At the Order's Headquarters
Florence, James and Severus stepped into the empty living room of Remus Lupin's home with their wands in hand; the three of them barely moving in the dark and quiet house.
"Nicholas?" Florence whisper-shouted, looking around, trying to find her son.
Where are you, dumbass? James asked.
Upstairs with Fred.
"He's upstairs with Fred," James whispered to his parents.
"Tell him to get down here!" Severus ordered as low as possible, "We must leave before-"
But, as if in slow-motion, the front door was opened and Arthur Weasley walked in with his sons George and Bill, plus Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody.
"Snape?" Moody growled with incredulity, immediately attacking next: "Incarcerous!"
Florence pulled Severus and James behind her and quickly cast: "Contego apsorbeo circulus!" moving her wand in circles, creating a shimmering force-field around herself, her son and her husband.
Then the two groups stared at one another; no one saying a word.
This is exactly the mess I wanted to avoid! Said Severus to Florence through their bond.
We'll have to tell them the truth. She replied.
It's too soon!
It's the only way! She frowned at him. Otherwise, we'll have to duel-
"Can't you two stop that!" complained James, "It's bloody annoying."
Florence rolled her eyes, "As if you and your brother don't do the very same-"
"Bombarda!" suddenly shouted Shacklebolt, his spell being completely absorbed by Florence's shield.
"Don't even try, Kingsley," she told him in a bored tone, "Nothing you cast will be able to break through my spell."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sudden sound of people running on the upstairs wooden floor, and then down the stairs, filled the house.
Florence turned to James, whispering: "Tell your brother to stay in Fred's room and to ward the door."
He nodded and conveyed the message to Nicholas: The cauldron boiled over down here. Mum told you to ward the room and stay there with Fred until she cleans up this mess.
Ok. I'll protect Fred and- Nick paused, My baby. I'll be a dad, bro.
James snorted. For once you fucked up before me, it seems.
"What's happening here?" they heard Remus Lupin ask from the stairs, "Florence? James? What the fuck is Severus doing here?"
"Hey there, Uncle Remus," James waved at him.
"Why are you three here?" Remus asked, shocked, "Where's Nick?"
"Now, that's a little hard to explain," said Florence, "Can you get everybody down here? And call McGonagall, will you."
Severus glared at her.
And Remus hesitated, realising what she was planning to do, "Are you going to tell them?"
"I don't see what other choice we have!" she replied glaring at her husband who was shaking his head, "If we want to leave without duelling ourselves out of here, Severus, we'd better tell them!"
"I see nothing wrong with the duelling option," retorted Severus, narrowing his eyes at Moody and Shacklebolt.
"I'm fucking done tonight already!" Florence growled, "We're not duelling anyone! We're telling them!"
Remus snorted at their squabbling and just nodded before going upstairs to get the others.
"Tell us what?" demanded Moody.
"The truth," she said, looking from her husband to the Order members.
"WE ALREADY KNOW THE TRUTH!" Shacklebolt shouted, "You're bloody traitors! He killed Dumbledore!" he pointed at Severus.
Then Moody added: "And you!" his wand pointing at Florence, "You're Voldemort's daughter!" he got closer to them.
Severus moved in front of Florence, glaring at Moody through the shimmering shield she had cast, "Put the shield down, Florence. I want to give him that mad-arm you always talk about."
"I'm not doing that, Severus," she snorted, knowing he wouldn't even try to undo her spell for he was aware he wouldn't succeed.
"That shield won't protect you forever," Moody growled.
"I'm counting on it," replied Severus.
"What's going on here?" they all heard McGonagall's voice and looked at the fireplace, from where she had emerged.
At the same time, Remus was back downstairs with Molly, Fleur, Tonks and Ginny behind him.
McGonagall frowned at the peculiar scene in front of her, "It's 3 a.m., people, someone better start explaining why I am here."
Florence was about to begin when Molly asked: "Where's Fred?" looking around the room and not seeing him.
"Fred's still upstairs," replied Remus, "His door was warded. And I got Nicholas' signature on it," he looked questionably at Florence.
"Yes. He's in there with Fred," she confirmed, "And they're the reason we all came here tonight," she looked at Molly, "I learned of Fred's condition this afternoon."
Molly frowned, "What's that got to do with you lot?" she sounded confused and heart-broken, "We still don't know who did that to him, and yet he doesn't want to terminate it!"
George rolled his eyes: "For the millionth time, mum: he wasn't raped!"
"Why wouldn't he tell us who knocked him up then?" Molly shouted.
"Because their son did it," George said, pointing at the Snapes.
