Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every week!
—————————————————————
Eileen and Tilly tended Draven, Brendan, and Oliver after they woke to the infants' pitiful whimperings.
Albus followed his grandmother and friend while they bustled around the nurseries and readied the Snape babies for the day.
In Severus and Lily's bedroom, the couple clutched onto each other more tightly as they listened to the expectant cries of their little ones quiet down.
Severus clutched Lily's full, warm breasts in his hands while he selfishly fantasized about draining her milk himself until she sighed happily as he massaged her tender mounds.
"Your pups will want to nurse soon, Sev." Lily whispered as Severus moved forward and pressed a very sharp, possessive kiss over the sensitive spot at the base of her throat.
Lily moaned softly and Severus pulled back to run his tongue gently along the fading redness of his gentle bite.
He was delightfully disappointed in himself.
Severus Snape was a man who usually could wield impeccable control in regards to his feelings and impulses.
Lily was the only one who could break him down and when that happened, his breaking was without fail….catastrophic.
Severus had spent Lily's entire heat at her side, in her nest, and inside of her.
He had left only when it was necessary to teach classes at Hogwarts.
At every given chance Severus had received, including during meal times in the Great Hall, he was there with his flower, morning, noon, and night.
Lily's cycle had nearly come to an end.
Her skin wasn't as heated, the flush had started to vanish from her cheeks, and her unignorable, primitive desires to couple with Severus were starting to decrease.
Severus hated to admit, as much as he enjoyed pleasing his omega, a part of him was glad that Lily's heat had begun to taper off.
It was exhausting for an alpha to care for an omega in their most vulnerable state.
For nearly a week, Severus had slept no longer than two hours at a time before Lily would wake him with a whine and pull him over top of her.
They'd mate, Severus would fall back asleep, and two hours or less later, Lily would be begging for him again.
The previous night, she had only woken him once, and as Severus kissed her lips gently that morning, he felt a rush of bittersweet relief.
Although her schedule had been far from convenient, Lily was his omega, and his omega wanted him…...that was the best feeling in the world to Severus.
"Sev?" Lily asked as they cuddled together and looked at the bright sunlight that peeked through the drawn curtains on the window.
"...Yes, my love?" Severus replied in a purr that sounded more husky than he had intended.
Lily's heat hadn't completely needed yet, and neither had his response to her intoxicating pheromones.
"Do you think……..do you think that the potion worked?" Lily asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I suppose we'll find out soon~." Severus replied as he let one of his hands idly drift over Lily's flat belly.
Although they had mated furiously, Severus had kept enough of his wits to give Lily a dose of contraceptive potion each day of her cycle.
They both silently hoped that the mixture would prove effective at stopping the seed that Severus had planted in Lily's womb from taking root.
Although, on a more primitive level, Severus and Lily both also wished that the potion would fail…...
Severus kept a hand sprawled possessively over Lily's flat abdomen as she turned towards him and they shared a deep, sweet, loving kiss.
Between holding her and languishing in her affection, Severus would have crawled over Lily again if a knock hadn't fallen on the door.
Severus's black gaze conveyed a deep sense of sad disappointment, identical to the one in Lily's green eyes as they pulled apart and stared at each other forlornly as Severus called out, "...Come in."
The door to their bedroom opened a second later.
The family came tumbling in with Eileen holding the twins, Tilly clutching Oliver, and little Albus trailing along beside them all.
Lily's nest immediately became a very populated place as everyone sat down and began to chat with the couple.
Severus had trouble looking his mother in the eyes as she sat with him and his omega.
He felt ashamed that Eileen knew full well what he and his wife had been doing and what may be the outcome.
As Severus watched his three youngest children, he frowned to himself.
Lily seemed happy, but he saw the tiredness in her eyes as the twins clamped down on the nipples that he had just spent the night abusing with his lips and fingers.
Severus wouldn't mind another child one day, but hopefully, that contraceptive potion had been effective.
His beloved Lily was too exhausted for another pregnancy.
—————————————————————
Harriet didn't understand why her father seemed to be in such a good mood the day that he and Lily found out her womb had stayed empty after they had spent her heat passionately locked in each other's arms.
Harriet was only glad that her mother seemed to be feeling better at last.
The final weeks until summer quietly rolled by.
