A/N- Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It was fantastic to see the return of some familiar names. Here's a gift for the festive season! Enjoy!

Later that night, once everyone had left, Harry and Severus found themselves in the bathroom, their sleeves rolled to their elbows, hovering over the baby-bath, each entertaining their daughter as she splashed about happily. With his right hand, Harry supported her back, whilst his left occasionally spooned water over her folds of baby skin. Severus assisted in gently washing her hair, and splashing her gently in retaliation for the water that now drenched his shirt, compliments of her enthusiastic kicking.

So far, the Slytherin had yet to hear his little girl speak.

"Come on…" Harry was still attempting to coax her, "Say it again for Daddy, please?" She just giggled up at him, kicking her chubby legs, sending more water flying over her parents.

The Boy Who Lived sighed, "Callie, baby, please? Convince your Daddy that I'm not going insane…Do it for me, please?"

Again, the infant merely laughed, and gurgled incoherently.

"Fine." The Gryffindor huffed, "Be like that. See if I care."

She gave him a toothless grin. Apparently, she really didn't mind whether her birth father cared or not.

Severus shook his head, and reached to take the baby out of the small bath, as it was losing warmth, and it was getting rather late. They'd all had a long, exhausting day, and her afternoon nap had been short-lived. He was almost certain that if they didn't start to put her down to bed now, she'd get cranky and keep them awake with her crying all night long. "Leave it for now, Love." He said to his lover, while wrapping Callisto in a small, soft towel, causing her to giggle at the tickling sensation he caused as he dried her. "She'll defy me in her own good time, I'm sure."

Hary shot him a look. "But, Sev-" He began, only to be cut off.

"No 'but's." The older wizard stated firmly, helping his daughter into an aqua sleeping-suit. "I assure you that she will rebel against me when it suits her. And then you will find, as she grows up, she'll be doing it much more frequently, and you'll be forever looking back to today, remembering a time when your innocent little girl-"

The younger wizard was practically doubled over from his laughter. "Alright, alright. I get the point." He managed, attempting to catch his breath. "I won't praise her and beg her to say 'no' to us anymore, okay?" His emerald eyes sparkled with mirth.

Snape sighed, and chose to ignore his young partner, turning his attention to the bundle in his arms instead. "Your father is an embarrassment, Callisto." He told her in a stage whisper, retaliating towards his lover's teasing. "You'd do well to remember that."

She beamed up at him, and reached for an errant lock of his hair.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, that's it!" He encouraged her playfully, "Pull his hair! Teach the greasy git a lesson! Nobody insults your father and gets away with it!"

Severus rolled his eyes, and Callisto gurgled away happily. Turning to look back his partner, the Slytherin grinned wickedly. "I believe she agrees that I have diplomatic immunity in that, Mr Potter. I am, after all, her other father, and your lover, meaning that I am allowed to insult you 'til my heart's content."

"Oh, is that so, Professor Snape?" The Gryffindor responded, folding his arms over his chest, and frowning slightly. "Well then, using the same logic, I can insult you 'til my heart's content…or-" here he smirked wickedly, "-I can just withhold the mind numbing sex until you give in and apologise."

Snape's eyes narrowed at his lover. "You wouldn't dare…"

"Wouldn't I?" Harry's tone was one of complete mock innocence; he even batted his lashes playfully to optimise the effect of his charade.

Severus chuckled lightly, "Alright, Potter, I apologise."

The younger wizard grinned, and moved to kiss his lover chastely on the cheek. "Knew you'd see it my way."

"Indeed…" The Potions Master smiled, before raising the baby in his arms a little higher, as if to remind Harry of her presence. "And now I do believe it is time that we get this one to bed. Merlin only knows what she'll be like if we leave it for much longer."

With a nod, the Gryffindor turned and lead the way down the hall, and into the nursery.

-?-

"Harry?" Severus asked softly, propping himself onto his elbow and staring into the darkness.

The younger wizard rolled over to lie face to face with his lover. "Hmm?" He queried, feeling rather sated from the last round of lovemaking.

