Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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"It isn't often that I receive such requests, Severus." Dumbledore mused as he stared at the young potions professor one morning while the two of them chatted in the Headmaster's office, "However, considering your family's unique circumstances, and out of appreciation for your work, I suppose I can grant you the privilege."
"Thank you, Headmaster." Severus said with a grateful nod, "If I could only have a week away from my post to be with my wife after the birth…….We don't wish to involve outside help any more than necessary."
"...Which is understandable and wise." Dumbledore nodded as he furrowed his brow in concentration, "Listen, Severus, why don't you take the rest of the term off? That would give you the next few months and the summer as well."
Severus's black eyes widened at Dumbledore's unexpected generosity.
He replied with an incredulous glare as he asked, "...Would that not disrupt the students, Headmaster? Is there any qualified person available to assume my duties on such short notice?"
"Those matters will be my concern to handle." Dumbledore cryptically replied.
"...And if I accept your offer, Headmaster, will I still have duties at Hogwarts to which I may return?" Severus frowned.
As much as he wanted time with Lily and their children, Severus did not wish to find himself unemployed.
"Of course, Severus." Dumbledore nodded before he leaned across his desk and spoke in a low whisper, "Provided what you heard is true, I implore you to enjoy this gift of peaceful, happy time with your loved ones. If Tom is in fact alive, that means that his eventual return is inevitable. When that happens, I'm afraid none of us will be at peace, as you well know."
A solemn frown of grim resignation formed on Severus's thin lips while he contemplated Dumbledore's words.
"Thank you, Headmaster." Severus nodded as he rose from his seat.
Silently, he turned and glided out of the room with his dark cloak flowing behind him like an elegant cloud of black smoke.
Dumbledore frowned at the papers on his desk after his youngest employee had left.
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As soon as Severus returned home to share the good news with Lily and Harriet, he found himself greeted by happy squeals and bright smiles.
"Daddy!" Harriet cried as she launched herself at him and wound around his calf in a tight hug.
"That's wonderful Dumbledore granted you the time off, Sev!" Lily laughed as she stepped forward and fondly embraced her husband.
While Harriet clutched onto him, Severus placed both of his hands protectively on the sides of Lily's burgeoning belly as he gave her a deep kiss.
"...Love you." She chuckled once Severus pulled away.
He felt too awestruck to speak as he stared into his wife's flawless face.
Severus considered Lily to be the most desirable woman in the world, but much like her first, her second pregnancy had enhanced her beauty.
Her emerald eyes shone brighter, her cheeks seemed fuller, her complexion carried a constant, beguiling blush, and her figure……
Lily's curvy, supple figure made Severus's head swim with eager desire and admiration during the hundreds of times a day his dark eyes flickered over his wife's changed form.
"At last," Severus whispered to Lily as Harriet started to crawl up his leg, "...We'll have some time to be a proper family."
He felt Harriet's tiny fists threaten to pry the seams of his black robes apart as she made her way towards his arms, but he didn't mind in the least as Lily placed another sweet kiss on his lips.
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The temporary alleviation of his professional duties left Severus free to focus on his roles as a husband and a father.
For once, he welcomed his work.
Severus gladly spent the days tending to Lily and caring for Harriet.
On sunny mornings, the family would sit outside of their cottage after breakfast.
He and Lily would watch Harriet play in the forest clearing that made up their yard while they held hands and chatted over tea.
Lily and Harriet would both take naps after lunch.
In between checking on his wife and his daughter, Severus used that hour to read quietly while he sat at Lily's bedside.
The afternoons were often busier, with the family either running errands or going to one of Lily's appointments, but the evenings were tranquilly sublime.
In the evenings, after dinner, Severus and Lily would spend the hours before bed cuddling on the sofa while Harriet played with her toys on the rug.
As they watched their little girl laugh, Severus's slender hands remained on Lily's swollen womb while she laid against him.
He delighted in the knowledge that the fluttering motions underneath his fingers and palms meant his little one was alive and well.
Severus dreamed of securing that outcome for his small family……..to have them all make it through the trials to come alive and well.
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Lily bloomed with the spring as the date of the baby's expected arrival approached.
Severus remembered her first pregnancy well enough and thoughtfully used his previous experience to ease her discomforts as much as possible with soft pillows, cozy blankets, and soothing salves.
Harriet had been born two weeks early.
At the midwife's urging, the couple prepared for her sibling to make an early appearance in the world as well.
However, as the warmth of spring threatened to escalate into a summer blaze, the baby's anticipated birth date came, but Severus's little one stayed in the cozy comfort of its mother's womb.
