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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Severus inwardly berated himself for his own callousness.
After years of neglect, someone had finally tried to show him a bit of human kindness.
Even if that someone had been his least favourite former student, the girl who reminded him of his broken dreams, Harriet's attention had meant his sacrifices had no longer gone unnoticed.
To Severus, the idea of recognition seemed more intriguing than he originally anticipated.
After Harriet shared her soup, Severus spent the rest of the night brooding.
Sometime close to dawn, he sank down into a chair next to the open window and sighed as he listened to the waves crash on the shore while the sun threatened to rise.
One breath, then two.
The soft spray of the nearby sea drifted through the air and brushed soothingly over his skin.
At last, Severus's dark eyes grew heavy.
Eventually, his head dipped as he nodded off.
In his dreamless sleep, there was peace without end.
No more pain.
No more turmoil.
No more iron grudges clutched in his heart as his only defense against bitter loneliness.
No more………
Exhausted and weary, Severus slept the day away.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
He made a sound between a shout and a snort as a sudden noise woke him.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Severus leapt from his chair with a growl as he hurried over to answer the rapping at his door, angry and frustrated someone had dared disturb his deep slumber.
He assumed it was another resort employee making their rounds to ask if he needed anything.
In his irritation, Severus prepared to give the witch or wizard working at the healing spa an honest review of their services as he flung open his door and peered out with his teeth grit.
His black eyes widened at what he saw.
Harriet Potter's courage and boldness knew no end.
She smiled at him as she stood on the deck of his cabin, dressed in flattering, red robes with another basket clutched in her hands.
Severus glanced down and noticed the second basket Harriet brought to him appeared to hold a much larger container of soup.
"Potter……." Severus hissed as his pale face twisted into a scowl.
"Hello, Professor." Harriet smiled, purposely ignoring his abrasiveness, "I thought we may share the soup today? I dunno….I don't really like eating in my room alone. It reminds me of my time with my aunt and uncle."
Severus sucked in a breath as he prepared to blast Harriet with a brutal, verbal lashing.
How dare she interrupt his rest!
How dare she have the audacity to assume he would ever share a meal with her!
How dare she-
"Sorry if I've come at a bad time." Harriet frowned as her emerald eyes scanned over Severus, "I've been in and out today, but I noticed you haven't left your rooms…..For a long time. I, er….You could probably use some food."
Severus's black eyes widened again.
How dare Harriet Potter….care about his needs.
Severus's anger fell away as a scathing swipe of humble regret enveloped his battered heart.
He gnashed his teeth as he sighed quietly.
For reasons he didn't exactly understand, Severus decided to accept the extended hand of compassion he had been offered after years of miserable melancholy.
"Very well…….Potter." He drawled as he opened his door wider and swept to the side, "...Come in."
Harriet nodded at Severus as she stepped past him and entered his temporary living area.
While she walked over and placed the basket on the main room's dining table, she forced her racing heart to calm.
Severus moved to open one curtain slightly, only enough to allow some light inside.
Harriet hoped that by the time he came over to the table, the blush on her cheeks would be gone.
From the moment she had stepped into Severus's cabin, the alpha's scent had assaulted her senses.
One of the many Occlumency lessons Severus had given her echoed through her mind as she recalled his instructions clearly…….
Control your emotions!
Discipline your mind!
While Harriet sat down at the table, immersed in Severus's smokey scent of burnt lavender and warm leather, she hoped she would for once be able to follow her former teacher's previous directions.
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The first private meal shared between Harriet and Severus began awkwardly.
Harriet used a doubling spell to make sure they each had a bowl and spoon for their soup, after which she halved the mixture between them both.
She kept one spoon in the basket for herself and handed the other to Severus, before they each looked down and began to consume their dinner in silence.
Desperate to make conversation, Harriet boldly asked, "Have you come because of your old wounds, Professor?"
"I should hardly think that matter concerns you, Potter." Severus snapped.
"Of course it doesn't." Harriet shrugged, "If you're just going to hide yourself in your cabin though, I'm not quite sure why you've bothered."
"A variety of services are offered by this spa." Severus retorted, "Are you spying on me, Potter? How could you possibly know what I have and haven't sought out?"
"You've never really left your rooms much that I've noticed." Harriet shrugged, "I've been to the central point at the head of the island several times. I've swam in the sea each day……It's just an observation, Professor. I meant no offense."
Silence settled between them as they sipped their soup for another moment.
Severus focused his dark eyes on Harriet before he finally spoke in a voice hardly above a whisper, "Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me, Potter….I could match your rudeness and pry into why you're here as well."
"I'll gladly tell you why I've come." Harriet blinked, "I've nothing to hide."
Severus scowled in a silent dare for her to speak.
"I'm here to…..I dunno….check and see that everything I've been through hasn't…..damaged me." Harriet answered.
