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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Lily's breath continued to come in sharp gasps as she stared down at the life she had carried for the past months.
Together, Mr. and Mrs. Snape met their son for the first time.
Severus was in total awe as he marveled at the baby and the beautiful flush that covered his wife's cheeks.
The boy was small, with his father's dark hair, but Lily's signature, emerald eyes which he cracked open to blink at his parents as his cries gradually calmed to fussy whimpers.
"He's perfect!" Lily exclaimed as she stared at her new baby.
Despite the exhausting night she had endured and the stress of her ordeal, a bright smile danced across her lips.
Severus's heart lightened at the sight.
He had seen his lover smile that brightly before, on the night that Harriet had been born.
As Lily leaned forward and kissed her tiny newborn's head, Severus resisted the urge to pull them both into his protective embrace.
"Isn't he beautiful, Sev?" Lily asked as she turned to flash Severus her radiant smile.
"...He's flawless, my love." He answered in a low purr.
Severus's dark eyes darted from the baby to Lily as he wore a solemn frown of rapt admiration.
The baby quieted and moved his tiny hands in his swaddled position until Lily grimaced and began to shift uncomfortably in bed.
"Doesn't look like the little lad is quite ready to eat, yet, but mother and I need to finish up." The midwife assessed as Lily felt the cramps begin that would remove the afterbirth from her womb.
"Mr. Snape, would you like to hold the baby for a moment?" The midwife asked as she looked at Severus.
Severus didn't even take the time to nod in eager agreement before he leaned forward and let Lily slip the baby into his arms.
Satisfied that her little one was safely in his father's grasp, Lily laid back with a sigh and prepared herself to do the last bit of work needed to complete the birthing process.
It was difficult for Severus to hold Lily's hand and support her efforts while he cradled his son.
The moments after Harriet's birth had been a bit easier.
Although Severus had grown to care for her as if she were his own flesh and blood, when she had entered the world, she had been James Potter's daughter.
The boy in Severus's arms was undeniably his inside and out, from his black hair to his tiny, hooked nose which Severus narrowed his eyes at as he noticed.
How on earth was he supposed to split his attention between his flower and his newborn?
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Lily drifted back into a deep sleep moments after the last of her exertion ended and the midwife gave her permission to rest.
Severus kissed his darling's forehead as he gently rose from her bed, with their sleeping son cuddled tightly against his chest.
"I need to tend to my daughter." He whispered to the midwife, "If she isn't already awake in her nursery, she will be at any moment."
"Go on, Mr. Snape." The midwife nodded, "Your wife will probably take a nice, long nap. I can look after her while she rests."
Severus nodded his thanks before he swept out of the bedroom, down the hallway, and into Harriet's nursery.
His suspicions had been correct.
As soon as he stepped through the doorway, Harriet greeted him with a bright smile and an eager squeal, "Daddy!"
Severus laid a finger over his lips to quiet his excited daughter as he pointed to the bundle in his arms.
Harriet blinked for a moment at Severus's gesture.
She curiously stared at the bundle he held as it started to writhe and move.
"What is that, Daddy?" Harriet asked in a hushed voice.
Severus walked over and used his wand to lift Harriet out of her cot as he murmured, "Levicorpus."
Harriet giggled quietly as she took a brief ride through the air and over the bars of her cot to safely land on her small feet.
"This," Severus drawled as he bent down to show Harriet the baby, "...is your new brother."
Harriet blinked at the sleeping newborn that Severus tenderly held in his arms.
"...Where's Mummy?" Harriet asked as she looked up at Severus with a frown.
"Your mother is resting." Severus nodded, "She'll be awake soon, then we can all sit together."
Harriet turned to look back at the baby as she asked, "...What's my brother's name?"
Severus blinked.
"Your mother and I haven't decided that yet." He informed his daughter.
"Why?" Harriet asked as she glanced back at Severus and blinked her large, green eyes.
"Because your mother became too tired to discuss the matter with me. After she wakes, I'm certain we'll talk about it then." Severus explained to Harriet.
"Why was Mummy too tired?" Harriet frowned.
"Because she just gave birth to your brother." Severus patiently went on, "One day, if you ever become a mother, you may feel tired afterwards too."
Harriet thought about her father's words for a moment before she pouted and defiantly shook her head, "...No."
"No?" Severus asked.
"No, I won't, Daddy. I don't get tired easily." Harriet shrugged as she looked at Severus.
"Ah...Forgive me for not realizing the obvious." Severus quipped as a smirk of amusement curled his lips.
"What does my brother do?" Harriet asked as she looked back at the sleeping baby in wonder.
"Well, for now, he eats and sleeps mostly." Severus told Harriet, "One day….however….he'll do lots of things. He'll be a friend to you and a playmate. You'll go to school together and share adventures."
