August 1991
Snapes' family home
Late night
The kids were already asleep but Florence was waiting for her husband to arrive, pacing the living room nervously.
She had enrolled Harry Potter at Hogwarts two days ago – as his legal guardian in the wizarding world, she had to be the one to do it – and Dumbledore was going to send the boy's letter that day.
Severus had stayed at the school to wait for confirmation that Harry had received the letter, while Florence went home to be with their kids; but he was supposed to be home hours ago.
It doesn't take more than a couple of hours to deliver a letter to Little Whinging, it's not on the other side of the world!
That was how she knew that something had to have happened.
When, finally, the flames in the fireplace turned green and, from them, Severus appeared, brushing off the soot from his clothes, Florence immediately stopped her pacing and asked him:
"So, is it done? Harry's got his letter?"
"No," he sighed, "Apparently, the Dursleys are trying to stop the boy from going to Hogwarts," he kissed her lips before sitting on the sofa.
"What?" Florence exclaimed as she sat beside him, frowning, clearly angry with that situation, "I knew I should've been the one to deliver him his letter! Then I would've explained everything to him! Fuck what Dumbledore wants!"
"I dare say Petunia has never even told him a word about magic," continued Severus.
"What will we do now? She can't stop him from coming to Hogwarts!"
"Well, Dumbledore agrees with you and he has decided to send Harry as many letters as necessary in order to make sure he'll come to Hogwarts."
Florence laughed, "Now that's a good idea! He's probably going to send him a thousand letters. I'd love to see the Dursleys' faces when their manicured front yard gets covered in owl poo!"
Severus pulled her face towards his for another kiss, "Love that twisted sense of humour, princess. Laughing at other people's disgrace."
"Not people's, the Dursleys'."
Severus kissed her again, and she kneeled on the sofa, moving towards his lap, one leg on either side of his hips.
Florence began to open the buttons of his waistcoat and he spoke: "On a more worrying note, Dumbledore has asked me and some other teachers to help secure the Philosopher's Stone inside the castle this year."
"I know... he's mentioned to me that he was going to do that," she touched his face, putting his hair behind his ears, "Do you think it's wise to have that thing in Hogwarts?"
"No, I don't," he said in a whisper as Florence started kissing down his neck, "But I'll do my part, and help him keep that safe," he pulled her chin up, kissing her lips again passionately.
"OH, NO! MY EYES!" they suddenly heard one of their sons shouting from the top of the stairs.
Florence laughed, getting off of her husband's lap, "What are you doing up, James?"
"Being traumatised!" the twelve-year-old replied, walking downstairs.
"Oh, please. We were just kissing," she said.
"From the number of times I've caught you two snogging, one would think you haven't got a room in this house!" James went into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and walking out.
"Would you rather catch us fighting?" asked Severus, with an arched eyebrow.
"It would be an interesting turn for once!" he paused, drinking his water and putting the glass on the dining table, "But mum would kick your arse – and then I'd have two traumas: catching parents snogging and having an old man for a father."
Severus jumped over the back of the sofa and ran after James; the preteen laughed hard as he ran back upstairs.
"I vote to send him back to Durmstrang sooner this year. Let Karkaroff deal with him," said Severus, sitting beside his wife again, "What do you say?"
Florence just laughed and kissed him, "Let's just go to bed, husband."
September 1st 1991
Hogwarts, welcoming feast
Florence was at the high table, sitting between Dumbledore and Severus.
"I'm dying to see Harry," she murmured, shooting the headmaster an annoyed gaze, "I was forbidden to check on him when he was four years old, you know."
"Yes, I remember," said Dumbledore, "Petunia called the muggle police because she was afraid of you. And," he looked at her over the rim of his half-moon glasses, "she threatened to expose the wizarding world."
"As if," Florence scoffed, "I could've just obliviated her-"
"The Ministry does not condone unnecessary obliviation of muggles, Florence," Dumbledore replied in a tone that made it clear they had had that discussion too many times already.
Florence was about to reply when she felt her husband's hand on her leg.
Really, husband? She discretely glared at him.
You've argued with him about Harry for a decade, Florence. Now the boy's here. Safe. Drop it, love.
She let out a sigh and reached for her wine glass.
"Hagrid says he looks a lot like James," continued Dumbledore.
"And I'd know that already, if I had been the one to raise him," Florence added, bitterly.
For fuck's sake. Severus groaned in her mind.
