Hey everyone! This story was is a Secret Santa story for the wonderful Claude Amelia Song aka Jenny from the Gryffindor team on The Houses Competition. Sorry, it a bit late! But Merry Christmas all the same!

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Warning for my aging Hermione up a bit, Royalty!AU, mentions of abuse, mentions of character death, and a slight bit out of character due to the aging up and AU used in this story. Word count is 5,572 words. I hope you all enjoy Severus's Happily Ever After.

Once upon a time, there lived a young man in a small village called Surrey. This young man wasn't like many other young men. No. He was much different than the rest of them. He was a wizard with a great aptitude for potion-making. One that his mother, who was a witch, was very happy to foster within the young lad.

The lad's father, however, wasn't very happy when he found out that his wife was a witch. Or for that fact when he found out that his son was following right along in his mother's footsteps. He was downright nasty about this fact.

But the lad, Severus, spent most of his days either with his mother, learning potions or outside playing by himself at the park. The other boys and girls could see how different that Severus was. They didn't seem to want anything to do with him. Or the ones that did only approached him upon a dare.

But then the worst thing imaginable happened to Severus. His mother. The one person in the world that he was truly close to. The one person in the world that he knew loved him with all her heart. The one person who protected him from his own father. The person he depended upon for everything died.

The causes were a mystery to everyone in the town, except for Severus and his father Tobias. But neither one of them would say a thing. Tobias because he didn't' want to go to jail. Severus because of the trouble that he knew that would bring. Both from the town and from his father.

"Severus," the loud voice sounded from the kitchen, making the dark-haired hook-nosed teen jump out of his bed.

"Coming father!" he called, hastily dressing to make it look like he'd been awake and working for hours before now.

When he reached the kitchen he could see that his father's mood was more fouler than ever. The older man sat at the breakfast table with his arms folded across his chest. The cold glare that he was staring at the empty table with should have been a warning to Severus but he was still so tired.

"Is there something missing from the table, son?" Tobias asked, looking hard enough to burn a hole through the table.

"I'm sorry, father," Severus said, going towards the kitchen. Maybe if he hurried enough and got his father some food that would outweigh the fact that it was late in coming?

"Why must I wait for my breakfast, Severus?" his father asked in that cold tone of voice that didn't beg to be answered. The sort of voice that if he got an answer would beget punishment of the harshest kind.

"I'm sorry, father," Severus said again, breaking eggs into a pan as he put in some toast. "It won't happen again. I promise."

"Isn't that what you said the last time this happened?" his father said, looking up from the table and glaring at his son now. "And the time before that? And the time before that?"

"I do not mean to cause you grief," Severus said, shredding some of the cheese into the eggs the way that his father liked it. "I try hard to do everything that you want. I try hard to do more than what you want."

"But you always seem to fail," his father sneered. "That won't do when your new stepmother moves in with your stepbrothers. It won't do at all."

"My new…."

"Stepmother and stepbrother. Yes."

"When do they arrive?" Severus asked, not understanding what he was hearing. Had his father just told him that he'd moved on from his mother?

"They arrive tomorrow and I expect everything to be clean and sparkling, do you hear me?" Tobias snapped. "I also gave your precious potions room over to your new stepbrother as a room for them to share."

"But father…."

"No buts." Tobias's meaty fists hit the table causing the cutlery that Severus set down to jump and one of his mother's fine china teacups to fall to the floor and smash. "You will have everything, including that room, cleaned before they get here or there will be hell to pay."

"Yes, father," Severus said, looking at his feet.

Of all the rooms in the house for his father to give away like that. Why did it have to be the potions room? The room that reminded Severus so much of his long lost mother. The room that he and his mother had spent so much time in. If his father was looking for a way to hurt Severus, he'd certainly found it.

Across the country in a beautiful palace there lived a young princess. She was one of the smartest girls in the kingdom. A thing that the king liked brag a lot about with his fellow monarchs around the multiple kingdoms of the realms.

The girl was so smart that she'd been able to complex spells and potions before she could do anything else. She'd read her first spellbook before she was old enough to know what most of the Latin words truly meant. But she grasped the meaning as she performed them and they worked their magic.

