A/N: A bit shorter than last time, but as you can tell, I'm updating quicker nowadays. Hopefully, I didn't just jinx myself there. :) As always, hope you enjoy.

Young Love

A few days later, Severus woke up to loud pounding on his door. He quietly groaned but made no movement towards it. Just a few more hours of sleep. That was all he needed. Just a few more hours. However, whoever was at his door clearly didn't seem to understand that, as they pounded even harder a few minutes later.

"Goddamn stupid people," he mumbled under his breath, hearing the faint laughter from his wife beside him. "Don't they know what time it is?" As he got up out of bed, he glanced briefly towards the clock and growled quietly. "Ridiculous. It's eight." Throwing on a shirt and a pair of sweatpants, he headed for the door. Whoever it was was going to get hexed into tomorrow for this. He opened the door soon after and glared at the dark-haired, glasses-wearing, green-eyed teenager in front of him. He should have known. "What, Potter?"

"Luna and I are going to Hogsmeade for the day," Harry said beaming.

"Fascinating," Severus replied dryly.

"And we thought you two might like to join us."

"Join you?" he repeated with a hint of annoyance. Yes, that was exactly what they wanted to do today. Head into the village with two students and have a double date at Madam Puddifoot's. It was utterly laughable. Him and Aurora with Potter and Luna.

"Oh, I like that idea," Aurora said brightly, much to Severus's utter horror.

He whirled around and gave his wife the darkest look he had. There was absolutely no way they were going on a double date with Lovegood and Potter. Over his dead body. He'd rather be in Azkaban than that. Or . . . anything but that.

Blatantly ignoring Severus's look, Aurora admitted, "I've been craving a cheeseburger badly the past few days." She then gave him her best begging look, which made his look darken. "Please?" When she realized that was going to get her nowhere, she resorted to another tactic. "It'll make me happy."

He pointed his finger at her instantly. "Woman, I swear to Merlin above—"

She rested her hands on her swollen belly, her rare Slytherin side showing. "You want me happy and feel loved, don't you, Severus?"

"That's low, and you know it," he stated, hearing Harry's failed attempts to conceal his snorts behind him. She was enjoying this.

"Maybe," she said with a shrug. "But weren't you the one who taught me never to pull my punches?" Her smile deepened as he realized she was right.

Clenching his jaw, he bit back his growl and turned back to Harry. "We'd love to," he spat out.

"We'll be down in the entrance hall then." Harry's smile was wide as a crocodile's. "See you soon, Professors." He then whirled around and left.

Severus shut the door soon after and groaned, his forehead resting against the cool wood.

"Oh, will you get over it already?" Aurora remarked behind him.

"Get over it?" he repeated, whirling back towards her. "We're going on a double date with Potter and Lovegood!" That sounded to him as appealing as one of Lucius's parties he'd hold at the manor.

"He didn't say that. He just said that they were going into Hogsmeade for the day and asked if we'd like to go. And we do."

"No. You do," he pointed out grumpily.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Well, forgive me for not wanting to be locked up with only these four walls to keep us company any longer, Severus." She then crossed her arms. "I want to go out. Get some fresh air. Don't you? We've been in here ever since that thing with the Aurors."

She had a point unfortunately. They had remained here since then. But it was for her own protection truthfully. Sure she was getting stronger mentally and healing, but all it would take was one idiotic comment to unravel all of her progress. Or at least that was how he was justifying his actions.

"Severus, you can't keep me locked up here to protect me from the world." Damn, was he that obvious? "I do need to get out amongst people every now and then, or else I'll go stir crazy."

He sighed and shook his head.

"And what if something happens, Celes?"

"Then something happens and we deal with it. You said we had to live our lives. So let's live it. I mean, let's be honest. It's not like we really have gone shopping for the baby."

"But Potter will be there, as will be Lovegood. Two of our former students." Awkward anyone?

"Who knew who we were from the start practically and didn't give a damn, Severus. I have no problem spending the day with them, possibly shopping for the baby. I mean, it's not like I can go with . . ." Her voice trailed off before she glanced away.