Harriet stared down at the baby for a long moment before she remarked with a child's innocence, "My brother is sort of ugly, isn't he?"
"No." Severus replied as he narrowed his eyes at his daughter, "He's perfect."
"He isn't, but that's alright, Daddy." Harriet decided as the baby started to wake with a whine. Severus stood while Harriet threw herself around his leg and exclaimed, "You're sort of ugly too, but I love you so much!"
Severus didn't know whether he should have felt angry or flattered, but the baby began to root against his chest while hungry whimpers issued warningly from his tiny mouth.
He clutched his son in his arms as he left the nursery with Harriet still clinging to his leg.
Severus smiled softly to himself as he clumsily brought his children back down the hallway to rejoin their mother.
In his arms lay his whimpering newborn while his daughter giggled as she enjoyed the ride down the hallway, wrapped around his leg.
Severus couldn't imagine a more blissful chaos than the one he knew raising a family with Lily.
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"WWWWAAA!"
"WWWWAAA!"
Lily woke from her restorative but short nap to the wails of her hungry baby.
She glanced over to see Severus at her bedside with a frown as he bounced the small bundle in his arms.
"WWWWWAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
Harriet sat next to her mother on the bed as she flipped through one of her favourite picture books.
"Hello, Harriet, love." Lily smiled weakly as she reached out and patted her little girl's back.
"Hello, Mummy. Are you still tired?" Harriet blinked as she turned around.
"WWWWWAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
"I am, yes, but I'll get better, don't worry, sweetheart." Lily reassured her little girl before she glanced over at Severus and opened her arms for the baby, "You should have woken me when he started to fuss."
Severus grimaced as he watched his darling sit up in bed with a quiet groan.
Lily ached from the birth and the heavy cramps that rolled through her abdomen didn't lessen that sensation.
"WWWAAAAA!"
"You need your rest." Severus drawled over his son's shrill cries as he used his free hand to help Lily position the pillows along her back.
"...But our son needs me more!" Lily laughed.
"WWWWAAAA!"
Severus leaned towards her as he very carefully passed the baby into her arms.
The dark-haired little boy's face was bright red from the force of his irritated crying as Lily moved her nightgown strap off of her shoulder and exposed her full breasts.
"WWWWWAAAA!"
Severus suppressed the unwelcome surge of arousal that threatened to course through him as he drank in the sight of his wife's heavy curves before his gaze drifted towards the ethereal glow of her complexion.
Lily smiled when their newborn found her nipple and instinctively began to enjoy his first meal.
Severus glanced away when his wife looked over at him.
The sound of Lily's laughter surprised him as she spoke, "I don't mind if you watch, Sev! Why are you hiding?"
Guilt weighed on Severus's heart.
He should have revered Lily for mothering his son and he did, but in the moment before, as he had busied himself with his admiration of her, he felt ashamed to admit that he had nearly forgotten about his newborn and Harriet.
The world seemed to crumble away as he paused to contemplate the mystery of his mate's beauty.
"He needs a name, Lily." Severus nodded at his little boy, eager to change the subject.
Lily glanced down at their baby with a smile and mused, "Hmm…..I knew exactly what Harriet should have been called, before I even met her……but he's a bit harder to figure out isn't he? I can't quite place him."
"You're named after a plant." Severus remarked.
"I am." Lily agreed, "That works better for girls, doesn't it?" She asked as she glanced up at Sev, "I hardly think the name of a flower will suit him."
"The name of a flower, no….The name of a tree….perhaps." Severus whispered.
"A tree?" Lily blinked.
"We could call him 'Ellery'," Severus suggested, "It's old English for 'from the alder tree'."
"The alder tree….." Lily frowned, "We learned about that years ago in school, didn't we? Sorry, my mind's still a bit fuzzy from everything! Isn't that the tree that symbolizes strength and determination in the old legends?"
"Indeed." Severus nodded, "I've read before that in ages past, alder trees were believed to protect and hide people during times of danger."
"Well, I think Ellery is a fine name." Lily said with a smile of approval as she bent down and kissed her little boy's tiny head after he let go of his food source.
Severus watched his beloved wife switch little Ellery to her other breast before she glanced up and asked, "...As long as we can use Severus for his middle name, after his father?"
His breath hitched as a wave of dizzying pride knocked the air from his lungs.
Severus's black eyes glimmered with devotion as he stared at Lily.
"Of course, my love…...You honor me greatly." He said with his brow furrowed together in awe of his beautiful flower.
Lily laughed again as she looked back down at her baby, touched his tiny face, and called him by his full name, "Ellery Severus Snape……a strong name for a strong boy…..One day he'll be a fine man and a talented wizard."
As Severus looked at his son and contemplated Voldemort's survival, he spoke in a low drawl that was barely audible, "...He'll have to be."