Moonlight shone in through the window, bouncing off the angles of Harry's face, and the Slytherin smiled at his young partner's drooping eyelids and thoroughly kissed lips. He leant forward and placed a gentle kiss to the Gryffindor's forehead. "I have yet to give you your present…"

Harry's tired, yet extremely sated, features contorted into a visage of confusion. "But I thought that everything you organised today was my present." He smiled, "And I loved every second of it."

The older wizard gave his lover a small smile. "That was a portion of my gift to you, yes." He sat up and retrieved his wand from the bedside table. With a muttered charm, the room brightened so that he and Harry could see each other properly. Another charm saw the appearance of a small object into Snape's hands. However, try as he might, Harry could not take a good enough look at it to discern what it was.

"This," Severus continued, his eyes never leaving his young partner's, "is the most important part. I thought it best to give to you in private, rather than this afternoon."

Harry found a small wooden box being placed into his hands, and he gazed at it, observing the intricate patterns carved into the lid. Snape sighed.

"Well?" He pushed, "Are you just going to sit there and look at it?"

The younger wizard grinned, "Patience, Sev…" He turned the box over in his hands, taking in every fine line etched across it. "It's beautiful…" Slowly he unlatched the clasp, and opened the lid.

A small note, scrawled in his lover's perfect calligraphy, fell into his lap, distracting him momentarily from the rest of the box's contents. He picked up the parchment, and read the words, his lips forming an 'O' of surprise. Harry's eyes darted from the text to the two platinum bands in the box, and then to the impassive face of his lover.

"Merlin, Sev…" He breathed, hearing his own voice hitch. "Yes." He smiled, feeling himself getting over the initial shock, "Yes. Of course. I love you."

The older wizard let out the breath that he did not realise he'd been holding, and reached for the box, closing the lid and gently placing it back onto the bedside table, before practically launching himself at his Harry. "Love you too, Potter." He grinned, pinning the younger man down onto the bed with a kiss.

The note fell to the floor, forgotten by both parties. They were far too busy with other matters, after all.

-?-

Harry,

On this, your 18th birthday, I present you with my heart, my body and my soul for the rest of my mortal life and beyond. In return, I ask for the same from you. The bands are traditional bonding rings, which we shall both wear if you will accept my offer.

Would you do me the honour of becoming my bonded, my soul mate, my husband?

Eternally yours,

Severus Snape.

-?-

"No!" Callie yelled, looking extremely proud of herself. Severus sighed, hiding his smirk. The word had lost its cuteness days ago, when she had sat screaming it for a good two hours on end. The look of self-pride, though, was becoming a frequent accompaniment to the word, and reminded her parents time and time again that she was still a Malfoy by genetics.

"Noooooo!" She hollered again, causing her Slytherin Daddy to pin her with a half-hearted glare.

"I don't suppose you know any other words yet?" He enquired.

"No." She replied, grinning madly, before shoving her tiny fist in her mouth, causing saliva to dribble down her cheeks.

Severus sighed again, all the while rethinking his previous assessment that her first word had lost its appeal of cuteness. "I didn't think so." With a smile, he sat back and observed his daughter as she entertained herself on the rug, once again pondering on how fast she was growing up. Barely months earlier, she hadn't been able to support her own head, and now she was able to sit up by herself, and roll around without assistance. Soon she'd be learning to crawl and then walk…and, before he knew it, she'd be all grown up and moving away from home, probably to live with some arrogant little shit that didn't give her as much respect as she deserved and-

He cut his internal rambling short, and cursed his overly active imagination.

By now, Callie had moved on from munching on her hand and had opted to slobber all over one of the toys that Harry had recently bought her. And the young man complained that he was afraid Severus would spoil her! Hah! At the rate they were both going, neither of them would be able to blame the other for that particular crime.

Speaking of Harry, Severus thought as he glanced at the clock on the wall, he would be home within the hour, provided that his scheduled appointment with Lucius didn't run over time.

The potions master wasn't sure what he thought about allowing Malfoy to spend time with the infant. He and Harry had argued over the topic until they were both blue in the face, and he conceded that his young lover did in fact seem to know what he was doing. Besides that, he knew that his Gryffindor fiancé –the title still gave him a small buzz of pleasure when he thought of it- would never do anything that he thought would harm Callisto in any way, shape or form. Therefore, Harry had won out, and scheduled a talk with the blonde aristocrat, with the hopes that they could come to a truce, of sorts, in order to create the best atmosphere for Callie to grow up in.