Molly gasped looking at James.
"Nope!" the teen said, raising both hands, "Not me. My brother did it! I'm all Granger's," he lowered his hands, running them down his chest.
No one said a thing, too surprised, and a bit confused, with all that.
So Florence began explaining: "Nicholas flooed here as soon as I told him about Fred being pregnant. We followed him to make sure no one hurt him. But now," she let out a sigh, "since we're all here, I'd like to explain everything to you."
"Explain?" growled Shacklebolt, "Explain what? We know all the atrocities you've been allowing to happen at the Ministry! We know how the muggleborns are being treated-"
"I'm doing my best to delay their extermination!" Florence interrupted him, furious, "You have no idea what they really wanted to do to muggleborns!"
Remus just sat on the sofa and said: "Stop this nonsense, Kingsley, if they wanted to attack us, we'd all be dead in ten minutes."
"Ten?" sneered Severus, "She'd have you all dead in three."
"Probably true," Remus looked at the Order members again, "Lower your wands!"
George was the first to follow Remus to the sofa.
"Hey there, mate," he greeted James as he passed by him.
"Hey, G-man," James replied.
"Wait," Molly was surprised by the familiarity between George and James, "You and Fred are friends with Snape's sons?"
"Well, I'm friends with them," said George from the sofa, "Fred is engaged to and pregnant of one of them."
Molly turned to look at Florence with surprise and fear in her eyes.
Remus spoke again, showing impatience: "C'mon, people! They're here to explain to us what happened the night Dumbledore died!"
"THERE'S NOTHING TO EXPLAIN!" Moody shouted, "He killed Dumbledore!"
"Because he asked me to!" Severus said, crossing his arms over his chest.
And the room went silent again.
Always one for the dramatics, Severus. Said Florence, rolling her eyes. Go on, you began, now you finish.
"About one year ago," Severus continued, after briefly narrowing his eyes at his wife, "I arrived at Dumbledore's office and found him on the floor, unconscious. He had found an object, something of a relic, worn it and released a curse that attacked him. I called Florence and she was able to save him – but only temporarily."
"It was the type of curse that strengthens over time," Florence added, "I was only able to buy him some time, as I contained it to his hand."
"Around that same time," Severus continued, "The Dark Lord had ordered Draco Malfoy to murder Dumbledore – fully aware that the boy would fail; the Lord intended to kill him for that failure."
"So Severus actually killed a dying man," said Florence, "Sparing Dumbledore from a horrible death, solidifying his position beside my father and saving Draco's soul on the way."
Severus looked at her reproachfully, Stop romanticising what I did, Florence!
But she ignored him: "We all knew Dumbledore – he was as manipulative as one can be!" she looked at McGonagall, needing her to understand: "He had been cursed, professor, by June he had less than two months left to live! So he decided to use his own death to help the Order, making the Dark Lord trust Severus unconditionally."
After another long moment of silence, Arthur Weasley asked: "So you two are just following Dumbledore's plan?"
"Yes," Florence nodded, looking around the room.
"That's madness," said Molly, baffled.
"Bloody insanity," added George, looking at James.
"If you think we'll believe that-" started Moody.
Florence snapped: "Severus has worked as a spy for you for so many years! You trusted him then, why is it so hard for you to trust him now?"
"That lunch..." McGonagall said, clearly trying to understand what she had heard, "The last lunch we shared at the castle, Albus said that no one would do for him what you two had done or were about to do," she looked at Florence and everyone else did the same.
"That sounds like a clue," Remus said, smiling, "Well… Dumbledore's way of giving a clue about something."
"Yes," Florence said, "Don't you see? My father thinks he holds all the power, with Severus at the school and me at the Ministry, but in truth the Order does."
There was a long pause, interrupted by George:
"So when is the final battle?"
"There's no battle, for now," Florence shook her head, "For us to act, we need more fighters. Father has nearly a thousand soldiers already, plus the giants and werewolves, all on his side. The Order-"
"We have Harry!" exclaimed Shacklebolt, "The Chosen One!"
Florence snorted, "A seventeen-year-old who's out there hunting Horcruxes he has no idea what they look like."
The following moment of silence was heavily uncomfortable.
"How many does Harry have to find?" Remus asked, "How many did your father make?"
"Seven in total," Florence lied, keeping the information about the eighth, "But he used one already to survive in 81. And Harry destroyed Tom Riddle's diary," she glanced at Ginny, "Dumbledore also destroyed one – and that's how he got himself cursed, as already discussed. So Harry still has to find four. Two of those we already know what they are, as for the other two... we have no idea – neither does Harry."
