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Severus decided to take Harriet's advice with a few subtle changes woven into her original suggestion.
He did indeed drop his tireless search for the villain that threatened magical Britain from the shadows.
Instead of chasing the Dark Witch or Wizard himself, Severus took on a more subtle approach with increased security and heightened vigilance undertaken by every Ministry employee.
Protective charms were secretly deployed throughout Britain, as well as recording enchantments that captured evidence of any Dark Magic used for later replay and examination.
Severus hired an entire team of qualified individuals who sat, day in and day out, to review each of those recordings, hoping that his newest nemesis would show themselves, unwittingly or not.
Dark Witch and Wizard after Dark Witch and Wizard were apprehended.
An abundance of criminal activity was detected and prosecuted.
As time passed, crime in magical Britain fell to an all time low, which the public gladly celebrated Severus for, eager to thank him for making the enchanted world a safer place, but Severus pushed aside their praise.
He felt that he deserved none of it.
He may have caught a hundred fish, but the whale he sought had still managed to elude him.
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In the flurry of activity and work, Severus never forgot or forsook his darling mate and their children.
His family remained the center of his life,
Severus spent hours each day with Maggie on his lap or Little Sev in his arms while he worked.
One weekend afternoon, during a blissful break from the office, Severus let Maggie nap against his chest.
He sat beside Harriet in her nest at home and watched in quiet fascination as she held Little Sev at her breast.
"Aren't they lovely?" Harriet asked Severus as she glanced from their son to their daughter.
"Not quite as lovely as their mother, but pleasant indeed, yes." Severus whispered in his low drawl.
Maggie furrowed her brow in her sleep as she listened to her father's low voice rumble from deep inside his chest.
Harriet turned her head in a silent signal.
Severus instantly read her body language and pressed his lips against hers to give his wife a deep, loving kiss.
Little Sev whimpered at the motion his mother caused by moving towards Severus, which she laughed at as she pulled away from her husband.
"I love you, Sev." Harriet whispered as she gazed at him with a happy smile on her face.
"I-" Severus began but Maggie cut him off.
"-Daddy….I can't sleep when you talk to Mummy because your chest gets all growly." Maggie pouted as her large eyes remained closed.
Severus blinked but Harriet chuckled as she replied, "Mummy and Daddy are very sorry, sweetheart. We'll be quiet, alright? Just relax and go back to sleep."
Maggie whimpered as she nuzzled Severus and drifted off again.
As he felt their tiny daughter relax against him, Harriet couldn't help but grin as she watched.
Severus scowled over at his wife, but she raised a finger to her lips as she whispered, "SSSHH, Daddy. We'll talk later. You don't want to wake your daughter with your growly chest, do you?"
Though Severus enjoyed family life, it did have its limitations.
His kiss with Harriet had sent his heart racing with longing.
If he hadn't had a toddler in his arms and she hadn't had a baby at her breast, Severus would have pushed Harriet back against the pillows and spent the afternoon showing his mate how much he cared for her.
Anguish manifested on his pale face for the rest of the day.
Finally, later that night, once Maggie and Little Sev slept peacefully in their beds, Severus enjoyed showing his wife the unending depths of his love for her.
Harriet's hands gripped the sheets as she and Severus spent more hours making love than they did sleeping that evening.
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The very next day, Harriet found herself up early as Maggie sat at the dining table and waited eagerly for breakfast.
Severus and Little Sev continued to sleep, but Harriet roamed the kitchen with Ingrid and Disencan, helping where she could.
The house elf kept making faces at Maggie and challenging himself to elicit a happy giggle from the little girl each time while Ingrid and Harriet enjoyed a chat.
"The son of my son seems less frustrated lately." Ingrid commented to Harriet while both women used knives to cut the pile of berries in front of themselves on the counter.
"Sometimes he's a bit high strung." Harriet chuckled, "Even though he puts on an outward projection of calm……That's Severus, I suppose."
"...He's begun to gather those weapons, yes? The armor?" Ingrid asked.
"The Hallows?" Harriet blinked, before she shrugged and looked back down at her work, "Oh, no….I dunno. He hasn't really done anything about that. I mean, I've got the Invisibility Cloak whenever he wants to use it. The Elder Wand would have to be retrieved by exhuming a grave, but-"
"-The stone?" Ingrid cut in as she stopped her work and scowled at Harriet with an ominous glare, "...Where is the Stone of Resurrection?"
Harriet stopped her work too and blinked at her husband's ancestor, taken aback by the urgency of her demand and the hostile scowl on her scarred face.
Ingrid relaxed almost instantly as soon as she realized she had nearly given herself away.
"I…..I dropped the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest, near Hogwarts castle, many years ago." Harriet frowned.
"Wife of my son's son, is it possible that the Stone of Resurrection may be found again?" Ingrid asked Harriet.
As Harriet frowned, her hesitation seemed to agitate Ingrid further.