The sound of the front doors opening and closing shook Severus from his thoughts, and he smiled as Harry walked into the room. "You're early." He stated, before rising to his feet and striding over to his fiancé, capturing the younger wizard's lips in a tender kiss. Pulling away, he became serious. "How was the meeting?"

"Better than I had expected." Harry shrugged, "Malfoy's….different to what I thought he was. I mean, he was a Death Eater…but when you talk to him, I mean really talk to him, you'd never know it. He seems so…human."

Snape nodded, "Understandable…"

"…So, yeah, we were talking, and we decided to put the whole 'attempting to kill each other' thing aside, and kind of start all over again…" Harry was saying, "And, because things seemed to be going okay…I invited him over for tea, mainly so he could meet Callie properly."

"You did what?" Severus asked, positively bewildered. "Whatever could have possessed you-"

The younger wizard scowled. "Sev, we've been through this." He admonished, cutting the Slytherin off. "Callisto has the right to know her family, and he genuinely wants to know her. She's all he has left of Draco…and I think it could be good for both of them." He sighed, "I know you don't like the idea…It's hard for me as well…but he's her grandfather. I think we should at least give him a chance."

Knowing that there wasn't a thing he could say or do to change Harry's mind, Severus nodded. He would just have to get used to having both Black and Malfoy around.

Grudgingly, he hoped Harry was grateful for his acquiescence.

-?-

That afternoon found Lucius Malfoy stepping through the hearth of Severus and Harry's living room fireplace. They forewent formal greetings, before sitting down on the couches, where steaming cups of tea awaited them. The discussion was awkward at first, though Severus and Lucius appeared to relax after a little while; however they both suspected that Harry had slipped some calming draught into their cups while they weren't looking.

"Anyhow, Harry was telling me that Callisto spoke her first word the other day," Lucius began lazily, reaching for a biscuit. He looked at his fellow Slytherin, "Is this true, Severus?"

The younger of the two nodded with a glimmer of pride in his eyes, "It is indeed correct," he replied. "Though her choice of word left a fair bit to be desired."

"Oh?" The blonde man was truly intrigued. "And what, pray tell, was her first word?"

Snape frowned, "No."

"No?"

The Potions Master nodded. "No. Her first word was a general refusal to do, or acknowledge, anything. She seems to have cottoned onto straight out defiance."

The aristocrat sniggered. "Definitely a Malfoy."

Snape smirked. "Definitely a Slytherin."

Harry rolled his eyes, "You know, it'd serve you right if she turned out to be a Gryffindor or, worse yet, a Hufflepuff."

Both men looked back at him, completely aghast.

"That was not amusing, Love." Snape stated, arms folded over his chest. Lucius nodded his agreement.

"There has not been a Hufflepuff in the Malfoy or Potter lines in almost two centuries." He glanced at his fellow Slytherin. "Nor has there ever been a Hufflepuff in the Snape line."

Harry's eyes glinted with curiosity, "Funny how you haven't said anything about a lack of Gryffindors in the Malfoy and Snape lines." He was silenced by two identical glowers. With a heavy sigh, he lifted his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll drop it."

A shrill cry, enhanced by the monitor charm, sounded out half an hour later, signalling the end of Callie's afternoon nap. Harry rose from his seat and excused himself, making his way out of the room and up the stairs. He returned ten minutes later, looking flustered, but carrying a wide-awake and relatively happy baby in his arms.

"Sorry," He began, placing the little girl in her Daddy's arms, "but she was being a real pest. Wouldn't let me change her." He grinned, "I still won."

Severus shook his head in vague amusement. "How talented." He drawled, "You can outsmart an infant."

Said infant had fallen silent, having noticed the other man in the room with her parents. She was staring at him intently, in much the same way that he was observing her.

Lucius couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his lips as he watched her. In the month that had passed since he'd first seen his granddaughter she had seemingly grown a fair amount.

"Hello," the blonde began, feeling somewhat uneasy with the situation. He wasn't exactly sure how to behave towards a child so young.