This was another reason for the king and queen to be so proud of their daughter. They were not a wizarding family save for the young princess. The princess was the very first wizard in their family. Not one of them had even suspected that they could have a magical lineage. But all the same, they were happy that their daughter, Hermione, was happy.

But as the young princess grew and grew, the more apparent that they needed to find her a suitor. A person to stand beside Hermione when she came into power when her father died. But each suitor they chose for her didn't seem to be the right one. They either tried to outshine the princess at magic or they told her that magic wasn't for little girls.

"Hermione, dear," her father, said motioning her over to him one day a little while after her sixteenth birthday, "come and sit with me, please."

Hermione walked over to the table, still clutching the new book of magic spells that her father and mother had gotten their hands on. Sitting down and placing her book on the table in front of her, she turned towards her father.

"What is it you want, father?" she asked, concern rising in her voice. "Is something the matter?"

"No," her father said, putting a calming hand on top of her own. "There is absolutely nothing the matter. But we must discuss this whole suitor thing."

"Must we? I didn't like any of the ones that you and mother have brought before me so far. They either don't think that a girl should be able to perform the magic of the caliber that I do. Or they want to lay claim to our kingdom. Neither choice is one that I would willingly make for our people. I want to be a good future queen and that means having a good future king by my side. Not someone who thinks they deserve to be by my side because they are a man and I'm just some weak-willed woman."

The king nodded as his daughter spoke her mind. That was one of the things that he loved most about his young daughter. The fact that she spoke her mind and didn't let people walk all over her.

"Then what would you say we should do about the situation?" her father asked, picking his goblet of ale and taking a sip.

"Isn't it obvious, father?" she asked, sounding so much like her mother that the king's eyes started to shine with tears.

"What is going on in here?" the queen asked, walking in and taking the seat opposite of her daughter.

"Our daughter has given me a brilliant idea on how to deal with the suitor problem," the king said, smiling at his daughter. "I think that we should hold a ball and invite all the eligible young men of the country to come and speak with our daughter. From among them, she can choose who she wishes to wed. Was that along the lines that you were thinking, sweetheart?" He asked his daughter.

Hermione nodded. She'd always wanted to attend a grand ball in the Grand Ballroom. She'd seen her mother and father and grandparents before them, get all dressed up for balls. But she'd never been old enough to attend one until now.

"Then it is settled," the queen agreed. "We will send out an invitation to…"

"All eligible bachelors in the land," Hermione said before her parents could keep it to the ruling class and other lords as such.

"If that is what you want, my dear?" her father said, smiling at her.

"It is."

That day the invitations were sent out from the palace. They put on the door of every home in all the villages of the kingdom and for that matter the country. They were put in every pub, eating establishment. Any place that they could be placed they were. The ball was looking to be quite the grand one with many many people and suitors. But Hermione didn't know how she was going to be able to pick a suitor from all of them. But as her mother used to say, maybe she would just follow her heart?

Severus's life was a living hell now that his stepmother and stepbrothers had moved into the home he and his father used to share alone. His father used to take some pity on him before Majorie and her sons Robert and Carlisle. But now it seemed that nothing Severus seemed to do was right.

If Severus wasn't up by a certain time and didn't have breakfast on the table, he would get a sound whipping. If Severus didn't do the laundry with a certain detergent or fabric cleaner that his stepmother liked, he'd go without lunch. If Severus even thought of talking back he'd get a whipping and go without dinner too.

"Good afternoon, Severus," the owner of the grocery called upon seeing Severus enter. "It's always good to see you here."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Dumbledore," Severus said, trying for a smile that turned into a wince when someone accidentally bumped into him. "I'm here for the grocery shopping for the week. Do you have anything good this week for dinner?"

Mr. Dumbledore stroked his chin gently as he looked deep in thought. He then walked in the back and came out with the items that Severus usually picked. But there was also a bit extra too. Which Severus was grateful for. He always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to mealtime. There was either not enough or the less desirable portions were left for him.

"As always, thank you, Mr. Dumbledore," Severus said, paying the man and picking up the bagged items.

"Before you leave, Severus, take one of these flyers," Mr. Dumbledore said, adding the flyer to one of the open bags. "The king and queen of the neighboring kingdom are holding a grand ball in honor of their daughter. All the nice young eligible lads are invited to attend from all around the country. I even hear that some foreign lads will be in attendance too."