He sighed in response, knowing exactly what she was talking about. The only people who had come to check on them in the past few days were Potter, Minerva, and Orin. While normally that wouldn't have mattered whatsoever, it mattered when Aurora's best friend Septima Vector refused to come see her or even speak with her anymore after learning the truth of where they had been for the past few months.

"She'll come around, Aurora."

"No she won't." His wife glanced up at him. "I lied to her. I made her think I was at the cottage all this time, not right here with her when she was needing me. She thought I . . . she won't forgive me." She forced her head up higher. "And that's fine. I was a pretty lousy friend, letting her worry all this time about me and not helping her. But I can't do anything about it now."

"Once the hurt passes, she'll forgive you," he reiterated.

Aurora, however, wasn't listening to him anymore. Instead, she was putting her socks and shoes on and getting ready to go. They'd have to continue this later clearly.

A half-hour had passed since they arrived in Hogsmeade with Harry and Luna, and Severus was ready to head back to the castle already.

"You know, I never thanked you for helping me escape, Luna," Harry quietly said as they walked past Madam Puddifoot's burned out building, the first of many Severus noted glumly.

The dishwater blonde, however, only smiled back at Harry.

"Helped you escape?" Aurora repeated, giving the two teenagers a confused look.

"After I beat Voldemort and the dust had settled, everyone was sort of picking up the pieces in the Great Hall," Harry explained. "Luna just knew that I wanted to get out of there. Away from the others. So, she yelled out something—"

"Blibbering Humdinger," Luna stated proudly. "It was rather fascinating to see how quickly they flocked to the windows afterwards. Don't they know how rare it is to see one so close to humans?"

Harry gave a soft laugh, moving instinctively closer to her. "Something tells me you'll be the one to teach it to us all."

Severus grimaced inwardly. Young love. One of the many things he disliked with a passion.

"Yeah, so," Harry said, continuing his talk with Aurora, "Luna provided a pretty good distraction. The cloak helped, too, but it was mostly Luna. I found Ron and Hermione shortly after, and we walked away with me explaining everything along the way."

They walked in silence then past a few more burned out buildings. It wasn't until they reached formerly Zonko's that anyone spoke.

"Is that . . .?" Aurora softly asked, her voice trailing off.

Harry laughed instantly. "Yeah. The twins bought it. Thought it'd be good for morale now."

"I wonder if they've perfected their new product yet," Luna said suddenly.

"Let's find out." Harry then opened the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, motioning for Luna and Aurora to walk in first. He shrugged when Severus gave him a dark look.

The moment Harry walked in, loud whispers filtered throughout the shop from the customers followed by intense stares. Harry, however, ignored the looks.

"Well, well, do our eyes deceive us, George? Could it be the Chosen one?"

"Sure looks like him, doesn't it, Fred?" George then grinned widely before he noticed his customers' staring. He merely shook his head and pointed to a door next to Harry. Clearly having been in the joke shop many times before, Harry entered, letting everyone else in before shutting the door to the store room. The twins joined them soon after, entering from another door. "Sorry 'bout that, mate."

Fred's eyes then passed over Severus and Aurora briefly before he glanced back at Harry.

"And here we thought we only had one celebrity visiting us today," Fred remarked.

"Huh?" George gave them a look over as well before he tensed slightly once he recognized who the young couple was actually. "Ah." He forced his smile a bit. "Professor Snape." His eyes then softened as he turned to Aurora. "Professor Sinistra . . . or is it Snape as well?" His usual playfulness had returned. Though, the twins had always been playful with her, much to Severus's annoyance over the years. It was her own fault, he decided long ago. She was too close and friendly with her students.

"Sinistra," Aurora corrected with a pleasant smile. "I didn't take his name."

"Trouble in paradise already, Professor?" Fred joked. "We've got just the cure for that."

Aurora laughed softly, moving closer to her husband. "I'm sure you do, boys. But I assure you that there is no trouble. Not where our marriage is concerned at least."

The twins nodded.

"Well, then may I tell you that you look positively radiant today, ma'am?" George grinned.

"Hey, that was my line," Fred cried, feigning outrage.

Aurora rolled her eyes, glancing up at her husband and flashing a brilliant smile at him. Severus clearly felt uneasy being there with them, which was understandable considering.

