Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every week!
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Severus held Lily close on the bathroom floor while she wept bitterly in his arms as she sat next to the toilet.
He ran his elegant fingers through her crimson hair softly as he kissed the top of her head in a gesture of affectionate support and encouragement.
"Lily…..please, my love….don't weep……." Severus whispered to his mate while he gave her a gentle nuzzle.
Lily sniffed as she dared to raise her head and look up at Severus for a moment.
He frowned sympathetically at his wife as she lifted a hand and wiped a stray tear off of her cheek.
"I know it's for the best, Sev." Lily whispered while her emerald eyes continued to water with tears, "It is...really, I couldn't manage another one right now and money is…..is something to consider. Sorry, I….I guess it's just instinct."
"You don't have anything to be sorry about, my love." Severus purred softly as he laid a soothing hand on Lily's back.
"I love you…." Lily whispered as she curled into Severus as if she depended on him to protect her from some kind of horrible impact.
Severus's frown remained but Lily's words made his heart soar.
She had woken an hour earlier that morning and vomited, which had aroused both of their suspicions.
Although she had escaped her heat without a pregnancy, the furor of their intimacy had been so great lately that Lily had claimed to have a feeling that another child was on the horizon.
Severus had been quick to help his darling omega complete a magical pregnancy test with a few flicks of his wand.
When the results had come back negative and they realized that their meal from the previous evening was to blame for Mrs. Snape's illness, Severus and Lily had different reactions to the news.
Lily had not taken it well at all and since Severus had made the announcement, she had cried and wailed in his arms.
"Lily……" Severus purred in a voice barely above a whisper.
Lily looked up at him again as he added, "We can try again, you know, if you really want another pup….."
Lily laughed through her tears as she laid her head on Severus, touched by his patience and generosity.
Not every omega had an alpha that was so eager to please, to bend to their omega's whims and satisfy their desires outside of bed.
Lily squeezed Severus gently while she sighed and answered, "You're so sweet, Sev…... I'm happy with our family now, it's not that…..I just….I…...I had a feeling and I don't relish being wrong, I suppose!" She finished with a chuckle.
"I am not 'sweet'." Severus frowned in protest.
"You are to me~." Lily smirked as she turned and looked up at him.
She giggled when he frowned.
Severus pretended that her laughter irritated him, but secretly, he mentally recorded the sound of Lily's amusement to comfort himself whenever he felt worry weighing on him.
"...Witches can bear children for many years." Severus remarked as he scooped his beloved flower into his lap and cradled her as tenderly as if she were one of their babies.
"What are you getting at, Sev?" Lily asked as she idly fondled the collar of his nightshirt.
"We're still quite young, my love. We have plenty of time." Severus reminded her in a purr.
A soft noise of tranquil relaxation escaped Lily's throat as she bent forward slightly and pressed her lips against Severus's.
They kissed sweetly while Lily let her arms drape over Severus's shoulders.
A contented breath left her as she sagged against him.
Logically, Lily knew that it was a fortunate thing that she had continued to avoid another pregnancy.
That didn't ease her primal sense of disappointment, though, Lily was an omega after all.
Severus was elated that his wife's womb was empty for the time being.
However, he did enjoy watching Lily mother his children, she was talented at it and the process only enhanced her beauty.
Severus wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of more Snape children arriving eventually…...
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Harriet had been very excited to begin her second year at Hogwarts.
She wore a bright smile on her face when she reunited with Ron and Hermione during the night that students returned to the castle for the new academic term.
Over at the Slytherin table, Draco watched Harriet with the hint of a satisfied smirk on his pale face as he reveled in his plans.
Slytherins would do anything to get what they wanted and Draco, the spoiled, only child, heir to house Malfoy and house Black, was no exception.
He had wasted his first year at the castle with ill-conceived measures to pursue Harriet Snape and win her heart.
Draco had already decided that his second year at Hogwarts would be different.
For his second year, Draco had arrived much more prepared.
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During that first week of school, Harriet dressed in her Quidditch uniform, joined her teammates, and followed Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's captain, through the castle and towards the Quidditch field.
Oliver was not pleased when the Gryffindor team nearly collided with the Slytherin players as they rounded a corner and suddenly faced each other.
"Sorry, Wood." Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain sneered, "We're on our way to practice too."
"That's impossible, Flint, we have the field to ourselves this afternoon." Oliver shot back as the two rival team leaders glared at each other.
"I have a letter…..." Marcus countered with a sly smirk.
Oliver scowled at his enemy while Marcus reached inside the pockets of his uniform and pulled out a rolled piece of parchment.
Oliver narrowed his eyes as he took the parchment roll from Marcus and read it out loud,
I, Professor Severus Snape hereby give my permission for Slytherin house to occupy half of the Quidditch field while Gryffindor practices today so that they may have appropriate time to train their new seeker for the upcoming game.
Sincerely,
Professor Severus Snape
Harriet frowned as Oliver rolled up the scroll and sniffed at Marcus while he asked, "You've got a new seeker this year, eh? Who?"
Marcus moved aside as Draco stepped past the Slytherin players to stand proudly next to him.
A smirk curled Draco's lips as his gaze fell on Harriet.
Her emerald eyes widened for a moment, but they quickly narrowed as she called out, "Malfoy!"
Draco held his cocky sneer, even though the disdain in Harriet's voice made him want to flinch.