Eyes like storm clouds narrowed in his direction, clearly sizing him up. " 'Lo." She attempted to mimic him, grinning at the praise she received from her parents. The blonde man smiled at her, but refrained from making any sounds of congratulations towards her newfound word. She extended her arms in his direction, wanting to physically inspect the intruder.

Severus shot Lucius a look before allowing the man to take Callisto from his arms. The aristocrat ignored the glare, dismissing it with a wave of his hand once the baby was safely seated in his lap.

Callisto reached up at the older man's face and planted a chubby hand on his cheek. He stayed silent, his eyes studying her at all times, secretly awed by her inquisitiveness. She gurgled happily, babbling to herself in her own baby language while she examined this new person.

Lucius helped her stand up on his lap, indulging her in her inspection of his person. He instantly regretted it when she found his ponytail. He hissed in pain as she tugged happily on his long, blonde locks.

"Oh yes," Severus drawled from the seat opposite Lucius' own. "Callisto has quite the obsession with playing with hair; particularly long, easily accessible hair." He shrugged, "I forgot to mention it…So sorry."

Something about the man's tone suggested to the older Slytherin that his younger housemate was anything but apologetic. Lucius sighed, and turned his attention to the giggling infant in his grasp once more. His smile grew, surprising the other occupants of the room, though he missed the looks they exchanged as his attention was focussed solely on his granddaughter. Now that the war was over, and all his reasons for supporting the Dark Lord were gone, he would be able to start over and build a relationship with this child; the sort that he'd never had the chance to build with his son.

That was if he didn't strangle her first, he mused half-heartedly as she tugged enthusiastically at his hair once more.

-?-

A few weeks later found Harry getting ready for his first classes at the local wizarding university, and saw Severus preparing for the upcoming teaching year. The couple had previously spent hours arguing over the plans for the care of their daughter during the hours that they were both unavailable, and had eventually settled on allowing Lucius to watch her in those hours and, on the days upon which he was unavailable, the task would fall to Sirius.

"What, pray tell, are you doing?" Severus asked his lover as the man literally hopped past the nursery door.

Harry paused and doubled back, revealing himself to be carrying one shoe in his mouth, whilst the other was situated lopsidedly on his 'hopping' foot, its laces untied. He moved to reply to his fiancé, momentarily forgetting the piece of footwear being held by his teeth. "Mmmwunginwate." He said, earning himself an arched eyebrow in response.

With a sigh, he removed the shoe from his lips and clarified his previous statement. "I said," he began, in a tone that suggested Severus was daft for not understanding him the first time, "that I'm running late."

The potions master rolled his eyes, and shifted his daughter into a more comfortable position above his other hip. "Perhaps if you placed both shoes on your feet-" he started, his tone dry. Harry cut him off.

"Oh so funny, Love." He drawled, moving closer to kiss his daughter's forehead lovingly. "But I don't really have the time to muck around right now. I'm supposed to be in class in five minutes, and I haven't even walked outside the anti-apparition wards here." He sighed again, and raked his hand through his hair. "So, anyway, I have to get going..." He kissed Severus chastely on the cheek. "You're sure you're alright taking her along to the staff meeting?" He gestured to the baby girl as he pulled away. "I mean, four hours is a long time for her to stay quiet…even with a break for fresh air and food…"

Snape rolled his eyes and nodded. "I am fully capable of looking after our daughter, Potter." He sneered half-heartedly. "Besides, the other staff members adore her; Merlin only knows why," he teased, "And they wouldn't allow it if I appeared without her."

"Okay. Fine. Whatever. I've really got to go." Harry said, by way of reply, kissing each of his family members once more, and slipping his remaining socked foot haphazardly into its matching shoe. "See you both this afternoon. I should be home sometime after 4. I've still got textbooks to get at Diagon Alley…"

With a small smile, Severus nodded, and wished his fiancé luck on his first day of classes, then watched as Harry raced out of the door and down the hall.

"Merlin help the lecturers," he muttered under his breath, his mind racing with the memories of Harry's 7 years at Hogwarts.

Callisto merely giggled in her Daddy's arms, kicking her little legs into his side, demanding that she receive his attention again.