"You know very well what was one of my reasons to not allow that," replied Dumbledore looking from her to Severus, "We know what his role will be in the upcoming war, I couldn't allow the boy-who-lived to be raised by him."
Florence glared both at him and at her husband.
"I get it," she sighed, annoyed, "I hate your logic, but I understand it."
Then the big oaken doors were opened.
"Oh, here they are," whispered Dumbledore.
And a large group of kids walked into the Great Hall, led by Prof. McGonagall.
She asked them to stop right in front of the high table and took a roll of parchment from the table. Then she turned back to face the first-year students.
"When I call your name, you will put on the Sorting Hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," McGonagall said, "Abbott, Hannah!"
The girl sat on the stool and McGonagall put the old hat on her head.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again.
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Granger, Hermione!"
A bushy-haired girl almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her own head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.
"Malfoy, Draco."
A white-blond boy went to the stool.
"He looks just like Lucius with his hair like that" murmured Florence to her husband, making a face.
"Yes, poor kid. But I'm just glad Narcissa didn't let Lucius send Draco to Durmstrang. At least now I know he'll be safe here in the castle," Severus whispered, clearly relieved.
The hat had barely touched the blond boy's head when it shouted:
"SLYTHERIN!"
"And now he's your problem, Severus," said Dumbledore.
"When hasn't he been?" the potions master whispered in reply.
After many other names had been called, McGonagall finally said:
"Potter, Harry."
The Great Hall fell silent as the dark-haired boy walked to the stool.
The teacher put the hat on his head and everybody waited with bated breath. But it took the Sorting Hat a while, until it made his decision and shouted:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"No surprises there," Dumbledore said, smiling to the two Slytherins on his right.
"Weasley, Ronald," continued McGonagall.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"How many children do the Weasleys have?" Florence asked her husband.
"They stopped at seven. We'll get there someday," he murmured back.
She just stared at him, her facial expression somewhere between shocked and amused.
Three more children? What if we end up making another James? Or three girls?
That had Severus looking at her with fear in his eyes, and she laughed.
After all the students had been sorted, Dumbledore got up from his chair and spoke about the Forbidden Forest, the third floor and other things.
And then the feast began.
At the Gryffindor table
"Percy, who's that black-haired teacher?" Harry Potter asked the older red-haired boy on his left.
"That's Prof. Snape. He teaches Potions."
"And who's the woman sitting next to him?" asked Harry.
"That's Madam Delacour. She's a Mediwitch who's around a lot. She helps Pomfrey and Snape whenever they need. But why do you ask?"
"She looks familiar, that's all," Harry murmured, touching his scar that, for the first time ever, was itching.
September 1991
Snapes' family home
Florence, Severus and their two younger children were in the living room, enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon at home.
Their nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was painting on the rug with her four-year-old brother, Christopher.
The girl's long dark and wavy hair contrasting beautifully with the creamy-white of her skin, add to those her rosy cheeks, pink lips and dark eyes and it was easy to understand where her nickname, 'Snow-white' – given by a muggleborn classmate of hers from Hogsmeade's Primary School – had come from.
"What do you think of McGonagall allowing Harry into the Quidditch team so soon?" Severus asked, while caressing his wife's hair.
"Well, I don't think she should have, for the rules are-"
"First years never make the house team," Elizabeth interrupted, "Even I know that! I bet she did it just because he's famous."
"Minerva says he's a great seeker just like his father," Severus sighed, "She's already giving him special treatment."
"That's not good, but I get it," said Florence, "I'd like to make his life a little happier than what it has been so far too."
"Did the Dursleys hit Harry growing up?" asked Elizabeth, concerned.
"No, Liz, but they made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. They never celebrated his birthdays," Florence sighed angrily, "When Dumbledore told me that, I wanted to strangle him. He knew about all of the things the Dursleys were doing to Harry and he still let them happen!"
"Why you've never helped him, mum?" Chris asked, his caramel-coloured hair and green eyes making him look like a small male version of his mother.
"I tried, love... but when Harry was four, I may have tried to intimidate to Petunia and she threatened to expose the wizarding world if I meddled. After that, Dumbledore forbade me to get close to them."
May have tried? Whispered Severus in her mind with a knowing smirk.
Shut it, husband.
"Anyway," continued Severus out loud, "If Harry had been raised as our son, I wouldn't have allowed him to play."
Florence laughed: "Yes, you would! If he'd been raised by us, he'd probably end up in Slytherin and, if he's as good a seeker as his dad was, you'd for sure let him play for the Slytherin team!"