"I can't afford to go to a ball," Severus said, snorting at the thought of himself dressed up all fancy and at the palace. Let alone the thought of him talking to the beautifully intelligent Princess Hermione. "Not with everything that I have to do to make sure that father and stepmother are happy."

"Tell them about the ball," Mr. Dumbledore suggested, a twinkle rising in his eye that screamed of mischief. "Perhaps you could tell them it would be in everyone's best interest to attend the ball?"

That hadn't crossed Severus's mind. All he'd thought of was trying to convince his father and stepmother to allow him to go. If everyone went then they were sure to have to allow him to go as well. Or at least that was what he was hoping.

With another thank you and goodbye to Mr. Dumbledore, Severus ran out of the store making sure to be careful with groceries. He couldn't wait to get home and try his best to convince his "family" to go to the ball. But how?

It wasn't going to be as easy as saying it and making it real. His father wasn't accustomed to being told anything by anyone. Let alone being told to do something by Severus. As he unpacked the groceries and started in on his chores, he perused the flyer that Mr. Dumbledore had given him.

This wasn't just any flyer. It was a royal decree. Severus stopped sweeping the floor to take a closer look and read it over.

By royal decree of King Horace of Grangerland,

There is to be a royal ball held in honor of the Princess Hermione. Both to celebrate her sixteenth birthday and find to her royal majesty a suitor. All are required to attend in their best and most formal wear. No exceptions.

"No exceptions," Severus whispered to himself in a voice that was basically filled with song. It had been so long since he'd been out in any capacity that wasn't grocery shopping or a chore. He couldn't help but look forward to this ball.

"What's that?" asked Carlilse, snatching the royal decree out of Severus's hand. "Mother, Stepfather, come and see what has brought home."

The lumbering footsteps of his father masked the quieter steps of his stepmother. Severus couldn't decide which was worse. Then again, he wasn't sure that either was worse than the other. They were upon the same level when malice was concerned.

"What has Severus brought home?" snarled Tobias, looking down the hooked-nose that both father and son shared. He held out his hand, not in invitation to hand the item over but as an order to do so.

Severus knew he had no other choice but to do as he was told. He put the royal decree into his father's hand. He couldn't help but see his stepmother's beady cobalt blue eyes light up with glee upon seeing the royal seal.

"It's from the palace in Grangerland," she exclaimed excitement clear in her voice. "What does it say, Tobias?"

"It says that upon royal decree we are all invited to a ball in Princess Hermione's honor," Tobias read, alighting upon the next few words. "They are going to choose a suitor from among the young lads in attendance."

"We must go clothes shopping at once," Majorie said, glee filling her voice as she spun around the room as though being twirled by some unseen dancing partner. "Carlisle, Robert, Tobias, let's go now. We don't have a lot of time."

"What about me?" asked Severus, making the gleeful dancing stop automatically, and a scowl turn in his direction.

"I suppose you can come too," snapped Majorie, glaring at Severus. "It does say that everyone is invited and it is a royal decree. We don't want to break a royal decree, even if means dealing with you."

Severus felt like he'd been slapped across the face but that didn't dampen his happiness. He was being included in this. Even if his inclusion was because of a royal decree and his "family" not wanting to be put in the dungeons. He'd take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday if it meant being included.

The days to the party seemed to go faster and faster and soon the grand day was upon them. Severus smiled as he set out his new suit that his stepmother had bullied his father into buying for him. It wasn't as fancy as the other boys had gotten but it was nice all the same. His mother had always told him that he looked very respectable in dark colors.

"Don't put that on yet," snapped Majorie, standing in Severus's doorway. "You still have your daily chores to get through. And royal decree or no, you will not be going if they aren't finished before its time to leave for the ball, do you hear me?"

"Yes, stepmother," Severus said, bowing his head and laying the suit down on the bed that he'd outgrown years ago.

"Consider yourself lucky to even be going," she sneered, "if your father had his way it would only be Robert, Carlisle, your father, and I going."

