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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With the Prince family ring in his keeping, Father Raven found himself facing the burdensome task of choosing the proper time and place to ask Mother Hen to be his.

Mating was not enough for Severus Snape.

Severus wanted his omega to be his wife, to be his, completely and unconditionally his, that was the only way that he'd be satisfied.

The act of mating and the bond that it would produce would be lovely, but Severus was seeking the greatest level of permanence possible.

Between mating, marriage, and the partnership that they shared over parenting their daughter, Severus couldn't think of any other ways that he could get closer to Harriet.

He was impatient to move forward.

As the days passed, he considered many different possibilities.

Should he take Harriet out for a nice meal and ask her then?

What would they do with Lily?

Should he buy his beloved an expensive gift and hide the ring within it?

What if Harriet didn't care for the gift and refused the ring as a result?

Severus frowned when he thought about that potential outcome.

The thought kept him awake at night.

What if Harriet did reject the ring and his proposal?

What if he had misinterpreted her feelings and her actions?

What if she was only showing him kindness and love because he had fathered her child and offered her safety?

Prone to painstakingly overthinking and calculating every possible scenario, the prospect of proposing terrified Severus Snape in a way that most other men couldn't comprehend.

As Severus sat cuddling Lily one evening while Harriet cleaned up after dinner with a few waves of her wand, he clutched his daughter a little more tightly to him with renewed determination.

He would keep Mother Hen and fledgling in his care, that was Father Raven's vow.

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After spending so many years with his life depending on his ability to keep secrets, Severus had become quite skilled at exactly that, keeping secrets.

Mother Hen had no idea about what Father Raven had planned, but as Lily entered into her sixth month of life, Mother Hen's body began to make some plans of its own.

Severus had never been near an omega long enough to notice the signs, but Harriet recognized them well.

She had stopped taking heat suppressants for several months before she had conceived Lily, in order to leave her fertility unaffected.

That decision had meant that Harriet had to endure several heat cycles writhing in her nest.

She looked forward to a different experience as she made her preparations during Severus's working hours.

Harriet had at least a week to wait, she knew that.

The sore breasts, the emotional swings that she tried and mostly succeeded to curtail, the low, fleeting cramps that rippled through her abdomen at odd and unpredictable times...it was unavoidable, her next heat was coming.

Harriet wondered if Severus would notice the change in her scent before it struck or if it would crash into him as violently as the cycle itself when it finally arrived.

She wondered if Severus would lay claim to her, as she hoped that he would, or if he would spurn her and send her away.

An alpha and omega mated for life, breaking that commitment was a serious taboo looked upon with scorn and shame.

Perhaps he would change his mind when presented with the actual reality of what their intimate association with each other could be?

Harriet disliked thinking about that.

She amused herself by replaying in her mind the look that she had seen on Severus's face when they had made love, when he had held her hand while she laboured, when he had met Lily for the first time…..

Harriet satisfied herself with those calming reassurances.

Mother Hen had never been in a serious relationship, really, but she didn't need experience to know that those expressions on Father Raven's pale face during those precious moments had been the look of an alpha in love.

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Harriet was grateful that her body held out until the end of the week.

She had just put Lily down for her nap on Friday afternoon when a fine sheen of sweat broke out over her skin.

Her cheeks flushed scarlet while her nipples tightened painfully.

Harriet blew out a breath as she staggered out of Lily's nursery and slowly crept into the bedroom.

Her cramping womb screamed at her, angrily roaring in protest of its emptiness as she curled forward in an effort to reduce the pain.

Harriet was well-prepared.

She had thoughtfully placed a bowl of snacks on the nightstand next to her nest.

Two goblets sat beside the snack bowl.

Harriet had enchanted both vessels to fill with water whenever either of them were lifted.

She had previously collected the many different covers, blankets, and sheets that she preferred to make her nest with and as she stood, trembling and aching, next to the side of the bed, she arranged them all in fluffy layers to her liking.

Once her nest was ready, Harriet drew the curtains, lit a couple of the candles that were left over from Lily's birth, stripped herself down, and crawled into the place that she felt safest.

She sighed as she rolled onto her back and parted her knees as the scent of the candles that Severus had made began to permeate the air.

