Future Potter-Prince's
Chapter 6: A Family Goes Shopping
Harry was fuming. He was in pain, too. And he could tell that Severus was also as they slid on their rings and signed the papers that needed signing.
The purge had been… torturous, for both of them. But they were used to pain by that point in their lives. Thankfully the children weren't around to watch, they were looked after by King Ragnok and some of his warrior goblins.
He had never felt so clear before, though.
So free.
Even as he simmered in his anger.
He was never meant to go to the Dursleys.
And Dumbledore knew that.
His parents had announced in their will that Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper, not Sirius. And Dumbledore knew that.
They had also left money, letters, and things to Remus, Severus, and a few others, and none of them had received any of it because Dumbledore was the only one to attend the reading.
And Severus' granddad didn't disown him and his mother, he just didn't give Eileen her inheritance when she fell pregnant, out of wedlock, with Severus and she ran away. He would have looked after them had she stayed, he would have loved Severus, he did. But his mother took Severus away and hid them both from him, and even from his letters and the gifts that were sent on Christmas, and all of Severus' birthdays. He even had a vault sent up for them to use, and yet Eileen never used it. She didn't even know about it because she wasn't receiving the letters.
Dumbledore was receiving the letters, though. And he was using little bits of the money in that vault also, until Lord Prince died and he started using all of them.
It was all a bloody mess.
Such a mess.
But they were fixing it now.
They were having all monies, items, and properties returned to them. With interest.
From everyone that had stolen from them, with Dumbledore's help.
And wasn't that a list of people. Dumbledore himself had stolen from them both, used heirlooms from both families, stolen books from both families, and had used properties from both families also. And he had given money to others; Molly, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Minister Fudge, and put money into an account for the Order of the Phoenix. All of them had taken heirlooms and other items also. Hermione especially took a large chunk of books from both families, even ones considered Dark.
Thankfully it was just from the Potter, Prince, and later the Black families. But it still hurt that his friends, people he had considered family, were stealing from him and his soulmate.
But they would fix it. And he certainly wouldn't be friends with them again. Especially after those dreams that haunted his mind.
They would find a way to punish them. To get them away from their family. Then they would be safe. Their babies would be safe.
Right?
He breathed shakily as the last piece of parchment was signed.
Severus was officially the holder of their Wizengamot seats, all of them, and there were quite a few. They had a folder filled with all the laws that had been passed since Dumbledore started using their seats, the ones that would need to be gone over again, and they would discuss how they would vote later on. And which party of the Wizengamot they would sit in.
But that was for later.
After thanking the goblins and letting the kids say their goodbyes the family were exiting the bank, with promises to be back more often so the kids can see more of their family, and so they can discuss their accounts and such.
It was time for shopping, though. They wanted to get the kids some clothes and toys, and other things they may need, so that they weren't always transfiguring their clothes and so they had some entertainment.
The question was where to go. The wizarding world would have far to many questions regarding why Severus Snape and Harry Potter were wondering around with four young children, that is if Dumbledore, or someone else at the school, hadn't already made the news publicly available, which would just put them all in more danger than anything. And the muggle world would be… well they couldn't go around with the kids calling Harry 'mum' considering he was a boy, and if they called Severus 'dad' at the same time then there would be too many questions. Especially since Harry was far too young to have four children with the oldest being 10.
"We know to call you Harry in the muggle world, mum," Phoenix said gently, and the other kids nodded in agreement.
Was it safe though? Was anywhere safe?
"Harry, stop fretting so much. I know… I know it is dangerous, but the kids need clothes and things. If anything happens, anything at all, I have an emergency portkey on me, the one I used to get us out of the Great Hall. I know it's difficult, being out and about at the moment. But we will be fine so long as we stick together," Severus said, his voice soft.
"O-okay. But if anything happens, anything at all, we are using that portkey," Harry said.
"Of course," Severus said.
They soon found themselves in a muggle shopping centre, Harry carrying Remi as the other three walked close to them. Harry eased up a little as he watched his babies enjoy themselves, picking out whatever they wanted, although he was still internally fretting. Somewhat. It eased up a little the more they were out without issues.