"Doesn't grandfather feel when they are destroyed? The Horcruxes?" James asked, suddenly curious.
Has father mentioned anything to you? Florence looked at Severus, truly intrigued by that.
"Nothing so far," he said, "As Harry destroys the next ones though, he'll most certainly feel something."
"And he'll be even more dangerous," she added in a tired voice, looking at the others in the room and removing her shielding spell, declaring: "We're on your side."
And they all nodded their acceptance, even Alastor Moody – but the hatred in Kingsley Shacklebolt's eyes remained.
Meanwhile, upstairs
Nicholas lay in bed with Fred, his boyfriend's ginger head on his chest, their minds still trying to understand what they had done.
"This is so crazy, Red," Nick touched a hand to his belly feeling the energy of the baby they made together.
Fred looked at him, apologetically, "I swear I didn't know this could happen, Nick."
"I know, love. And as terrified as I am right now, I'm really happy this happened..." he smiled.
"You're terrified?" Fred scoffed, "I'm the one with a person growing inside of me!"
Nicholas chuckled, "My mother's a healer, Red. She'll help us. She'll check on you and our baby."
"Your mother," Fred said, "Is it true what we heard earlier? Your mother is You-Know-Who's daughter?"
"Yes. That's true. We were at a party in his house just a couple of hours ago."
Fred frowned, looking at him, realising: "He's your grandfather."
"Yes, Red."
"Bloody hell, Nick. That's insane!"
Nick shrugged, "I've known for a while now. Had some dinners with him already..."
Fred looked at him as if he had just grown a second head, "Dinner? You sat at a table and had dinner with You-Know-Who?"
"Yes," Nick chuckled, "And discussed elven wine-making."
Fred laughed hard, "Wow! That's mental!"
Nick then heard his brother's voice in his head: Mum's going upstairs.
And there were knocks on the door.
"That's my mother. Can I let her in?"
"Yes. Of course," Fred nodded.
Nick pointed his wand to the door, unwarding it, and Florence walked in.
"Hi, Fred."
"Hi, Mrs Snape."
"Call me Florence, dear," she stopped beside the bed, "Do you mind if I check on my grandkid?"
"Oh, of course not," Fred said, lying on his back, like he had at the hospital.
And Florence cast: "Vide sacculum," and the image of the gestational sac appeared above him.
"Just four weeks," Florence said, "All is looking as it should. In another couple of weeks we'll be able to hear a heartbeat and evaluate the progress."
"Yes, that's what they said at St. Mungus..." Fred spoke softly, "And I really had no idea-"
"I know, dear," Florence smiled reassuringly, "And I also know you and Nick were already talking marriage, so... our only concern now must be your safety and well-being. There are some people..." she lowered her voice, looking serious, "Even inside the Order, that aren't happy with our family's presence here. So you must be extra careful, Fred."
He nodded and then the door was opened again and Molly walked in, looking at her son and Nicholas and her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry I told you to consider an abortion, Fred. I thought... I feared you had been attacked at the wedding..."
"I understand, mum," Fred got up and hugged her, "You have no reason to worry; this baby was made with love," he looked at Nicholas.
Molly smiled and rushed to hug Nick, "Nicholas, right?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I'm studying to become a Charms Master, ma'am," Nicholas felt the need to explain, "I'll marry Fred the moment it's safe to do so and I can provide for him and our-"
Molly laughed, touching his face and stopping him, "Aaw, such a fine young man! Don't you worry about any of that, my dear. As long as my son is happy, I'm happy. Welcome to the family!"
Nick seemed relieved, "Thanks, Mrs Weasley."
Then Florence heard her husband's voice in her mind: And I am clearly paying for my mistakes; my son marrying into the Weasley family. And he showed up at the open door.
Don't be grumpy, Grandpa Sev. She replied.
"Now, Fred," Florence said, after hugging the boy, "If I remember correctly, you're not a book-hater, so I'll send you some books on what to expect when you're an expecting bearer."
"Thanks, Mrs Snape... I mean, Florence."
"And call me if you need anything. I'll be checking on you and that baby regularly, but pregnancy can be filled with surprises."
Fred nodded and felt Nick's arms wrapping around him.
Florence smiled at them, "You two are so cute together," she kissed her son's cheek.
"Well," she continued with a soft sigh, "We've had an eventful-enough night; I'm beat," she yawned, going to the door, where her husband stood, "We'll stay in touch. But remember: when you see us outside of this house, we're not friends – and we won't be friendly."
Molly and Fred nodded.