"So, how about I show you our new product, ladies?" Fred asked suddenly, as George and Severus were standing awkwardly eyeing one another.

"I'd love that." Aurora quickly gave Severus a kiss to his cheek before she headed off with Fred, Harry, and Luna towards the other side of the stock room.

Severus's eyes followed his wife before he sighed inwardly. He glanced towards George, catching the younger wizard's missing ear. He felt a slight ache in his chest before he looked away.

"I . . ." he started to say before he sighed audibly. His dark eyes moved back to George. "I realize apologies are meaningless at this point, considering the damage I inflicted upon you, but I do sincerely apologize, Mr. Weasley." He caught George's confused look and continued. "You weren't my intended target that night, I assure you."

"Um . . ."

Severus held up a hand, though, to cut him off. "Allow me to finish, please." He waited for George to nod. "Behind Lupin was another Death Eater who was about to curse him. My curse was meant for the Death Eater, Mr. Weasley, not you. I," his voice trailed off before he looked out a window. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

"You missed," George offered quietly with a slight shrug. "But, honestly, sir, it's fine."

"No, it most certainly is not," Severus replied, his head snapping back to the redhead. "If I had just moved a bit to the right, then you'd have—"

"Have my ear, sure, but little Teddy might not have had a father, then," George pointed out. "A missing ear, eh." He shrugged languidly. "I could've lost so much more than that, sir. And, hey, it makes me saint-like now, you know."

Severus stared at him incredulously for a minute before groaning.

"You still have your humor, I see," Severus remarked quietly.

"Well, without humor, you've only got pain, and I think we've all had enough of that, don't you?" George followed Severus's look to Aurora and smiled softly. "She wrote me after I lost my ear. Did you know?"

Severus nodded slowly. "I did." He knew even before George had said it what the young man was about to say next. "The answer is yes, Mr. Weasley. It was one of my potions."

"I figured as much." George laughed quietly. "I can hear every now and then. Not much, but I do get some sounds once and awhile."

"You've continued the regimen?" he asked, turning back to the young man.

"I had been, but I ran out of the potion awhile back."

"And you didn't think to send her another owl?"

"I thought about it, sure, but, well, the war started getting worse and I just . . . we had bigger things to worry about than my ear."

Severus nodded again. He could understand that. "It may be possible, Mr. Weasley, for you regain even more of your hearing. Not fully, of course."

"But it was cursed off."

"I'm aware of that, but seeing as how it was a curse I developed, I have more insight into it than others." George snorted. "If you'd be willing, I could speak with a healer and give them the necessary information needed to see if they could restore your hearing fully."

"You really feel guilty about this, don't you, sir?"

Every bit of Severus's being wanted to fight his protective instincts. He hardly admitted his feelings to anyone other than Aurora, as that was considered a sign of weakness in his mind. But it was the right thing to do this time. "I do."

"All right, well, I'll send you the info later then."

Quietly, the two headed back over to the others. Aurora was holding in her hand a small puppet that had an eerily similar likeness to Severus, complete with long flowing robes and all.

"Silence!" his voice hissed from the puppet.

Severus stared at it for a few moments before he glanced at the Weasley twins.

"Just wait," Fred stated with a wide grin.

"POTTER!" the puppet snarled. "500 points from Gryffindor for your insolence!"

Aurora burst out laughing, as did everyone but Severus.

"It sounds just like you," his wife remarked with a wide smile.

"How wonderful," Severus replied sourly. He then caught a Potter-like puppet in Luna's hands, which the young witch brought near his own puppet.

"Yes, sir," the Severus puppet said.

"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor," responded the Potter puppet.

Severus's head snapped towards Harry before he glared at the cheeky brat.

"We had to include that. It was just too brilliant not to," Fred explained grinning largely.

"But don't worry, sir. You and Harry will receive royalties for everything we make with these," George stated.

"Fascinating." Severus sighed and shook his head.

"So, what brings you to our fine establishment today anyway?"

"Luna and I felt like a walk, and I thought maybe they'd like to come with us," Harry explained.

"Oh, so it's a double date, then," announced Fred with a wide grin.

"Absolutely not," Severus said instantly while Harry gave an awkward laugh.

