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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Disencan and Severus agreed to look after Maggie and little Sev early one morning while Harriet went with Ingrid to retrieve the Resurrection Stone.
Harriet had intended to use a Portkey, but Ingrid guided them to the castle using a means of magical travel from ancient times that was not quite apparition but not quite teleportation either.
As they arrived on the hillside of Hogsmeade, Harriet dusted herself off and led Ingrid towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Don't worry." Harriet nodded at her husband's ancestor, "We don't need to go inside the castle or anything, we'll just have to look through the woods."
"There are trees all around us." Ingrid remarked as she looked at the vast area of land covered in foliage as they walked along.
"Yes, but I dropped the stone at a specific spot in the Forbidden Forest. We'll start there first." Harriet nodded.
Ingrid thoughtfully mused as they approached the leftmost edge of the forest and walked between the trees, "Rain, wind, animals…..all these things can move the dirt, the earth, plants, and stones, wife of my son's son…..How are we to know if the stone we seek is there or not?"
"Trust me…" Harriet said as she cautiously took one slow, careful step after another, "...I'll know it when I see it."
Ingrid frowned as she watched Harriet move ahead, "We will never reach our destination if you move so slowly."
"Sorry!" Harriet called over her shoulder, "I'm not sure if you're familiar with Hogwarts or not, but the forest next to it that we're in now is quite dangerous! There's centaurs and acromantulas and-"
Harriet continued her list as Ingrid increased the strides of her tall legs to bypass Harriet and charge boldly ahead.
"Hey!" Harriet called, "Wait! You can't go that fast! You'll run into something!"
"Tell me the way, wife of my son's son!" Ingrid shouted back, "And I will have us there in half the time!"
As Harriet hurried to keep up, she noticed that her entire shoe fit comfortably in one of Ingrid's massive footprints.
Harriet contented herself by calling out directions as she used the generous offer from the ancient witch to move them along a bit faster.
She knew that she wouldn't have more than an hour or two and it would be time to nurse Little Sev again, the increasing heaviness of her breasts reminded her of that.
Ingrid ushered them along with great speed, though neither she nor Harriet noticed the subtle vibrations in the earth that rumbled under their feet as the approaching centaurs galloped towards them.
The forest guardians could sense the ache in Ingrid's broken heart.
Her pain called to the furious creatures as much as the sweet promise of Harriet's waiting milk.
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Back at the Snapes' cottage, Disencan did everything he could to aid Severus with the house and children that morning.
Severus had gone to bed the night before with all the confidence of any proud father as he held Harriet in his arms and assured her that it would be nothing to watch over their little ones for an hour or two.
However, the next morning, after Harriet and Ingrid had departed, Maggie had woken from her sleep, screaming in terror at the nightmare she had experienced during her sleep.
Little Sev soon joined in his sister's cries to express his displeasure with his full diaper and empty tummy.
Severus and Disencan worked as a team to clean, soothe, feed, and dress the smallest Snapes, after which Severus sat in the living room, with Maggie in her chair as she played with her plush toys.
Little Sev stayed safely on his father's lap, with Severus's strong hands supporting him as he watched his sister play, his large, dark eyes wide in fascination.
"Careful….." Severus warned Maggie as he noticed she moved too closely to the sharp edge of the brick hearth.
Maggie stopped what she was doing, scooted a short distance away, and frowned up at Severus as she pouted, "I'm careful, Daddy."
"I don't want to see you hurt…..my little one." Severus explained as he noticed the sad frown that formed on Maggie's tiny lips.
"Why?" She asked as she looked at her toys again.
"Because you're my daughter and I love you very much." Severus explained.
"I love you too, Daddy." Maggie echoed as she glanced at Severus and flashed him a bright smile.
On his lap, Little Sev started to whimper anxiously.
Listening to his baby's warning cue, Severus lifted his tiny boy into his arms and laid him down gently on his chest as he began to soothingly pat his back.
As Little Sev turned his face towards Severus's robes and began to nuzzle against him, his tiny mouth opened.
Once he realized his son asked for food, Severus deftly stood from his seat.
Disencan stayed in the kitchen while he began to prepare lunch.
"Can you stay exactly where you are for a moment? I need to feed your brother." Severus asked Maggie as he gazed down at his young daughter.
"Sure, Daddy." Maggie blinked as she frowned up at Severus and watched him glide into the kitchen.
The wizarding world didn't quite have muggle refrigerators, but there were various models of enchanted inventions that could preserve food by utilizing cold or freezing temperatures.
Plenty of other items also existed to help breastfeeding witches, similar to the pumps that were available to muggle mothers.
Harriet had purchased one of those devices the day before and had taken the time to use it that morning.
Severus remembered distinctly that she had left three bottles of sustenance for their littlest pup; he had counted them with his own eyes when he had first staggered into the kitchen a few hours earlier.
Little Sev whimpered in his arms as Severus opened the door to the enchanted storage unit, ready to tend his youngest child's needs.
His dark eyes widened in horror as Little Sev let out a warning whimper while he kicked his tiny feet.
Severus swallowed as he thought back about what had happened that morning.
He had given Little Sev one bottle when he had first woken.