Severus cast her the same unreadable look she had received over and over during her Hogwarts years.
She chuckled at his expression before she went on, "I've been hit with Dark Magic several times, you know. I want to be sure it hasn't or won't cause any long term effects years from now……So I can…..er, pursue my goals."
Severus's concerned question came quickly, "Has your performance in the Auror Department been impacted?"
"No, but I'm…..I'm interested in becoming a mother soon." Harriet quietly admitted, "...And I want to be certain my fertility won't be an issue."
Severus's heart skipped a beat.
He uncharacteristically blurted out, "Do you have a mate?"
"No." Harriet frowned, "I have no mate, I'll be doing it all on my own."
"You intend to willingly become an unwed, unmated mother at twenty years of age?" Severus scoffed, "What's gotten into you, Potter? Parenthood is difficult, more so on your own….As I've been told……Enjoy your youth, it's more fleeting than you can imagine."
"My friends are already mated and married." Harriet reasoned, "I wake up alone, come home alone, and spend the weekends alone. I've never had the comfort of a family……or of parents."
Another lengthy silence passed before Severus spoke again after he had contemplated Harriet's bombshell revelation.
"My own mother and father were not much comfort, I assure you." Severus quipped. He narrowed his dark eyes at Harriet as he asked, "Suppose you pursue this notion only to meet a suitable match later…… then what, Potter?"
"Then that 'suitable match' would have to accept me and my child." Harriet frowned, "It's doubtful that will happen, Professor."
As Severus kept his eyes narrowed, Harriet sighed and admitted, "What you said is true after all, sir."
Severus frowned as Harriet chuckled and repeated his words from their initial meeting years earlier, "'Clearly, fame isn't everything'."
Severus's frown softened as he saw something glimmering in Harriet's green eyes that he at first mistook for sadness before he realized it was…………..Could it be?
"I didn't think it was possible, Potter." Severus hissed, "...For you to show humility."
Harriet scoffed, "We'll, now you know why I'm here, sir. There's no point in lying about it. Another teacher, stricter than you, taught me long ago 'I must not tell lies'."
Severus and Harriet frowned at each other as they both recalled their bitter memories of Dolores Umbridge.
"...Pink is…..a truly abysmal colour…..is it not?" Severus remarked.
Harriet couldn't silence her laugh as a bright smile danced across her face.
Her sound of genuine amusement pleased Severus more than he expected.
As he looked at Harriet in awe of the strong adult she had become, a sense of prideful admiration pulsed through him.
Although he thought her decision seemed brash, he couldn't help but commend Harriet's courage to pursue motherhood alone.
Adoption was not possible for single mothers in wizarding Britain and most omegas would not dream of a pregnancy until they had a supportive, loving alpha at their side.
"Are you alright, sir?" Harriet interrupted his musings.
"...I beg your pardon?" Severus growled.
"Are you alright?" She blinked.
"...What reason would I have to be anything but?." He huffed.
Harriet nodded as she cleared her throat.
Severus scowled at the unwelcome silence that settled between them.
Once their gazes locked, he asked coldly, "When will you begin this foolish pursuit of yours?"
"In the autumn, most likely." Harriet replied, "I haven't made an appointment at St. Mungo's……or chosen a donor yet. According to the hospital, those appointments are usually booked by omega couples or an omega beta pair. Not many singles come in, if you can believe it."
"Oddly enough, I can." Severus remarked, "Have you brewed Fertility Elixir? I trust you plan to swallow some before your impregnation?"
"No, sir, I haven't." Harriet answered honestly, "We didn't really cover that topic at Hogwarts. Do you believe Fertility Elixir would be a decent help?"
Severus narrowed his eyes at Harriet before he responded with biting sarcasm in his tone, "Yes, Potter, it is my opinion that the magical compound responsible for readying the womb, aiding in conception, and nourishing an expectant mother's body may benefit you in your endeavor."
"Right." Harriet nodded, "Sorry, Professor, I don't know much about the formula."
Severus thought long and hard for a tense moment before he generously extended his offer.
"If you're not adverse to one final lesson, Potter, then perhaps you would permit me to teach you……..again?" He asked.
He gnashed his teeth at his own insolence.
Severus had spent a large portion of his life assisting Harriet Potter, why should he continue?
She would do fine on her own, she didn't need his help, she didn't-
"Really?!" Harriet asked as a hopeful smile lit up her fair face. Before he could retract his suggestion, she accepted, "Thanks, Professor! That'd be brilliant!"
"...Very well." Severus silently replied.
While he basked in Harriet's radiant, emerald gaze, the brilliance of her smile ignited an unusual fire in Severus Snape's frozen heart.
As Harriet opened her pink lips to speak again, he bristled as she nodded, "It's very kind of you to help me, sir."
Severus used his incredible, disciplined restraint to resist the grating urge to strangle himself in consternation.