everyone looked on.
"Oh, Harriet, she's absolutely perfect!" Hermione gushed as she glanced up at her friend in quiet adoration.
"Thanks, Hermione." Harriet smiled, "She's been a sweet baby so far, quiet and docile."
"A darling little girl." Molly Weasley cut in.
"Yeah……..exactly." Harriet smiled again.
"Ginny was the same way when she was a baby." Molly said with a reminiscent sigh as Arthur took her hand.
"Hey!" Ron frowned.
"...What?" Molly blinked, "You and your brothers were all fussy. All my life, I've heard how much easier boys are than girls and that simply isn't true…….at least, not every time."
"I think Rose was a bit easier than Hugo too." Hermione shrugged, "Though that may have been because he was my first baby and she was my second………Oh, nevermind, it's so good to see you again, Harriet!" She exclaimed as she changed the subject, "Sorry about the lost time…..I can't believe you're a mother of eight now! No wonder you haven't written to us!"
"I can't believe it either!" Harriet laughed, "It's my fault too, Hermione. I still could have written, but now we've gone and fallen apart."
"We'll just have to fall back together again." Ron nodded.
Severus scowled as he sat with his arm possessively around Harriet while he listened to the conversation.
Normally not one to engage in public displays of affection, Severus wanted to maintain a firm grip on his wife that evening to remind everyone present who she belonged to and just who exactly had fathered her many children.
"Yeah, of course." Harriet nodded, "Maybe we can get together to let them have play dates and things."
"That'd be lovely!" Hermione laughed as Astrantia looked up into her brown eyes and cracked a wide smile.
Harriet giggled as her baby let out a happy squeal once Hermione imitated her gleeful expression.
"Our schedule will be more free as the children grow." Harriet remarked, "Since we're done at this point!" She added with a laugh.
Hermione, Ron, and the elder Weasleys joined in for a chorus of chuckles, but Severus's scowl only deepened.
His omega's blatant disobedience irritated him.
Had Harriet forgotten their bond?
Had she forgotten he was the alpha and she was his mate?
As Severus took another sip from the punch goblet in his hand, he narrowed his dark eyes to slits as he gazed at his beautiful wife.
He had never agreed Astrantia would be their last child, though he silently vowed he would have the discussion with Harriet as soon as they returned home later that evening.