Severus smirked and kissed her until she stopped laughing.
Elizabeth just rolled her eyes, "If James were here, we'd be hearing a lot of complaints."
"Yes, we would," chuckled Florence, "Do you miss your brothers when they're away at school?"
"Yeah," said the girl, looking at Chris, "A lot."
"I miss them too," Chris nodded.
Florence looked at her husband, but he shook his head.
"It's still too early to miss James, can't say I share the sentiment. Give me two more months."
Florence slapped his arm playfully, "That's so mean. Well, I miss them. They were my first babies. It's hard to believe they'll be thirteen next month."
"Yes, that's true," Severus caressed her face. "To think of all you've been through with them when they were little..."
"Yeah," Florence whispered, having her lips kissed again.
"You were eighteen when you had the twins, right, mum?" asked Elizabeth.
"Yes, Liz."
"And dad wasn't around then?"
"No. It took us four years to finally get together," said Severus, kissing his wife's wedding ring.
"Wait," said Elizabeth, frowning, "I'm four years younger than the twins."
"That's because you are our reconciliation baby," Florence said, winking at her, "We probably made you the night we got back together."
Elizabeth shuddered, "I did not need to know that!"
"And what am I?" asked Chris.
"You're our Valentine's Day baby!" said Florence, smiling at her son.
"Nice! I like Valentine's Day! There is always candy!" said Chris, smiling.
Florence chuckled at the boy's innocence.
"Well, regarding Harry," said Severus, "I'm beginning to see that it will fall to me the job of showing him how hard the real world can be."
"What do you mean?" Florence frowned, "Will you be taking points from Gryffindor just because he doesn't know things? He wasn't raised in the wizarding world, Severus!"
"So he'd better catch up fast," he answered.
Florence rolled her eyes, "How many points have you taken from Gryffindor because of him already, Sev?"
"Just ten," he replied, explaining: "I asked him two questions, he didn't know how to answer either one. I took five points for that," he saw Florence's glare and exclaimed: "I was nice! if he were from a magical family, I'd have taken twenty! The other five points were because he disrespected me in front of the class. He's not going to be treated as the Saviour in my classroom."
"What did he do?" asked Elizabeth, "Did he breathe too loud?" she asked sarcastically.
Severus stared at his daughter, trying to intimidate her, but he got back the same intimidating arched eyebrow glare that he was giving her.
Then the little girl smiled and he knew he had lost that battle, as usual.
November 1991
Hogwarts' dungeons
It was early morning, on a Tuesday, and someone was knocking on his door. It could only be Dumbledore at that hour, since breakfast was hours away from being served.
They knocked again, insistently.
"I'm coming!" barked Severus, "It's 5 a.m., Albus! I hope half the students are dead to justify you at my door at this hour!"
He opened the door, ready to kick the headmaster out of his dungeons.
"Florence?" he asked in shock and quickly pulled her inside, "What are you doing here? Is everything all right? Why didn't you just floo in?"
"I'm not feeling very well," she whispered, getting closer to him and letting the bag she was carrying drop onto the floor.
"You should go see Pomfrey, then," he said, confused.
"There's nothing Poppy can do for me, professor."
Then he realised what her intentions were – their game, she wanted to play.
"What are you feeling, assistant?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and letting her know he was in.
After making love to her on top of his desk, Severus helped Florence sit up and pulled her for a slow kiss.
"Why have you arrived here so early today, love?" he asked, giving her dress back to her and watching as she was getting dressed, "Is the infirmary suddenly filled up? We do have a new student with a penchant for blowing things up."
"No. No one's hurt. But good to know we have a new incendiary," she picked up her bag, "I came to give you this," she handed him package, "It's a Christmas gift for Harry. Before you lecture me: I didn't sign it so he won't know who sent it to him."
"Right. And what is it?"
"Lily's old photo album. I got it from Godric's Hollow a few days after... well, you know. And I've removed any pictures where we, Remus and Sirius were with them. There are only pictures of the Potters in it."
"Ok. I'll put it under the Gryffindor Christmas tree," Severus yawned, "Fuck, I'm beat."
She smirked, touching his naked chest, "Are you regretting opening the door to me?"
"I could say 'yes', but I'd be lying. Feel free to wake me up every day at 5 a.m. to fuck."
Florence laughed and kissed him.
"I'll go home now, soon the kids will be up. I'll be back after having breakfast with them. See you later," she gave him a quick kiss and left.