Florence's bedroom, a few days later, in the morning
Florence hadn't been sleeping well for weeks; her dreams constantly turned into a shared dream where Severus kissed her and made love to her; she put up her occlumency barriers whenever he tried to talk in those dreams, for she feared him finding out the truth about her and the boys.
That morning, Florence was awakened by the sound of two little boys whispering around her:
"Shouldn't we let mum sleep?" asked Nicholas.
"No. I'm hungry," replied James, "And Tiff won't give us bacon if mum doesn't say she can."
Florence controlled her smile and kept her eyes closed, feeling the mattress move, which indicated the twins had hopped on the bed.
"Mummy's necklace is so pretty"" said Nicholas, lying down beside her.
"Do you think dad gave it to her?" asked James from her other side.
"I think so, or... does that mean mum has a boyfriend?" asked Nick, very concerned, "Could she?"
"No. Mums don't have boyfriends, Nick, mums marry dads," explained James, very sure of his words.
Florence hid her face in her pillow until she could control her laughter. Then she said: "Good morning, my babies."
They both hugged her and said, in unison: "Morning, mummy."
She hugged them hard and kissed their heads, "Aww! You two are so cute!" she loved when they said things at the same time.
The boys cuddled close to her and she sighed, enjoying that moment with them, just caressing their hairs, thinking- as always- how theirs were the exact same texture and colour of their father's.
"Mum," she heard James whisper after a while.
"Yes, Jamie?"
The dark-eyed boy sat up and looked at his twin, who sat up as well; and Florence knew right then that they were about to ask her something very serious – and she had an idea what it was.
James looked at his mother again, "What is dad like?"
Florence had already been waiting for that question, so she sat up on the bed and spoke: "Well, he's a very powerful wizard, a brilliant man."
"Why doesn't he live here with us?" asked Nicholas.
"Because he has a very important job in the war," she replied succinctly.
"He's an auror like Uncle Prongs?" asked James.
"Sort of," Florence said, looking at the two of them and whispering: "He spies on the bad guys to help Dumbledore."
They both gaped, looking very impressed by that.
"But why isn't he here with us?" insisted James.
"Because, my loves, years ago, I lied to your dad, I told him that you two were Padfoot's children. And that's what your dad still believes is the truth."
Nick looked at his brother, shocked. Mummy lied! He spoke through their bond.
Then James said out loud: "But lying is wrong! Mummies don't lie!"
"I did. To protect you." Florence explained, touching their faces.
They glanced at each other.
Mummy lied! Repeated Nick, very surprised.
Yes. And Dad's a spy! James said just as surprised.
How cool is that!
But James suddenly frowned: "Wait, the bad guys don't know that dad's a spy?"
"No, James," said Florence.
"And what happens if they find out?" Nicholas asked, as concerned as his brother.
"They'll... well, they'll probably hurt your dad," said Florence, trying to answer without using the word 'kill', "But he's a very strong wizard. He can protect himself," she added, not wanting them to worry.
The boys looked at each other in silence again.
Florence knew that they shared some sort of mental communication link, because of moments like that, when they just stared at each other and nodded as if having a silent conversation. So she waited.
They looked back at her after a while.
"Dad's a hero then," said James.
"Yes, you could say that he is," Florence smiled at the conclusion the boys had reached.
"And grandma is dad's mom?" asked Nicholas.
"Yes, Nick."
"And do we look like dad?"
"Yes, James. A lot!" her smile broadened, "You have his eyes, and both of you have his hair."
"Where does he live?" asked Nicholas.
"In Hogwarts. He's also a teacher there."
"What does he teach?" asked James.
"Potions," she said, finding cute the amount of questions they were making.
"Wow!" the twins exclaimed.
They were both fascinated by potions, they loved watching Florence brew some Pepper Up, for it let out a cool red vapour.
"What's his name?" asked Nicholas, glancing at his brother.
"Is it Severus?" added James, quickly.
Florence hesitated before replying – but she had spoken that far and, apparently, the boys already knew the answer to that, so she confirmed: "Yes."
"So we know him!" exclaimed James, excitedly.
"Yes, you do," she confirmed again, fearing that they might let something slip when they saw him again.
"Yeah! He always gets our names right!" said Nick, happily.
Florence didn't know what to say after that. She suddenly realised that if the twins kept on growing up to look even more like Severus, then they would have to move from Hogsmeade, or it wouldn't take long for him to start questioning her.
She was touching her jade necklace, lost on those thoughts when Nicholas touched her hand, asking: "Dad gave you that?"
"Yes, Nick."
"Good," he nodded, probably relieved that she didn't have a boyfriend. Then he laid his head on her lap, smiling.
"Will he come live here someday?" asked James, laying his head on Florence's lap as well.
"I don't know..." she said, caressing their heads.
I don't know if he'd ever forgive me for hiding you two from him during all this time.
"Would you like for him to come live here with us?" she asked.
"Yes!" they exclaimed together.
"Maybe after the war is over..." Florence said.
"That would be awesome." said Nicholas.
"Yes, it would..." murmured Florence, wishing with all her heart that that dream could one day come true.
About a mile away, inside the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Severus turned onto his back on his large bed and slowly opened his eyes, grunting in frustration as he found himself alone after the amazing dream he had just woken up from.
He could still taste her on his tongue, feel the softness of her skin under his hands, hear her moans echoing in the dungeons.
"Fuck," he exhaled, staring at the tall stone ceiling, moving one hand down his own chest, while the other fished a white silk blouse from under the pillow – he had transfigurated that blouse of hers into a shirt for himself the morning after she had saved his life.
With the delicate piece of clothing to his nose, inhaling its sweet vanilla scent, the hand on his chest went further down and he tried to pleasure himself - only to end up frustrated after a number of minutes.
"Fuck!" he growled, angry that he had been having a hard time reaching an orgasm lately, his body seemed to fight the touch of his hand and refused to climax.
He insisted, and after long minutes he was finally able to find release.
"Fucking hell," he inhaled her sweet perfume from the blouse once more and groaned in frustration.
Lately he'd been having to wank at least twice to calm down the lust he had running though his body whenever he dreamed of Florence or smelled her scent.
And if he tried fucking other women to control his need for her, it took him hours of hard work just to reach an unsatisfying orgasm that only left him angry, frustrated and exhausted.
He returned the silk blouse to its place under his pillow and got up to start his day.
As he closed his buttons, Severus remembered the meeting he'd gone the night before – a death eater meeting, where new attacks had been planned.
I have to talk to Dumbledore before breakfast.
The war was getting worse and there didn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel – only more darkness.