-?-

" 'Lo!" Callie cried, grinning madly as everyone turned to look at her. " 'Lo! 'Lo! 'LO!"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. The meeting had only lasted 23 minutes before his daughter had become restless, and now she was yelling up a storm at various intervals, preventing the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from making any progress whatsoever. "Callisto," He started, his tone stern and laced with frustration, "Stop this behaviour at once."

"Honestly, Severus," Minerva's voice interrupted from his other side, "She's barely eight months old; you can't expect her to understand you."

The Potions Master sneered at the Head of Gryffindor in response. "She's far more intelligent than you give her credit for, Minerva." He told her, matter-of-factly. "And I have no doubts concerning her understanding of a basic reprimand."

"No!" The baby echoed, hearing her Daddy use her other attention-attaining phrase. "No! No! NO!"

Her Daddy scowled down at her. "Callisto!" He growled, having lost his last ounce of patience. "Stop it."

The instant after he raised his voice at his daughter, Severus regretted it. The little girl's eyes began to fill with tears as she stared fearfully up at him. A few seconds later, she broke into loud wails.

"Bloody hell," He cursed under his breath, before lifting her tenderly to his shoulder.

"Severus!" The Transfiguration professor admonished, "Language!"

Due to his preoccupation with calming the distressed infant, the Head of Slytherin merely rolled his eyes in his fellow staff-member's direction, and continued to rub reassuring circles on his daughter's back. Minutes later, the baby was calm once more and was placed into a magical playpen in the corner of the room. From there on, the meeting progressed without any further problems, with exception to Severus' attempts to change Callisto during the break.

-?-

Again days passed, and soon it was time for Severus to resume teaching, meaning that he and Harry found themselves at Malfoy Manor, bidding goodbye to their daughter for the day ahead. Although they had experienced time without her before, this felt decidedly different to the times in Harry's 7th year, when the baby was still within close geographical proximity to them.

"…and if she gets hungry," the youngest of the couple was telling the aristocrat, "she likes to have banana custard as a mid-day snack, but not too much because we're trying to get her used to the mashed vegetables and-"

"For the last time, Potter, I am perfectly capable of looking after my granddaughter." Lucius interrupted. "And, where I lack in experience, I can always consult the house elves."

"Oh." Harry sniffed, "Well, yes, that's all well and good, but-"

"Harry." It was Severus to cut him off this time. "Time is of the essence. If Lucius has any problems, he can always send for me at Hogwarts."

With a defeated sigh, Harry nodded. "Okay, fine…" He looked back at his daughter, who was seemingly content with chewing on the lapel of her grandfather's cloak, and leant forward to kiss her goodbye. "Be good for your Grandfather." He instructed her, half-heartedly, earning himself a squeeze on the shoulder from his fiancé.

Straightening up, the Gryffindor looked back at the aristocrat. "Thank you again, Lucius." He said, his tone coming off relatively stiff.

Malfoy dismissed the thanks with a wave of his hand. "She is my blood, Harry. It is not a chore to look after her, by any means."

The younger man nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. He'd read between the lines, and realised that he and Severus were doing the right thing in allowing Callie and Lucius to bond. After all, besides the aristocrat, Severus and himself, the little girl didn't have any remaining family, really. She had plenty of adults that adored her, but there would always be something missing, in Harry's opinion.

Sometimes it depressed the Gryffindor to no end that his little girl didn't have a grandmother –or other maternal force- in her life. The thought that his own mum and dad might be looking down on them all from somewhere in the universe would lift his spirits a little, no matter how corny the dream might be. However, the past couldn't be helped, and he'd be damned if he would deprive her of what little relatives she had remaining.

A cough to Harry's right signalled that it was time they were off, and he bade his daughter and her grandfather goodbye, barely taking notice of Severus doing the same. A warm, slightly calloused hand took his own, and together he and his fiancé walked out of the door and off the property, to the end of the anti-apparition wards.

Reluctantly, the Gryffindor removed his hand from his older lover's. "See you this afternoon, then." He smiled, kissing his former Potions Master on the cheek. "And at least try to be fair to the Gryffs this year. You never know, Callie might just grow up to be one, yet."

With a final wink, and not allowing Snape to reply, Harry disapparated out of site and onto the grounds of the university.

A/N- Technically, this is the final chapter, though there is an epilogue to follow. Let me know what you thought...