But as the day went on, the chores list seemed to grow and grow. The more the list grew the more ridiculous the commands seemed to get. They included going to town and buying a pet cow for Carlisle. Did he really need a pet cow when the barn was full of milking cows he could take as a pet?

He was finally coming to the end of the list when he heard a strange sound coming from his room. It almost sounded like...It was laughter and it was coming from the portion of the room that contained his bed. Putting on a burst of speed, he raced towards his room.

Tears stung his eyes as he saw Robert's pet cat, Sir Meow Meow, scratching his brand new clothes for the ball to shreds. Robert and Carlisle stood there watching and laughing. The anger rose high in Severus and he was about to lash out when Majorie walked in. Surely she wasn't going to stand for the new clothes she'd bought, even if they were for Severus, be destroyed without saying a word.

"What is going on in here?" she asked, looking between the three young men. "What happened to these clothes?"

"It was an accident, mother," Robert said, picking Sir Meow Meow and stroking him with a wicked grin towards Severus. "Severus must have left his door open earlier and Sir Meow Meow got in and he…." He ended the sentence by pointing to the tattered clothes. "It's a real shame that now Severus has nothing to wear to the ball now. I guess that means that he can't go, right, mother?"

Severus felt his heart sink. He looked at the tattered clothes on the bed and smiling boys and their beastly cat. Everything seemed to have turned against him in this house and he didn't understand why.

"No," Majorie said, smiling at Severus coldly. "He can't go to the ball dressed like this. Come along, children, we must dress and leave soon." She looked at Severus mock pity in her eyes. "If only you were more careful about the new clothes you would be coming with us. I'm sorry that it must be this way, Severus, but it must. We cant' be giving a bad first impression to the royal family. You do understand, don't you?"

Severus stared angrily mute at his feet as his "family" walked out the door to get dressed for the ball. This was supposed to be a trip that he would never forget. Not a trip that he would never get to take.

The door slammed shut as he was gathering his ruined suit. He wasn't going to be able to wear it or for that matter fix it. He might as well throw it out. He was walking down the stairs when the strangest thing happened.

Hermione watched from the stairs as person after person was introduced as they arrived at the Grand Ballroom. She saw many very handsome young men. Several of whom had already come seeking her hand. But not anyone who seemed to truly strike her fancy.

"Lord and Lady Snape, and Lady Snape's sons Sirs Robert, and Carlisle Hugh," the page said as a family of four stood at the entryway.

Their eyes seemed to find Hermione automatically. The two young men started trying to get her attention in ways that were way too immature for her to care for. She certainly wasn't going to be choosing either of these young men.

"Have you found anyone that has stricken your fancy yet, dear?" asked her father, standing behind her on the stair above.

"No," she replied, rolling her eyes at Robert and Carlisle Hugh's actions. "No one is quite interesting enough to catch my fancy yet."

"Perhaps we should go down and mingle with our guests?" her father suggested, stepping down next to her as they were announced and taking her arm. "After all, it would be quite rude of us to just stand up here the whole time, wouldn't it?"

"As always, you are right, father," she said, walking with her father down the stairs. "Hopefully someone interesting will show up."

Severus stared at what appeared to be Mr. Dumbledore standing in the middle of his living room as though he owned the place. But the strange thing was, he wasn't dressed the way that Mr. Dumbledore usually dressed.

"Mr. Dumbledore?" Severus asked, his voice shaking as he stared warily at this intruder that was wearing the face of the friendly grocer from down the block.

"Professor Dumbledore is more like it," the figure answer, smiling at Severus. "I have been watching you for a while now, Severus. You should have come to my school years ago for schooling in the wizarding arts. I'm sorry to say that your father and stepmother intercepted every way we'd tried to interact with you."

"But….I….I don't understand," Severus said, looking at the respectable shopkeeper. What was he saying?

"You were supposed to come to my school when you turned eleven years old," Mr….no….Professor Dumbledore said. "And did come for a while not that it was long enough for you to remember. Your father refused to let you come back after your mother's death. We should have come and taken you back but…"

"Why are you here now?" Severus asked, feeling slightly angry that even these wizarding strangers didn't seem to want to fight for him. "Why not earlier on? Why not any of the other times that I've complained about them?"

"It's complicated," Professor Dumbledore said, holding out his wand. "But we can discuss that at another time. You have a ball to get to, don't you, Severus?"