The second one an hour after that…..
And…..the third……two hours later……
Severus glanced down at his son with his dark eyes wide as the baby scowled up at him in irritation.
Little Sev furrowed his brow as if to ask his father just how he intended to help him with his growling tummy?
Maggie blinked as she watched Severus stride out of the kitchen and move towards the hallway.
He retrieved his wand from the nightstand before he returned to the living room and quickly cast a Summoning Charm to call Harriet back to the cottage.
In his arms, his little son let out a warning whine, threatening to escalate his vocal demands for food.
Beyond the screeches that Severus knew would surely begin soon, it frightened him to think that his littlest pup would become miserable and without his mate's working breasts, there would be little he could do to help.
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While Harriet and Ingrid traveled through the Forbidden Forest, their proximity to Hogwarts castle caused Severus's charm to fail.
Although Harriet did not receive her husband's cry for assistance, she quickly realized the strict time limit she was on as her breasts tightened with each passing moment.
"STOP!" Harriet shouted suddenly as they entered one particular clearing.
Ingrid halted immediately and turned back to look at Harriet, who gestured towards a certain bed of stones that lay on the ground.
"I think it may have been around here." Harriet said as she furrowed her brow, "...It may have been……something about this part seems familiar. It's really odd….I could see it plainly before we came here, but now, my memory's….hazy or something."
"Then we shall search here first." Ingrid nodded as she walked over to a small pile of rocks that lay on the forest floor.
Harriet silently grimaced as she pressed a hand to her uncomfortably full breasts before she asked, "Actually, do you mind if we go home and come back? I think I need to have a moment with my little one."
"We will find the stone first." Ingrid firmly replied, "Then we will leave and have no more need of this place."
"But-" Harriet began as Ingrid crouched down and peered at the many stones that lay in a heap together.
Harriet began to structure a more convincing argument in her mind until those vibrations in the earth became louder.
Louder….
Louder……
Within a few seconds, the ominous sounds evolved into the thundering of hooves.
Ingrid and Harriet looked in the direction of the noise to see a band of twenty scowling centaurs galloping out of the trees towards them.
Harriet's emerald eyes widened as she reached for her wand.
Years ago, Hermione had made her painfully aware of centaurs' true capabilities.
It had been no secret what had happened to Dolores Umbridge after they had carried her off into the woods.
As the centaurs spanned out to surround the two women, Harriet brandished her wand in one hand with her other still clasped over her chest while she turned around, wondering which side they may try to attack from first.
Ingrid wore her unshakable scowl on her scarred face as she rose to her feet, visibly irritated but not frightened.
One of the largest centaurs stepped forward as he spoke, "This area of the Forbidden Forest is our land, given to us by designation of Albus Dumbledore himself. You have no right or permission to be here."
As his breath fogged from his nostrils while he snorted, Harriet gazed up at his massive height and noticed the heavy muscles on his chest, the unforgiving grimace he wore, and the sharp arrows strapped to his back in a cylindrical container.
"It means little to me what has or has not been given to you." Ingrid fearlessly replied, "I am a witch and you are a centaur. I have come here to collect something that belongs to my people….then I will be on my way and never trouble you or your land again. Leave me in peace and I'll do the same to you."
The centaur who had spoken snorted again as angry glares manifested on each of his comrades' faces while they listened to Ingrid's insolence.
"How dare you!" The centaur hissed, "If you refuse to leave our land, then you are nothing more than an invader and will be defiled as such!"
Harriet's grip on her wand tightened as she silently considered what would be the best plan to escape the inevitable attack, but Ingrid only matched the centaur's rage.
"I am not of this pathetic era!" She spat, "Without weakness, without doubt, I walk with the old magic, not with the new! If you believe one such as yourself can challenge me and prosper, fool, then I invite you to step forward and learn a lesson in humility."
Centaurs did not appreciate receiving verbal lashings.
With a rageful snarl, the centaur who had spoken charged forth, his pride wounded and his anger piqued.
His companions followed his lead as they raced towards Ingrid and Harriet, determined to pick them up, carry them off, and show them what it meant to disrespect the creatures who patrolled the Forbidden Forest.
The speaking centaur had his dark eyes focused on Harriet, eager to gain a taste of her despite his deep desire to silence Ingrid's wagging tongue.
Harriet pulled her arm back and prepared to cast her first defensive spell, but she had no need as long as Ingrid stood beside her.
From the many layers of fabric that clothed her body, Ingrid kept her calm scowl on her face as she reached into the folds of clothing around her waist and retrieved a battered, ancient axe.
Harriet watched with wide eyes as a great cry left Ingrid's lips while she swung the axe down and used its head to pierce the earth.
A startling burst of light instantly erupted from the center of the planet, out of the ground, and across the forest.
Harriet instinctively shielded her face with her hand, but by then, that blinding light had already passed.
As she blinked in confusion, her mouth fell open while she looked around.
Held in the air by invisible bonds that restricted their movement down to only the function of their lungs and beating of their hearts, all twenty centaurs hung suspended and frozen in the air.
The one who had spoken against Harriet and Ingrid stared down at them with terror in his dark eyes.