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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Harriet and Severus assumed the rhythm all happily mated couples gradually fell into with their families.
Days came, days passed.
Weeks went by.
Although months evaporated into years, Harriet failed to conceive again.
At first, she and Severus grieved the unpleasant fact their family could grow no larger but they both found a peaceful state of acceptance as they watched Maggie and Little Sev age.
Their two children taught them to delight in the privileged joys they had been granted.
Severus continued to serve as the Minister for Magic and even won the next election by a landslide again, with the majority of magical Britain thrilled by his leadership.
Disencan and Ingrid loyally stayed with the family.
Oddly enough, for the next nine years, no more strange letters arrived.
No other magical objects dysfunctioned.
The Deathly Hallows experienced no further interruptions in their usefulness.
Harriet and Severus stayed vigilant for any signs of approaching danger though it seemed as if Severus had silently vanquished his unidentified enemy.
Ingrid did not concern herself much with her grandson's struggles, Maggie remained her priority.
A sweet and kind girl, Maggie promised to be as beautiful as her mother.
Regardless, she remained confined to her chair.
Perhaps it had been the effects of the same dark magic that had taken her legs, but to Maggie's parents' dismay, her figure began to mature beyond her years as she entered adolescence.
The morning before her eleventh birthday, Maggie shopped in Hogsmeade with Ingrid and Harriet while Little Sev lingered behind with Severus.
"Mum, I don't think they'll have anything to fit me." Maggie frowned as Harriet escorted her down the street towards the next shop.
Ingrid walked silently beside them as Harriet replied, "Of course they will, sweetheart. Don't worry! We may just have to visit the adults' section, that's all. They make robes for all wizards and witches, not only for children."
"But I don't want to shop in the adults' section." Maggie sighed.
"Well, sweetheart, sometimes we have to do things we'd prefer not to do. It's alright, Rabbie and I are right here with you. We can even buy some new robes for us as well….Would that make you feel any better?" Harriet asked as she pushed Maggie down the street.
"Not particularly." Maggie sighed again.
Although she appreciated her parents giving her new clothes of her choosing for her birthday, Severus's daughter did not really enjoy public outings.
As they walked down the street, the trio attracted enough attention to last Maggie a lifetime.
Everyone stared at Harriet as they recognized the Minister's wife, the Chosen One, the hero of the wizarding world…….
People gawked at Ingrid automatically.
The ancient, towering, scarred witch was a spectacle to behold with her black eye, thick, intricately braided hair, and aged clothing from a time long gone.
Ingrid looked more like a storybook character than she did a living person in modern day Britain.
When Maggie had been younger, she had told herself that others looked at her curiously because of who her parents were and the baffling loss of her mobility which magic had failed to heal, but during the last year, as puberty had crashed down upon her at a frighteningly early age, she had resigned herself to the bitter truth.
No matter how heavy of a sweater she tried to hide them under, Maggie Snape's breasts already attracted a startling amount of lewd leers from alphas of every age.
Harriet had taken her daughter to one healer after another, but each one had insisted her accelerated development could not be stopped.
Some had blamed her plight on the austere conditions of her birth.
Others had pointed to a possible contamination of the water supply, which Harriet had laughed off.
Regardless of the cause, without any other way to help her daughter feel more confident about herself, Harriet sought to spend the day finding something lovely that her little girl genuinely enjoyed wearing.
As the trio made their way into the next shop, Maggie breathed a weighty sigh.
Her parents had hinted that her Hogwarts letter would arrive soon.
She didn't have the heart to tell them how much she dreaded receiving the vile parcel.
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"When do you think Mum and sissy will be back, Dad?" Little Sev blinked at his father while he stood next to Severus, who worked at his desk.
"...Soon, son. Women are never hasty completing their shopping……..especially when they travel in a bunch." Severus drawled as he stared down at the parchment in front of himself.
Little Sev asked curiously, "Are you excited, Dad?"
"I beg your pardon?" Severus frowned as he glanced up from his work.
"About Sissy's party tomorrow? I know it'll just be us, but it'll be so much fun!" Little Sev chirped happily.
Severus kept his frown as he gazed at his small boy and scanned over his features.
In his son, Severus saw both himself and Harriet reflected.
"Of course, I'm excited….." Severus began, "...That your sister is celebrating another year of life and looking forward to her next."
"Then why are you frowning, Dad?" Little Sev pouted.
Severus kept his stare focused on his small boy for a moment until he turned to look down at the parchment on his desk again. His black hair fell in his face as he murmured quietly, "That's a conversation for another time. You wouldn't understand now……..at your young age."