Severus gritted his teeth against the anger he was feeling and nodded his head. "But I can't go dressed like this," Severus said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "can I?"

"No, you can't." With a flick of the wand he'd pulled out of his sleeve, the clothes Severus had set down were floating in the air and fixing themselves. Severus stared openmouthed in amazement at what was happening.

"There you are," Dumbledore said, motioning for Severus to pick up the clothes when they landed back on the floor. "Good as new. Why don't you get dressed and we'll make a real appearance at this ball?"

Severus quickly raced off and dressed. Who was he turn down a free ride to the grand ball that would allow him to meet the princess? But when he looked down at the suit, he found that it was entirely new. The color was more tailored to him. The cobalt blue suited his sallow skin tone and dark hair. The cut of the clothes fit him perfectly as though it wasn't a second-hand suit and was made exactly for him.

"How did you do this?" Severus asked when he approached Dumbledore. "Why does this look like a totally different suit?"

"Because it is," Dumbledore said, smiling. "But the magic will wear off it at the stroke of midnight." He looked down at Severus's shoes and shook his head. He quickly pointed his wand at the shoes and said a bunch of words that Severus had never heard before. But when Severus looked down he had a nice new pair of shoes on.

"Is this...is this real?" he asked in a stutter. He couldn't believe how lucky was getting with this whole new suit and shoes. Even if it would leave him at midnight. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore! Thank you!"

"It is as real as you think it is," said Dumbledore, motioning Severus towards him. "Now let's get you to the ball. Hold to my arm and don't let go."

Soon there was a commotion heard from the front landing as two new forms showed up without warning at the top of the stairs. One of the forms whispered something to the guards that were closing in which made them back off. Hermione found herself intrigued. Especially when she got close enough to see that the forms were two men. One was older and she soon recognized him as her school Professor. The other was younger a few years older than Hermione herself.

The younger one wasn't what most would call classically beautiful. He was sallow-skinned and seemed to have never gotten out in the sun. His nose was hooked and rather long, not that that bothered Hermione much. His dark hair hung in curtains around his head. She could tell that it wasn't used to be this clean. But something about this young man's eyes made her want to get to know him more.

She found herself walking up to him and introducing herself with a smile. "Hello," she said, smiling a smile that reached her brown eyes.

"Hello," he said, nervously as he was introduced by his full name. He could already see Majorie and his father glaring at the attention the princess was showering him with. "I am Severus Snape. You must be Princess Hermione."

"I am," she said, holding out her arm for him to take. "I would really like to share this first dance with you if you want to?"

"I would love that," Severus said.

He took the princess in his arms the way that he remembers seeing his mother and father dance in happier times. Not his stepmother and father. They never seemed to dance or be happy at all. But his mother and father were always happy before he found out she was a witch and these were the times he was referencing with his dancing techniques.

"You dance divinely, Severus," Hermione commented as they went from one dance to the next. "Do you dance often?"

"No," he said, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks.

"That's hard to believe. You can't have gotten this good without ever having danced before."

The night wore on so fast and Severus wished that would never end. That he could magically make it so that midnight wouldn't come. That he could always be the handsomely dressed young man that he was now.

But like most dreams, they usually last and the clock was soon starting to strike the time. Severus could feel the clothes begin to shred slowly and took off like the devil was chasing after him. He was halfway down the front stairs when his shoe slipped off his foot. Cursing he continued on. Maybe he'd make some excuse to come back here and get the shoe tomorrow afternoon when the royal family went on progress? That way he could slip in unnoticed by the guards or anyone and slip back out with his shoe just as easily.

As he walked home from the grand ball, he replayed what had happened earlier in his mind. All of the things that beautiful, intelligent princess had said to him. How she'd made him feel. He would never forget this night as long as he lived.

He was halfway down the street when a carriage approached him, he was pretty sure that he knew who this carriage belonged to. Which only caused him to stop and look down at his feet in embarrassment.

"What were you thinking, Severus?" his father sneered. "Do you know how much you have embarrassed this family?"

"I'm sorry, father," he said, not bothering to look up at his father. "It won't happen again."