Though when a middle-aged female member of staff in one of the clothing shops they went into came up to them saying, "Oh, aren't you a good father, babysitting your children for the day whilst their mother get's to rest," to Severus who paused briefly, as though unsure of what to stay, a faint flush to his cheeks as Harry also blushed, hiding in Remi's hair as the kids chuckled slightly.
"It's not babysitting. It's called parenting. I am parenting," Severus said, a tad harshly, "And if you don't mind, I would much like to make this trip as quick as possible so I can feed my family, excuse us,"
Then he marched off, closely followed by the rest of them as the woman gaped in shock. They were out of that shop rather quickly, after Remi had sweet-talked and puppy-dog eyed Severus into purchasing an adorable lion onesie for her, it even came with a hood and tail. He had grumbled about not letting any Gryffindor influence near their children because he didn't want them to grow up being idiotically brave.
"Severus, I hate to break it to you, but I am a Gryffindor, and you are now Lord Gryffindor. You are the most Gryffindor of all Gryffindors. So unless we have the house elves raise our children for us then they are surrounded by Gryffindor influence from the moment they are conceived," Harry said quietly, a blush lining his cheeks as he stared into the dark eyes.
"Yeah, daddy, we a family of Gryffindors," Remi said with a grin on her face and wide eyes.
"Though we are very Slytherin, too," Phoenix said calmly.
"Mhm, along with a bit of everything else," Aurora said.
"Please, daddy," Remi said, her little lips trembling as she curled into Harry's chest and looked up at Severus with her wide, glistening eyes.
"Fine," Severus sighed, sounding a tad put upon, but his lips had lifted up at the side a bit also.
"Yay!" Remi practically squealed as she bounced in Harry's arms and Severus picked up the onesie in the correct size.
As Severus headed over to the till Harry noticed the other three pick up the same onesies in their own sizes and grinned as they ran over to their father to give them to him. And Severus grumbled some more as he accepted them into his arms, but he was still smiling slightly, and it made Harry's heart warm.
Hogwarts had now added a bedroom for the kids to Severus' room also, according to the wards which they connected to when they placed on their rings, although only weakly for the time being, they could connect to them fully when they find the warding room in Hogwarts and connect to the stones. They would do that another time, though.
But this meant they could get things to decorate the bedroom with, so they went to the home sections in stores and allowed them to pick out bedding, décor and other such things they wanted. They also went to bookstores to buy them some books, along with some books that Severus saw Harry wanted to read. And the toy stores also.
Honestly, they brought so many items that day that Harry was wondering how it could possibly all fit in Severus' quarters.
But soon it was lunch time, and they decided to eat out. They found a little Italian restaurant which sounded good and were soon seated at a large, round table in the corner. Harry watched as Severus covertly cast a spell around them so they could talk mostly freely unless the waiter was around. And the children were colouring away on the pictures on the back of their menus as they waited for their food to arrive.
Harry breathed shakily before taking a sip of his coke, a drink he had never had before but found himself enjoying immensely.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Severus asked gently, concern in his dark eyes.
"Yeah, it's just been a… long day," Harry said.
"Indeed," Severus said, nodding slightly as he looked at the kids, "It's been good though, right? Mostly. We can ignore the bad things for now,"
"Yeah, it's been good," Harry said, smiling, "I just…" he sighed, "Everything's such a mess. Everything apart from them, of course," he said, looking at the kids as they coloured their pictures with varying looks of concentration on their faces, "And yet we have to let go of them, in a year,"
"And they'll come back to us, as babies," Severus said, his voice smooth and soft, like velvet.
"I know. I know we'll get to raise them properly, whenever they arrive in the world. But that doesn't mean I want to let go of them now. Especially with everything going on in their time. I mean, hopefully everything will be sorted with Ron and such, but… But what if the baby…" he couldn't even bare thinking about it, but it was a very real possibility that the baby brother they were all excited for wouldn't be there to greet them when they went home.