"Is that what we're doing?" Luna asked, glancing towards Harry.

"Uh . . ." Harry replied, tugging on his collar.

Fred and George both wore looks of amusement, as Aurora gave Severus a look.

"Well, um, Luna, how about we go over there and talk?" The young pair walked to the far side away from the others.

"They're sort of cute together, aren't they?" the twins remarked.

"They are," Aurora agreed. "Only Harry's likely worried about how everyone is going to take it considering his prior relationship with your sister."

"Yeah." George sighed softly.

"Don't get us wrong. We loved Ginny. We still do. It's just . . ." Fred glanced at his brother.

"Well, um, it's just that she . . ."

"She didn't know what she wanted half the time." Fred then shrugged. "I guess that's the best way of putting it."

"What do you mean?" Aurora asked quietly.

"Well, our sister, um, she sort of . . . put herself out there."

"A lot," Fred added with a wince.

Severus groaned inwardly. This was another reason he hated children. He didn't want to hear any of the irrelevant drama-laden ridiculousness that came with them. He would make sure his child wasn't like any of the other brats. Not like his child would be anyway.

"Are you saying . . .?" his wife started to ask.

"Aurora, enough," Severus quietly said, giving his wife a look. There was no need for them to get involved in such a private family matter and stick their noses in it.

"She dated Michael Corner first," Fred stated.

"Or was that Dean?" George interrupted.

"No, it was definitely Michael," Fred repeated. "Either way, she dated Corner. Then went onto Dean Thomas. They got into such rows, you know? Well, a little while later, she and Harry started dating, which came as a shock to all of us."

"Until we realized why that was," George mentioned quietly.

"Are you suggesting that she—?" Aurora asked, giving the twins a shocked look.

"That our little sister dated Harry only because he was the Chosen One, yeah, we are," Fred answered with a slight nod. "And we know how that sounds, but . . . well, look at them." He pointed over to Harry and Luna, who were quietly talking with their backs turned.

"We actually thought Luna and Harry would start dating before Ginny would get her claws in him." George then sighed when he caught Aurora's look. "We love Ginny. We do. It's just . . ."

"Our little sister had a reputation for using people and tossing them aside when she was bored with them."

"We thought about giving him her diary once, so he could see it for himself and free himself before it was too late. But then he broke up with her to go hunting after the Horcruxes, and we figured it was over so there was no point."

"But now with how he's been, it's only fair, isn't it?" Fred remarked, looking back at Luna and Harry. "It'll hurt, but at least he'll know the truth and move on."

Severus sighed inwardly before he glanced to the twins. Sometimes the truth was necessary in order to move on. It had been for him at least. But sometimes the truth led to unnecessary pain. It was the old catch-22.

"He is moving on in his own way currently," Severus quietly said, hoping it would give them the hint without further explanation.

"We see that."

"Maybe we should—I mean, I can't imagine what it'd feel like to—" George turned to his brother. "Would you have wanted me to date Angelina if something had happened to you?"

Fred chuckled instantly. "You and Angelina? Come on, Georgie. Let's be honest here. She likes me more than you. Because I've got two ears and am handsomer." Fred flashed a cocky grin before he shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose that'd be all right with me. Course thankfully I . . ." A flash of pain flickered across Fred's face briefly before he glanced towards the floor. "Only had that one brief scare." He then shook his head. "I think I'm going to go check the store." He walked off a moment later, clearly with a heavy heart.

"How is your family doing, George?" Aurora asked.

He shrugged, watching his brother disappear behind a door. "We've got a good days and our bad, Professor. Mum and Ron are taking it the hardest, of course. Charlie's come home, did you know?"

"No. How is he?"

"Good. Still doesn't have a girl, which is annoying Mum to pieces. She's been telling Fred and me that we need to get on with grandkids, but Dad says that's just her trying to get some normalcy back." George sighed quietly. "Fred . . . well, you saw him just now. He's talking to a mind healer, who says he's got survivors' guilt or something. He's been doing loads better now that we've got this place, though. He says it's been good for him. To see the castle and everyone. Course, you know, night is the hardest." He glanced at her. "He won't tell me anything, but sometimes I think he relieves that moment in his nightmares. We've talked some about it, but, you know."