Severus had missed observing the suffering brought to an expectant mother by those final, lengthy weeks of gestation.
It bothered Severus that there didn't seem to be enough salve or pillows in the world to decrease the discomfort of a woman days away from delivery as Lily struggled to walk, eat, and rest.
Severus frowned at his darling as he watched his flower battle to get comfortable.
He sought to aid her as much as possible, but as her aches increased and her patience waned, his affectionate attempts at assistance sometimes drew more scowls than smiles from his darling.
As Lily tried to straighten her spine after dinner one evening, in an effort to have an easier time breathing while she sat on the sofa, Severus cast her a sympathetic frown.
While she worked to find a suitable position, he reached behind her and began to fluff the pillow that supported her lower back.
"Sev, you don't have to fret over me!" Lily snapped before she could stop herself.
The wounded expression that immediately ghosted across Severus's pale face instantly calmed the frustrated anger produced by Lily's hormones.
She placed a hand over her husband's as she frowned at him and quickly apologized, "Oh, darling, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to snap at you like that! Please forgive me……I'm only agitated…..I appreciate everything you do for me and how very kind you've been."
Lily's words healed Severus's broken heart, although his wife's unhappiness left him with a lingering feeling of dismay.
While she stared at Severus, the sadness in his black gaze pierced through to her soul.
Lily felt overwhelmed by shame after she considered how cruelly she had spoken to her beloved husband.
While Harriet slept in her nursery, Severus gathered Lily into his arms as fat tears of bitter remorse began to pour down her cheeks.
She wept on his shoulder as he carried her up the staircase and into their bedroom while he whispered tender words of love in his low, velvet voice.
Lily continued to sob quietly as Severus sat her down gently on the bed and wordlessly began to help her change into her nightdress.
He frowned as he listened to the terrible sound of his wife crying while he slipped out of his robes and into his own nightclothes.
Determined to console his darling, Severus walked over, crawled into bed, and carefully pulled Lily into his arms.
As they lay together, he could no longer bear the gut-wrenching cacophony of his beloved flower's distress.
While tears continued to stream down Lily's cheeks, he closed his eyes and kissed her lovingly.
She whimpered into their affection as her hands came up to hold Severus's face while he cradled her belly.
Her sobbing stopped as their exchange grew deeper and hungrier.
Severus tasted her with his tongue as his palms roamed away from her abdomen, across her sides, over her plump bottom cheeks, and onto the outlines of her firm, tender breasts.
Lily gasped as Severus pulled away from their kiss to plant sucking, wet nibbles across her throat and onto her cleavage.
As Mr. and Mrs. Snape made love, Lily finally found freedom from the heavy burden of her exhausting condition as Severus mercifully sent her flying over high peaks of pleasure.
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Lily's decreased energy didn't allow her to stay awake very long after their tender tryst ended.
Severus gradually followed his wife into a blissful slumber while he held her close.
Sometime during the night, he woke to the sound of his name being whispered in an urgent hiss.
"Severus….."
"Severus……"
"Severus!"
Severus opened his eyes with a start and a gasping snort.
At first, it frightened him that Lily may have woken in pain, but he scowled when he saw Lucius Malfoy standing at the foot of their bed.
As realization dawned on him through the groggy fog of drowsiness, Severus glared at his friend.
He sat bolt upright and exclaimed in a hushed snarl, "May I ask the reason for this intrusion?!"
"Get dressed." Lucius ordered, "Yaxley's waiting in the forest, we have to go now."
"What?!" Severus gasped as he narrowed his eyes incredulously, "What forest?!...Waiting where?!"
"Far away from here……" Lucius whispered, "Hurry up, I don't expect our meeting will take long…….Believe me, Severus, refusing to attend would be foolish."
When Severus grit his teeth in protest, Lucius added, "...Yaxley has found the Dark Lord."
Severus drew a sharp breath as his heart sank in anxious dread.
He silently swept out of bed and into the lavatory to hastily change into his robes.
As he apparated away with Lucius moments later, his pulse pounded with the dual intent of learning what he could about his enemy's survival while keeping the interaction as brief as possible.
Severus had earned the privilege of being able to stay home with his pregnant wife.
He didn't appreciate anyone taking that away from him, not even Voldemort himself.
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Back at the Snapes' cottage, Lily grimaced in her sleep.
Her brow furrowed as she laid a hand over her tensing belly while she writhed in the sheets.
She hoped to use the soothing warmth from Severus's body as a way to relieve the pain that started to wake her…..