When the anticipated season finally arrived, Harriet gladly returned home, but she battled the sadness of bidding her friends at Hogwarts goodbye for a few months.
Harriet had been very pleased when Ron and Hermione's letters started to arrive in the mornings, to which she quickly responded.
She had visited her family on weekends during the school year, but her time had always been limited and she thoroughly enjoyed her extended holiday at home.
Harriet went shopping with Lily and played with Albus.
She helped care for her baby brothers and let her mother give her a few lessons on cooking and housekeeping.
During that summer, Severus also had the privilege of being home more often.
He spent his time reading to his children or playing a game of chess with Harriet or Albus, when he wasn't cuddling Lily or holding Oliver, Brendan, and Draven.
Harriet grew that season and as autumn approached, she needed some new clothes for the coming school year, along with her books and supplies.
To purchase those things, Severus and Lily took their daughter to Diagon Alley shortly before Hogwarts' next term began.
The Snapes had allowed Albus to come too, but the babies stayed home under Tilly's watchful care.
Severus and Lily knew the crowded streets and throngs of pushing, shoving people in the busy shops wouldn't be an appropriate environment for infants.
That shopping trip was Albus's first visit to Diagon Alley and the little boy looked around at everything with his eyes wide in curious wonder.
Harriet's new clothes were purchased, along with the potion ingredients that Severus knew she would need, a few supplies for Transfiguration and Herbology, parchment, and a couple of new quills.
Soon the only thing left that Harriet needed for her second year at Hogwarts was the assigned texts.
Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore in Diagon Alley was bustlingly busy that day.
Severus scowled when he and his family arrived and saw that the queue to get into the shop stretched all the way outside.
Harriet and Albus blinked at each other.
When the Snapes slowly made their way closer to the door, they were able to look into the window and see a blonde-haired man in expensive, fine robes standing at the back of the shop as he waited to autograph the next lucky customer's book.
When Severus realized that the blonde man's presence was the cause of the lengthy line, he let out a low sigh under his breath.
"What's the matter, Sev?" Lily asked as she glanced through the window at the blonde man then back at her alpha.
"...That buffoon in the shop," Severus said as he gave a slight nod towards the blonde man, "...is Gilderoy Lockhart. A supposedly accomplished wizard who's managed to bamboozle Dumbledore into hiring him as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor…….I, for one, am not entirely convinced of his talents."
Harriet and Albus listened to their father as they gazed through the glass at the famous, well-dressed wizard of which he spoke.
Harriet got an odd, jittery feeling as she looked at her future professor and for some reason, she felt her cheeks pinken.
Severus didn't notice Harriet's reaction, he was too focused on gauging Lily's.
"They say that omegas often fancy him." Severus said to his wife in a low drawl as he watched Lily gaze through the glass at his potential rival.
"Others, perhaps." Lily said quickly as she turned to look at Severus.
"Are you resistant to his magnitudinous charms, then, my love?" Severus asked as Lily stepped towards him while they waited in line.
"I belong to you, Sev." Lily smiled as she laid a hand on Severus's cheek and gazed deeply into his black eyes, "...And you belong to me."
Severus preened as he leaned forward and stole a quick kiss from Lily's lips.
Harriet would have grimaced at her parents' display of affection, but she was too busy staring at Gilderoy.
Lily was being truthful with Severus, she wasn't attracted to Mr. Lockhart in the least.
However, some time later, when Harriet's turn came to buy a copy of Magical Me, her new Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook, she could hardly speak.
Harriet took a trembling step forward and looked at Gilderoy with her green eyes wide behind her glasses as he flashed her a brilliant smile in greeting and called out, "Hello!"
Words left Harriet's mouth and mind.
Gilderoy glanced behind her and when he saw Severus standing there, he leapt at the chance to garner good publicity and engage in some self-promotion.
"You must be Professor Snape's daughter!" Gilderoy chimed, "Pleasure to meet you, my dear!"
Gilderoy stuck out his hand and Harriet accepted as she reached forward, grasped it, and gasped at the firmness of his grip as they shook.
"Everyone, I'd just like to say how excited I am to begin my teaching career at Hogwarts! I can't wait to share my plethora of vast experiences with our youth! To demonstrate my enthusiasm for helping my students, I'm going to give a copy of my autobiography to Professor Snape's daughter…..entirely free of charge!" Gilderoy announced.