Harriet closed her eyes and whimpered as she let her hand snake down to find her most private area.

She bit her lip so she wouldn't cry out and wake Lily as her fingers idly brushed over her most sensitive bits.

Harriet quickly became desperate to relieve some of the unbearable ache that pooled between her legs, all the way down from her heated core, while she waited on her alpha, er, Severus, to come home and find her there.

The candles' scent soothed her.

It was that same, pleasant fragrance that Mother Hen had breathed in while she birthed Father Raven's fledgling, but Mother Hen counted the moments until she could have an even more pleasant scent to focus on.

Mother Hen needed to smell Father Raven and have him there, in her nest, beside her.

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Severus had never lived with an omega prior to Harriet.

He was not in tune with her cycles or how her behaviors and scents changed as a result.

As he left Hogwarts that afternoon, he imagined the quiet weekend that he would surely share with Harriet and Lily, completely ignorant of what he would find when he returned to his lover's humble cottage.

Severus walked through Hogwarts, down the hill, and across the village of Hogsmeade with his steps deliberate and his black cloak billowing behind himself.

When Father Raven reached the home that he shared with Mother Hen, he frowned and unlocked its entrance nonchalantly.

As soon as he opened the wooden door and stepped inside, his dark eyes widened.

What…...was…….that…...?

Severus took a deep breath in and inhaled the intoxicating aroma that filled the dwelling.

The tantalizing scent shot straight up his nostrils and into his brain.

He barely remembered to lock the door behind himself as he stumbled forward.

Although Severus glided up the staircase with his usual elegance, his body felt as heavy as lead.

Severus discovered that the sweet scent became thicker and richer after he reached the top of the stairs.

Although he found himself swallowing frequently to avoid drooling, he retained enough of his rational mind to hastily peer into Lily's room.

When he spied his infant daughter peacefully asleep with a gentle smile on her face, he ducked back into the hallway and charged towards the bedroom that he shared with Harriet.

Severus already had his arm outstretched to open the door before he came remotely close.

When his hand finally connected with the knob, he threw it open with a haste that surprised even himself.

Across the room, in her nest, Harriet jumped and whined in unhindered excitement at Severus's violent arrival.

It was too late then, there was no turning back, her heat had completely overwhelmed her.

Harriet stared up at Severus from where she lay.

The sheets underneath her were dampened from her perspiration, her eyelids were heavy, half-lidded, and her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of scarlet…….

The sight alone of Harriet in such a state would have driven most alphas mad with lust.

Severus approached her with slow, confident steps.

He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow.

His dark eyes were narrowed in a look of absolute disbelief as he watched Harriet's hand move between her legs while she absently attempted to tend herself.

Harriet let out a ragged sigh of relief as her emerald gaze flickered over to Severus once he stood at the edge of her nest and she pulled her hand away from her womanhood.

In the glow of the candlelight, Severus saw that her fingers were slick with her own fluid.

As a barrage of that intolerably addictive scent struck him in the face, he finally recognized its source.

"...You're in heat." Severus growled at Harriet.

He had meant to speak in a gentler tone, but his words involuntarily rumbled from his throat as a husky accusation of an alpha ready to pounce.

Harriet gave a little whimper in response as she moved her knees apart.

She watched Severus's dark stare fixate on her dripping center as she opened herself for him and beckoned him forward, challenging him to cement the bond the two of them had silently pined for over the last few months.

The order fell from her lips as a pleading command, "Severus……….please….."

There was no arrogance or petulance in Harriet Potter's voice as she laid there and begged Severus Snape to become her alpha, there was only longing and desire.

Need.

She needed him.

She wanted him.

What was most delicious to Father Raven though was that Mother Hen chose him.

She hadn't selected him as fledgling's father but as she lay there in her nest, plagued by her heat, naked and vulnerable, willingly inviting him in, Harriet chose him to be hers.

Severus's eyes were dark but loving as he gazed at the omega in front of him.

Harriet smiled as she felt the soft weight on the bed when Severus crawled into her nest and crept his way towards her.

He moved forward as stealthily as a panther closing in on its prey.

Harriet took a deep breath as she stared up at Severus.

Mother Hen couldn't wait for Father Raven to devour her…..