"I'm staying the night here, mum," Nicholas said.
"Of course, love. But be home tomorrow afternoon, we have to go to Hogwarts for the welcoming feast."
And Florence left with her husband.
September 1997
Hogwarts
Welcoming feast
Florence walked through the double oaken doors of the Great Hall and welcomed the sounds of the students that filled the Hall with laughter and conversation.
It's good to have some normalcy back. She mentioned to her husband, who was already at the high table, James and Nicholas sitting to his left – the twins being there in the castle with them, as ordered by her father.
How many students were expelled or turned down? She asked, sitting to her husband's right and noticing that the tables looked less crowded than usual.
Around eighty. Severus replied.
Dammit.
She recognised Ginny Weasley at the Gryffindor table and the redhead looked at them with contempt.
Good to know the girl remembered she must pretend not to know anything. Florence told her husband.
"And how was your day at the Ministry, mum?" asked James, making conversation.
"Very good. We inaugurated the new fountain at the Atrium this afternoon," she said out loud, "The new one is called Magic is Might, and it corrects the societal order; there is a wizard and a witch sitting atop two enormous thrones and the Muggles are under it – in their rightful place: beneath our feet."
James looked at his mother, he knew she was just saying that because she had to – but she was very convincing.
Mum's a good liar. Said Nicholas.
Yes. She's scary good.
Then Severus stood up and walked to the pulpit – the Great Hall falling silent as the students stared at him, expectantly.
"Another term begins," he drawled, "And this year, there are some changes, as you have already been informed. Study hard and be mindful of the new rules. Disrespect and lack of decorum won't be tolerated."
The students glanced at one another, and at the Gryffindor table not one student looked at him with anything other than hate.
Right at the first week of classes, it became clear that the Carrows' idea of discipline was synonym to torture.
But Severus didn't stop them – he just reinforced his speech that those who abided by the rules weren't going to be punished.
September 12th, 1997
Malfoy Manor
Draco walked out of his ensuite bathroom into his bedroom, with just a towel wrapped around his hips, and stared at his perfectly made bed, his body a little tense and his stomach fluttering in a mix of anxiety and desire.
He sat on his bed, removing his towel and putting on some joggers; the person who was the reason for his nervousness would be meeting him soon in his dreams, and that night he wouldn't stop Elizabeth from taking things too far – the thought of touching her intimately had him trembling in desire.
He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, imagining her there with him, and falling asleep with his beloved girlfriend in his mind.
In his dream, Draco found himself in front of a door; he slowly pushed it open, entering a bedroom that he quickly recognised as being Elizabeth's.
"Liz?" he called, closing the door.
"Dray," he heard her voice coming from the bed and looked at her.
"Holy fuck!" he whispered as he watched her get up and walk towards him, her petite body covered by a skin-tight dark-blue strapless dress, her long dark hair loose, falling down her shoulder in sexy sweet lemon-scented waves.
"Is it my birthday or yours?" Draco asked, once he found his voice again, hypnotised by the curve of her waist, the flare of her hips, and the swell of her firm breasts in that sinful dress.
Liz giggled, "It's most certainly my birthday," she touched down his naked chest, "And I hope you've made up your mind about what you're giving me," she pressed her body against his and bit his bottom lip, "For if you don't give me what I want, Dray... I'll take it."
He exhaled: "I'm yours, Liz," wrapping his arms around her, "And you're mine," he grabbed her arse with both hands and kissed her, thrusting his tongue between her lips and taking her to bed.
After they had both found their climaxes together for the first time, Draco held his girlfirend in his arms, her head on his chest, and they just enjoyed that moment of sweet relaxation.
"I can only imagine how much better this will feel when I actually have you under me... not just in dreams," he said, carressing her hair.
"It can get even better than this?" Elizabeth asked, surprised.
"Yes," he replied with a smile, "it can get so good we pass out."
"And how do you know that?" Elizabeth looked up at him, growling in jealousy.
Draco winced, but he didn't lie: "You did break up with me, Liz. I..."
"Enough!" she interrupted him, laying her head back down on his chest, "I don't want to hear of it."
He smiled again, whispering: "I love you, Liz," sensing her jealousy.
"Mm," she replied, angrily.
He chuckled and ran a hand up her back, grabbing her hair at the back of her head and making her tilt her head to look at him and he repeated: "I love you; everything about you."
She slowly smiled and kissed him, happy to be living that with the love of her life.
"Happy birthday, love," Draco said, holding her close and caressing her hair again, soon falling into a dreamless sleep with the memory of his beloved in his arms for the first time.