Harriet was pleasantly bewildered as Gilderoy pulled her in close and pressed a book into her hands.
A camera flashed as a reporter for the daily prophet snapped a picture.
Lily smiled, happy for her daughter.
Severus scowled, irritated that the oxygen in the room was being wasted on his flashy new coworker.
He wasn't the only one who felt that way, either.
From the second floor of the book shop, jealous eyes were focused on Harriet for the entirety of her interaction with her future professor.
That envious, grey stare followed Harriet as she and Albus weaved through the bookstore to browse for a moment while Severus and Lily became unwillingly embroiled in a chat of forced politeness with Mr. Lockhart.
"I can carry your cauldron for you." Albus sweetly offered as he looked up at his older sister.
"Oh, that's alright, Albus, but thanks!" Harriet smiled over at her thoughtful sibling.
She walked with her cauldron clutched in her hand after discovering that placing her books inside was the easiest way to transport them.
Harriet kept Albus next to her as they made their way back to the front of the shop to look at the children's books when Draco came striding down the stairs to the store's second level and addressed Harriet with an irritable scowl as he spat, "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Snape?"
"...Malfoy?!" Harriet blinked incredulously after she instinctively laid a protective hand over her little brother's chest in response to Draco's ambush.
Draco's scowl twisted into a sneer as his eyes flickered between Albus and Harriet, "Who's this, Snape? Got yourself a boyfriend?"
"Actually, if you must know, this is my little brother." Harriet snapped back with an irritated frown.
She glanced at Albus, then at Draco as she reluctantly introduced them, "Draco, this is my younger brother, Albus. Albus, this is Draco Malfoy."
"...Is he your friend?" Albus innocently asked his older sister.
"No." Harriet quickly replied.
Draco scowled.
"...You never talk about him." Albus whispered to Harriet.
"Probably too busy going on about Weasley and Granger, eh, Snape?" Draco hissed.
Albus's comment had twisted Draco's face into a pale mask of offended rage.
A weight on his shoulder silenced him as a smooth voice purred out, "Now, now, Draco. That's no way to speak to a lady. Where are your manners?"
Harriet kept her hand over Albus's chest as she found herself staring at a tall man dressed in black, with long, shockingly blonde hair, grey eyes that matched Draco's, and a black cane with a silver snake's head for a handle.
"Terribly sorry for the rudeness, my name is Lucius Malfoy…….I must ask you to forgive my son…...May I ask who you are?" Lucius inquired as he chivalrously smiled at Harriet.
Draco frowned as he watched his father.
"My name is Harriet Snape. This is my brother, Albus." Harriet said as she nodded at her sibling.
"Harriet Snape." Lucius repeated.
Draco stood over to the side with his frown still plastered on his pale face.
When he noticed that no one was paying him any attention, he took the opportunity to glance over Harriet and eye her from head to toe, but not in a mocking way.
Wasn't she wearing a lovely green dress that day?
"Draco's told me so much about you." Lucius informed Harriet with a grin.
Draco's eyes widened suddenly at his father in a look of surprised betrayal.
Before he could defend himself, Severus and Lily walked up behind their children after they managed to escape their conversation with Gilderoy.
"Severus." Lucius nodded at his old friend.
"Lucius." Severus replied with a courteous nod, "How pleasant to see you again. It has been some time, has it not?"
"Oh, indeed, my son and your daughter were speaking when I found them. Lovely girl, you have Severus. I'm sure she'll grow to be as beautiful as her mother…...And your son appears to be a fine lad, indeed." Lucius complimented his friend.
Lily smiled at Lucius and let Severus do the talking.
She had met Lucius Malfoy several times previously.
Unfortunately, Lily and Narcissa, Lucius's wife, had exchanged some…..differing opinions... in the past.
"My eldest son." Severus nodded proudly as he laid a hand on Albus's shoulder.
"...Your eldest son?" Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I have three more at home." Severus explained with a proud nod.
"How lucky you are, then, Severus. My wife's only given me one." Lucius quipped.
While the adults were preoccupied with their chat, Draco pulled out a small, black diary from the pocket of his robe and slipped it into Harriet's cauldron beside her textbooks……..