Little Sev was too inquisitive to let the matter drop.
He widened his dark eyes as he gazed at his father, walked around his desk, and reasoned, "I won't understand if you don't tell me. Won't you tell me, Dad?...Please?"
Severus thought that maybe if he ignored his little boy, his son would become bored and drop his pursuit.
He tried to focus on his work while Little Sev assaulted him with endless pleas.
"Please?"
"Please?"
"Please?"
"Please?"
"...Please, Dad?"
Severus narrowed his dark eyes as he glanced back up at his son before he sighed in defeat and pushed his chair backwards.
Little Sev smiled hopefully as he walked over and climbed onto his father's lap.
In his young life, he had already learned to greatly enjoy the talks he shared with his dad.
"At first," Severus began as he looked down at his desk for a moment before he turned his black eyes onto his son, "It was only your mother and I……Then your sister joined us…….and you came into the family a couple years later……"
Little Sev smiled wryly as he asked, "Why does that make you frown, Dad?"
"That isn't what makes me frown." Severus drawled, "It makes your mother and I happy to see you both grow with each passing day, but as you and your sister each get older, the inevitable truth becomes more blatant that eventually……You'll both become adults with lives of your own….Then your mother and I will miss each of you very much."
"Why would you miss us?" Little Sev blinked.
Severus patiently explained, "Because the day will come when you both have your own homes……families…… and lives……Your mother and I will visit you as frequently as we're able, but our time spent together will be greatly reduced."
"Oh, Dad!" Little Sev laughed as he threw his arms around Severus in a tight hug, "Sissy and I will never leave you and Mum! You'll see!"
Severus frowned as he raised a hand and patted his son's back, knowing the bitter truth his young child did not.
"We'll never leave you." Little Sev promised as he pressed his face against his father's chest and listened to his heartbeat.
There was a fierce determination in his small soul that Severus did not quite comprehend.
It took an hour or two, but finally, Maggie did find a beautiful set of well-fitting, emerald green robes that she really liked.
Harriet smiled as she watched her daughter admire her reflection in the mirror, glad to see her little girl pleased with her new clothes.
A few minutes later, the trio of women stood in line to purchase Maggie's robes while they patiently waited their turn at the counter.
As Harriet stepped forward to pay, Maggie couldn't help but notice the leering, lecherous gaze of a wizard who stood across the room.
His beard was ragged, his eyes were menacing, and the grey tufts of wiry hair that stuck out from under his hat revealed his advanced age.
Maggie sighed as she wrapped her sweater more tightly around herself, eager to conceal the ample curves that had attracted his unwanted attention.
Ingrid glanced over and narrowed her eyes at the man.
Harriet continued her transaction, completely unaware of what happened as Ingrid walked behind Maggie to stand in front of the man.
"She is only a child." Severus's ancestor spoke plainly as she gazed into his eerie eyes.
"I didn't say differently." The man replied with a disgusting smirk.
Ingrid snorted as she scanned over the man to silently assess his character before she met his stare again and replied, "Avert your gaze, go on your way, and live a full life. But know this…….The next time you look at a child, you will fall into death's embrace."
The man sneered as Ingrid turned and walked back over to stand by Maggie.
She hadn't quite made it there when a loud thud startled everyone in the shop.
Harriet looked over.
Maggie's eyes widened.
After the man indulged himself in another perverted stare at Maggie's breasts, Ingrid's command had come true.
The man had fallen to the floor, dead, with his heart stopped and his eyes wide open in silent, shocked horror.
Whispers rang out as Ingrid took the robes Harriet had purchased from the clerk before she ushered her and Maggie out of the shop.
"You……You just killed someone!" Harriet sputtered as Maggie stared up at her, "You'll be arrested and put on trial!"
"The man deserved to die." Ingrid shrugged, "A lech and a simpleton….I told him what would happen and he chose not to heed my warning, I bear no fault."
"But……" Maggie began.
"How can I be punished when there is no curse to trace, little one?" Ingrid asked, "People have forgotten magic and what it means to walk with it in their bones. As you grow, I will teach you, but for now, let us return home. The morning has been long."
As Ingrid, Harriet, and Maggie traveled back to the Snapes' cottage, Harriet couldn't stop staring at her alpha's ancestor.
She would have gladly liked to have punched the man who had stared at her little girl, though in all her education and experience, Harriet had never seen a witch or wizard able to schedule a murder by making a simple, wandless statement.