"Having him speak about his trauma is good," Severus mentioned quietly, briefly wondering why he had spoken in the first place.

"Yeah, that's what the mind healer said," George replied with a faint smile. "It's been, I don't know, soothing to see all the smiles and laughs we've been bringing to people here. It's mostly the adults and older students we see, but . . . it's good so far."

"What if we removed some of the—" Aurora started to say.

Severus closed his eyes. There was his wife's bleeding heart. He gave her a quick look.

"I will need to speak with the Heads of Houses before any decision can be made," Severus was quick to point out. He caught his wife's begging look instantly and frowned. "I'll take it into consideration, however."

"So, it's true, then?" George asked. "What they're saying in the Prophet?"

"That would depend entirely on what the Prophet is saying," Severus replied dryly.

"They said that your resignation was refused, making you the current headmaster."

Severus shrugged. "So it would seem."

"Wow."

"Indeed." Severus shook his head.

"Guess it doesn't make things confusing anymore with Professor Dumbledore's whole trial starting yesterday, does it?"

He glanced back at George and frowned. Albus was on trial yesterday? That was the first he had heard about that. Though, it wasn't as if he had really been following the outside world these days anyway. Not when he had bigger cauldrons to consider.

"Dad said they were going to call Dumbledore's brother to the stand today. Of course we all know there is no love lost between those two. Professor Dumbledore will be lucky if he doesn't end up being handed to the Dementors once they finish with Aberforth." George shrugged. "Not that I understand what's going on. Everyone's being real hush-hush about it. This is, after all, Dumbledore we're talking about."

"Well, personally, I'd like to see him try to explain his so-called necessary sacrifices for the Greater Good with all his victims' families around," Aurora stated brusquely.

George started suddenly before he gave a quick look to Severus. He seemed genuinely surprised by her words. Severus only looked back, as if pretending he was only half-listening.

"Yeah." George then forced a faint smile. "So, Mum found out about Hermione and Malfoy," he stated, clearly changing the subject.

"Ah." Severus couldn't care less about that. Honestly! What was it about young people that they thought every adult had to listen to their mindless chatter all the time? Who cared who was screwing whom? Five minutes later it'd just be another person added to the mix. Didn't they realize that?

"Hermione finally told Ron that they're over. That she's happy with Malfoy and that they're just friends." George then forced his laugh. "Even though we all know that her being friends with Malfoy is like Harry being just friends with Luna. Fat chance of that being true." George shrugged then. "Either way, according to Charlie, Ron took it rather well this time. Course, Bill said it's because our brother finally grew up, but I don't know. It's hard to imagine him wising up once and for all and being a mature adult."

"Time is a funny thing," Aurora remarked quietly.

George nodded, agreeing with her. His eyes then darted towards the door Fred had left through. "I should go see what Freddie is up to." He turned back to them. "It was nice seeing you both, Professors. Feel free to take whatever you want for the baby." His eyes then met Severus's. "It's the least we can do after all you've done for us, sir." He then held a hand out and gave Severus a faint smile when they shook hands. He turned and left soon after.

"You all right?" Aurora asked, glancing up at Severus a few moments later.

"Fine," he replied curtly. When he felt her fingers entwine with his, he relaxed just a bit. Why was everyone making such a big deal out of his actions? His eyes moved to Harry and Luna, catching the two hugging. He sighed inwardly and looked away.

Everything was changing now. Perhaps it would be for the better, but it made him uneasy inside. He had let his guard down before and nearly paid the price for it. Even if they were in peace times, he couldn't afford the luxuries of others, like Harry and Luna, could. Not now. Not when everyone else's guards were down and they were all vulnerable, still licking their wounds from the last battle. He then shook his head. No. It wasn't like that anymore. The Dark Lord had been defeated finally. It was over. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something out there was lurking just under the surface. Good times usually led to terrible pain he had learned. He glanced back at his wife and sighed. So what horrors would face them this time? Or was the paranoia all just in his head? He'd definitely have to speak with Pomfrey about it later, he decided. For now, he'd enjoy the sunshine. Or rather the sunshine of others. Young love and all that.