Before anything else could be said, however, food arrived and the kids excitedly began chowing down on their small pizzas. Harry himself had opted for a pepperoni pizza, not ever having had a pizza before, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Severus, on the other hand, went for a pollo alla cacciatora, a wonderful looking Italian chicken stew that was served with some roast potatoes, and a couple of slices of rustic looking bread.
They also got pudding, prompted by the children of course. The kids all got ice cream sundaes, Severus a tiramisu, and Harry got a chocolate brownie, which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It was a nice lunch, all in all. The food was excellent and the company, the small talk, even better.
"Mummy, I'm tired," Remi said quietly as she huddled into Harry's side.
"Okay, let's get you home, then," Harry said as he pulled her gently into his arms and held her close to his chest.
Severus paid for the meal and they left, finding an empty alley near the shopping centre to portkey them away in.
As soon as the seemingly dozens of bags from their trip had been unshrunk their three older kids were ploughing through them at speed, clearly trying to find something. They pulled out their lion onesies and held Remi's out to Harry before hurrying into their bedroom to change into them. Harry smiled and shook his head as he followed along, with Severus behind him grumbling about the onesies, even as he smiled at how adorable they all looked in them.
Remi was soon in hers, too, though she was too asleep to notice anything as Harry gently tucked her into the smallest bed, with the magical barriers at the sides so she couldn't fall out. He kissed her forehead gently and stood back, smiling as Severus did the same.
"Are you three going to help us sort everything out?" Severus asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at them.
"Of course, daddy," Leo said, nodding his head eagerly as he bounded out the room, followed by the rest of them.
They spent a good few hours going through everything together. Placing the clothes in each wardrobe neatly. Putting the books on the bookshelf in the room. Putting the toys in their toy chests, also provided by the room. Placing toiletries in the bathroom, they had gotten enough for a year, hopefully. All child friendly ones, too. And when Remi woke from her nap she snuggled with Severus on the sofa, something that made Harry smile as he saw the gentleness in the older man, the love and awe in his eyes as he looked at her.
Phoenix came and snuggled with Harry as the twins sat on the floor playing with a train set.
"Everything will be okay, mummy," Phoenix said quietly as he looked up at Harry with wide, loving eyes.
"I… How can you be so sure?" Harry asked, his voice just as small.
"I can feel it. And you and daddy always fix things. You always know what to do. You always help. You always win. You and daddy are the best," Phoenix said with pride filling his voice.
Harry smiled down at his son, warmth filling his heart, and although the worries were still encompassing him, he felt a little better at the words as he pulled his son closer and let the rest of the day mostly clear his mind.
Hiya, how are you all?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I needed some fluffy stuff so here we are. We shall get back to business later. You know, all the boring law bits that will be coming in at some point, and lead up to the punishments for Dumbles and crew. As well as figuring out what to do with Voldie. But honestly, I need fluff every now and then, especially when I am a mess. What other fluffy family moments would you like to see? I would like to know your thoughts.
Anywho, I posted an essay/petition where I (un)officially explain why I think I should be cast as my favourite character, Severus Snape, in the new HBO series, despite the fact that I am a woman. It would mean a lot if you went and read it, but no pressure. It isn't going to lead to anything, unless, by some miracle, it goes viral, but it was fun to write. It is on my AO3, Maraudering_Paige. Feel free to go and check it out.
Also, I am working on some Spotify playlists for my fanfics, so if you can think of any songs you think work with the stories as they are so far, or where you think they are going, or songs that give you the vibes you get from the stories, then please do let me know and I will give them a listen, then potentially add them to the playlists. I will let you know as soon as they are ready, though it may take a few weeks because life.
I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes and more. It is also where I have somewhat of an update schedule for my fics and will be keeping you up to date on what I am working on, in regards to fanfics, original works, and more things. So if you are interested in joining then I am more than happy to accept you all.
Also, would anyone be interested in perhaps and Instagram or a TikTok, or both, specifically for my writing? This would be perfect if you can't join the group as I can keep you up to date on everything on them. I won't be able to do too much on there at the moment given my situation, but I can keep you all posted on what I am working on and such on platforms that more of you may use? I don't know. It is just a thought I have been having lately. Let me know what you think.
I hope you are having an amazing day!
Kind regards,
Paige xx
