Harry walked up the moving steps to the headmaster's study, Ginny at his side. Ginny was holding a small bundle in her arms.
"Recherché á temps perdu", Ginny said -- ever since that bit of Tom Riddle left him, Harry was pants at foreign tongues -- and the gargoyle swung by to let them pass with a wink and a nod.
Harry opened the door, and saw Minerva McGonagall rise from her desk to greet them.
"Harry, Ginny! So good to see you!" the headmistress said. There were a few threads of silver in her jet-black hair, but she was otherwise untouched, at least on the outside, from the witch she had been when Harry and Ginny first knew her. The portraits all murmured greetings that were friendly as well. Dumbledore smiled from his perch behind McGonagall, and even Snape managed a polite nod.
"It's good to see you, too, professor. It's good to see all of you." Harry looked at all of the portraits in turn, his gaze and smile lingering the longest on Snape's and Dumbledore's. Snape seemed taken aback at first, but Dumbledore's hand slid over to his portrait frame, giving Severus a reassuring touch on the arm; finally, Snape managed a small smile, and Harry turned away.
"Harry, please -- it's Minerva to you ." Her friendly, open-hearted face, seamed with the wrinkles of a virtuous life, lighted upon the object in Ginny's arms. "So that's the new arrival?"
"Yes, and we wanted to show him off," Harry said.
"We also wanted to ask a favor, Minerva," Ginny said, as she pulled back the blanket so that Minerva could look at the round little infant face hidden underneath.
"What is it, Ginny?"
"Well, we'd like to ask you to be this little fellow's godmother... "
"Of course, Ginny."
"...and..."
"And?"
"We'd like to ask Professors Dumbledore and Snape if they'd like to be his godfathers."
There was an immediate hush in the room as every other head, painted or not, turned to look at the two most recent predecessors of McGonagall. McGonagall herself briefly opened her mouth, then shut it again.
Heroically, Dumbledore and Snape managed, aside from both of them raising their right eyebrows, to avoid any outward sign of surprise. Still, it was a while before either of them could talk."
"This is an - unexpected honour, Harry," Dumbledore finally replied. "Godparents usually are possessed of physical bodies."
"We know that," Ginny replied. "But we thought it was only fair that a child named Albus Severus Potter should have his namesakes for godfathers."
Dumbledore raised another eyebrow. Snape had been on the verge of saying something, but whatever it was, was lost to posterity. His eyes went wide for a moment as the words died on his open lips.
"Albus...Severus...Potter?" he finally managed.
"Yes, Albus Severus Potter, " Ginny proclaimed, bringing the infant over so that both Dumbledore and Snape could get a good look at him. "He looks like Harry, right down to the eyes."
Snape had, again, been on the verge of saying something when he was forced to say something else. "Yes, yes he does," he said in a voice just barely above a whisper. "His father's eyes, and his grandmother's eyes." He looked down at the little face, and the ghost of a smile touched his lips.
"Albus Severus Potter," he repeated.
He looked at the child for the longest time, and the child looked back at him, returning his gaze steadfastly. For a moment, Harry thought he saw the trace of a tear escape Snape's eyes.
"As Albus has just said, this would be an honour."
Harry and Ginny broke out into identical grins. Little Albus Severus gurgled.
The rest of the meeting was short and sweet, now that the Potters had done what they'd come to do. The baby was duly passed underneath each portrait, even that of Phineas Nigellus, so that they could all view the little boy who was to have three of their number for his godparents.
"You do realize, Harry Potter, what you've just done," said Professor Snape as Albus Severus' green-eyed gaze met
his once more.
"What's that, professor?"
"Consider the initials of your son -- my godson."
Harry and Ginny's faces looked blank for a moment. Then, as the realization hit them, they burst out laughing.
"Albus Severus Potter -- A.S.P.! Asp!"
"We've all but guaranteed he enters Slytherin House, haven't we?" giggled Ginny.
Professor Snape just smiled. "And I'm sure he will do credit to it."
------
It is apparently traditional Anglican practice to have three godparents -- two of the child's sex, one of the opposite sex -- which I'd like to think was not unknown in the British WW (look up "Godparent" in Wikipedia).
I have to admit that I wasn't the first one to look at wee Al-Sev's initials and realize what they spelled. That honor probably belongs to Sacred Sarcasm, the author of a Live Journal fic which I would love to link to, but FanFiction Dot Net is not letting me put links of any sort in this text! (Not even the name of this site!)