She watched as her husband's ancestor bent down until she became eye level with her as she glowered, "Your husband needs the stone, wife of my son's son. His very survival may depend on his possession of the object…...Will you not help him obtain it?"
"Of course I will." Harriet frowned, "Perhaps you can help me look for it in the Forbidden Forest someday soon?"
"I would be honoured." Ingrid nodded after she straightened her spine to gaze down at Harriet from her towering height once more.
The two women resumed their work quietly for a few moments while they each contemplated their interaction.
Once Ingrid moved towards the door to gather a few more berries from the Snapes' expansive garden, Harriet called out to her, "About the stone!"
Ingrid stopped as she turned around and gazed at Harriet with anxious curiosity on her face.
"It's not like you think it will be." Harriet shrugged, "You can see them again, but that's it. They don't e back…..you know?"
"No, wife of my son's son." Ingrid said as a serious frown marred her scarred face, "I do not know."
Harriet sighed as her husband's ancestor left the house and closed the door behind herself before she stalked out into the garden.
While Ingrid went to gather the berries, she concealed the heavy tears that dripped down her ancient face.
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That night, Harriet sat in her nest with Maggie laid against her and Little Sev snuggled in her arms while he used her breast for a pillow as he drifted off to sleep.
Severus's black eyes glimmered as he watched his mate mother their precious little pups.
He became so engrossed in observing the sublime scene that it took Harriet four tries to finally get his attention.
"Sev?"
"Sev?"
"Sev?"
"...Sev!"
Her hushed whisper finally snapped him out of his reverie as his black eyes moved up to meet her emerald gaze.
"Come and sit beside me for a while." Harriet whispered as she nodded at him, careful not to move and wake their sleeping children.
Silently, Severus glided across their bedroom to deftly crawl into Harriet's nest and settle himself next to her.
"You are quite beautiful, my love." Severus whispered.
Harriet smiled as a small gasp escaped her throat at the rare bit of praise she received from her mate.
Between the smouldering yearning in his black eyes and the husky undertone in his low voice that dripped from his tongue like decadent velvet, Harriet resisted the urge to fidget restlessly in her nest.
If her babies hadn't been lying on her, she would have spread herself for Severus and invited him to fill her womb with another.
A tense moment of silence passed between them as Severus discovered that very thought in her mind as he used just a hint of Legilimency to determine if she hungered for him as badly as he did for her.
Maggie whimpered and nuzzled against Harriet while she whispered to Severus, "I think your great-grandmother wants to use the Resurrection Stone."
Severus's expression immediately became serious as he asked, "...The Resurrection Stone?"
"She was a bit too interested in it, I think." Harriet revealed, "Though I'm not entirely sure why she wants it."
Severus frowned as he thought back and considered what he had been shown of the past during Harriet's healing process.
"Do you know why, Sev?" Harriet asked as she studied the thoughtful expression on Severus's face.
"Perhaps……" Severus answered, "Though I have an inkling that she may decline to reveal her reason if we confront her….It may be for the best that we hold our silence for now….and let her reveal her truth to us….in time."
Harriet blinked before she frowned at her husband and asked, "Are you……Are you suggesting we just let her use the stone, then?"
Severus leaned in a bit too close to Harriet.
Her sweet smell mingled with the innocent aroma that came from their two, darling little pups.
The combined scents hit Severus squarely in the face and threatened to unhinge him as he gazed down at Harriet with pride blooming in his heart.
"I am suggesting…" Severus drawled, "That we heed your advice and let the threat reveal itself. If my suspicions have been correct all along, then there's a chance the Resurrection Stone may reveal a clue about what we face……or who….for now, however……"
Harriet watched as Severus leaned down.
At first, she thought he would kiss her, but instead, he moved to nuzzle her gently.
His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered, "Put my pups to bed, Mrs. Snape…….Your alpha has a far greater need for you now than they do…..I want you underneath me….nude…..spread….and waiting."
Harriet shivered in eager anticipation as her core warmed with desire.
As much as she loved her children, she could hardly wait to carefully place them into their beds, leap into her nest, and submit herself to her husband's desires.
Once she had Maggie settled in next to Rabbie and Little Sev peacefully swaddled in his nursery, Harriet joined Severus for the most intense night they'd shared since the conception of their son.
The Silencing Charm contained Harriet's cries as she writhed on the bed, held helplessly in place by the magical bonds Severus had cast around her wrists and ankles while he had his way with her.
Harriet's body convulsed underneath his painfully gentle kisses, touches, licks, nibbles, thrusts…..
She felt certain her alpha would reach the end of his endurance but as hour after hour passed, Harriet felt her surprise grow at Severus's insatiable appetite.
Her sweet milk kept him hydrated.
Her addictive scent kept him yearning for more.
Towards dawn, while he held her hips in his hands as she gripped the sheets with her face pushed against the mattress and her bottom high in the air, she heard the low groan he tried to suppress as he emptied himself inside her for the upteenth time that night.
The possibility excited Harriet as she considered it.
It had indeed been quite a while since Severus had experienced a proper rut………