"That's right it won't," Tobias Snape growled. "You won't be leaving your room for the rest of your life."

"What?" Severus asked as he pulled into the car by Carlisle and Robert.

Hermione went in the direction that her best friends and bodyguards Harry and Ron had pointed in when she asked about Severus. She couldn't see any sight or sound of him. But as she walked down the stairs, she did catch sight of an almost jet black shoe that must have flown off someone's foot.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" asked her mother as she neared the princess's kneeling form. "Is everything alright? Where is the young man that you were dancing and talking with all night? He seems to be the right man."

"I don't know," Hermione said, not sure which question she was answering at the moment. Or for that if she wasn't answering all of the questions at once. "But I do know a couple of things. One he is the owner of this shoe and two he must live nearby if he didn't stop to pick up his shoe. Perhaps…"

"If he lives nearby, why don't we send out riders to try the shoe on the foot of all the nearby young men?" her father suggested.

Hermione nodded.

"We start the process at daybreak," she said, realizing that that would push back their leaving for summer progress back by a day.

The next day seemed to dawn far too quickly for Severus. But as he listened to noise rising from downstairs, he could catch bits and pieces of words. Most of it seemed to be about the princess and the owner of a shoe.

"No," came his father's voice from downstairs. "There are no other young men in this household."

"But what about…." Robert's voice asked before being cut off by his mother telling him to nevermind that.

"What about who?" asked the voice that Severus remembers belonging to Princess Hermione. "Is there someone else that lives here?"

"Our stepbrother, Severus," Carlisle's voice said, sounding regretful.

"Where is he?"

"Upstairs in his room," Robert said, making his mother tell him to shut up. "I can take you to him if you want?"

"I would like that, please," Hermione's voice said.

Soon the sounds of three sets of feet were heard walking up the stairs. Severus was more confused than ever now. Why were his stepbrothers being so nice to him now? They were always such horrid monsters towards him. Why would that change all of a sudden like that?

"This is Severus's room," Robert's voice sounded from the other side of the door.

The sound of the key being slid into the lock on his door and turning alerted him to the fact that this wasn't a dream. This was really happening. His stepbrothers were actually helping him for once in all the time they'd known each other.

"You have to try this shoe," Carlisle said, holding out the shoe that everyone clearly knew was Severus's. "Formality or not."

Severus sat down on the thin cot that he called his bed and slipped his foot easily into the shoe. Showing that it clearly did fit his foot perfectly.

"Why? Why are you helping me?" he asked Carlisle and Robert in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to hate me?"

"We only acted that way because our mother said we had to," Robert said, looking sheepishly sorry for their actions. "We've always wanted another brother and should have treated you better from the start."

"Can you forgive us?" Carlisle asked, looking down at his feet.

"I can try if you can try to treat me better," Severus said. "I've always wanted siblings too."

"It's a deal." The three stepbrothers shook hands signaling the start of a new day in their relationship and the change of everything for them.

"Now go and get your Princess, brother," Robert said, nodding towards Hermione who was watching them from afar.

Walking nervously over to the princess, Severus was about to speak when the princess beat him to it. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him gently brushing her lips against his own.

"Would you like to become my prince?" Hermione asked, smiling at Severus brightly. "And live happily ever after with me?"

"More than I can say," Severus murmured.

Severus eventually moved to the palace and married Hermione and became a prince. His stepbrothers, Robert and Carlisle, were forgiven not only by Severus but Hermione for all the crimes they perpetrated against Severus. Tobias and his wife Majorie were sent to the dungeons for the remainder of their years and no one was sorry to see them go.

"And Princess Hermione and Prince Severus lived happily ever after," Severus said, bending down and tucking his own little prince and princess and their cousins into bed. "The end."

"Is that how it really happened, Uncle Severus?" asked his nephew who was named after him. "Or is it just a fairy story?"

"It's both," answered Severus. "Goodnight, little ones. I'll see you tomorrow."

Severus smiled as he walked back to the room that he and his wife shared. Crawling into bed so as not to wake her, he smiled as he watched her sleep. He truly had gotten his happily ever after and that would always be one of his favorite stories to tell his children. No matter what.

I hope you all enjoyed Severus's Happily Ever After as much as I enjoyed writing it.