"That's not the only thing that's new this year, Snape." Draco teased as he gripped his broom more tightly in his fist.
Oliver, Harriet, and the rest of the Gryffindor team frowned as they noticed the Nimbus 2001 broomsticks that the entire Slytherin team carried.
"How did you get those?" Oliver asked Marcus with an unamused laugh.
"They were a gift from Draco's father," Marcus sneered.
Marcus Flint's expression matched Draco's as both boys wore a look of pure, haughty arrogance.
In the background of the courtyard, Ron and Hermione frowned.
Hermione started to move forward when she saw Harriet take a step towards Draco, but Ron reached out and held her back.
Hermione glanced over at Ron, who shook his head in disapproval of her desire to intervene.
Draco kept his smirk as Harriet stared him down and spat, "At least everyone on Gryffindor's team got in on pure talent, we didn't have our parents buy our way on the team."
"Just think, Snape……." Draco teased as he grinned and shrugged aside Harriet's spiteful remark, "If you and I were friends, if you'd have been sorted into the right house, you'd have a Nimbus 2001 right now!"
Harriet took another step towards Draco with the intention of firing back an insult, but Wood put his hand on her shoulder and nodded at Marcus as he spoke, "Very well…….I'll leave it to you to set up the barrier then, Flint."
Sharing a Quidditch field for practice was not ideal, but there was a fairly simple spell the captains could use for such an occasion that would divide the field into halves.
"My pleasure, Wood." Marcus sneered.
Oliver pulled Harriet and the rest of the Gryffindors away to continue their walk to the Quidditch field, but Hermione and Ron both noticed that Draco secretly watched Harriet leave until she disappeared from his sight.
His pale face had been twisted in a grimace of disdain, but that didn't allay the suspicion in Hermione's heart as she asked Ron, "...Did you hear what Harriet said to Malfoy?"
"No." Ron blinked.
Hermione furrowed her brow and asked, "Well….did you hear what Malfoy said to Harriet?"
"How do you expect me to hear from this far away?!" Ron exclaimed, "They were clear across the courtyard!"
Hermione made a noise between a groan and a sigh in her throat as she shook her head.
If Ron had been more helpful, she may have had a substantial bit of evidence to share with Harriet.
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Later that night, Draco sat by himself in the largely deserted Slytherin common room.
He stared down at the blank page that he had ripped out from the black diary which he had slipped into Harriet's possession in the bookshop.
Draco's heart was as heavy as his head as he mourned the empty lines that stared back at him.
How long was it going to take her?
They had been at school for nearly a week, she had possessed the diary for nearly two, and she hadn't written in it once!
Quidditch practice had been as dull as Draco had expected….at least, the moments when he hadn't been able to stare at Harriet had been.
He sighed as he contemplated how flawless his darling had looked while she zoomed around on her broom earlier that day.
Harriet was the real reason that Draco had joined Slytherin's Quidditch team.
To impress her, to be with her, that was really what he intended to seek, not just the Golden Snitch.
Draco frowned down at the diary page.
The Malfoy family owned a vast collection of Dark Magic Artefacts and it was in the hallway of the manor where those things were stored that Draco had taken it upon himself to…..borrow….the diary for his own uses.
His father had clearly said to him, 'If you write in that book, someone will write you back.'
Draco didn't understand exactly what those vague words had meant.
Lucius had failed to explain any further about the diary.
Draco saw the old, black book as a way to communicate with Harriet and open up a connection between them.
His grey eyes nearly popped out of his head that evening when he saw black ink finally spilling across the top of the page to slowly form letters.
Hello
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Harriet was worried about her upcoming essay for Charms, she was irritated with Draco, and while Hermione was busy helping Ron with his Transfiguration assignment, she looked for something to do.
Harriet trudged up to her dormitory room and rummaged through her things for a while.
Her eyes eventually landed on the black diary that she had stuffed under her bed and she frowned to herself.
Boredom made her curious.
Harriet reached a hand out, grabbed the black diary, and sat down on the bed with it.
She flipped through the blank pages and blinked for a moment.
She had never kept a diary before.
She didn't really know how to start.
Harriet leaned over, picked up a quill from inside the drawer of her nightstand, and very cautiously wrote a single word on the page.
Hello.
Behind her glasses, her green eyes widened as her words disappeared and a phrase in black ink slowly materialized.
Good evening.
Harriet was astounded.
After she recovered her wits, she dared to write again as she scrawled out:
Sorry, I've never kept a diary before.
A smile lit up her face as her words disappeared again and were slowly replaced with:
That's alright.
No longer held back by shock, Harriet asked the diary:
Who are you?
She waited for her words to disappear again and once they did, the reply came:
A friend.
Harriet tapped her fingers against the black leather cover and looked up before she gathered the courage to ask the diary as she scrawled out:
Can I tell you something?
She laughed as a happy smile appeared on her face after she read the words that appeared:
You can tell me anything.
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In the Slytherin common room, Draco faced the wall with his head down as he hurriedly replied to each line that appeared on the page.
His legs trembled where he sat as he struggled not to leap for joy.
His plans had turned out to be wildly successful!
Lucius had secured him a place on Slytherin's Quidditch team so that he could stay next to Harriet and he had been fortunate enough to spend his evening writing to her!
Draco couldn't believe how well the first week of his second year at Hogwarts had gone!
If only the Malfoy heir had understood the repercussions that would come from his and Harriet's bobbing quills…….