"Je may pale— "
"Je m'appelle." Severus corrects Lorna for the fourth time that morning. He had begun teaching her basic French over the course of the summer, after hearing him speak the language with Mister Bardot during one of his bi-monthly visits to the apothecary to deliver news of Femininum Sublevare; the potion of his own creation which had finally been named, much to Bardot's insistence over the course of several months. As quickly as the weather changed from hot to mildly chilly with autumn's approach, Lorna begun stringing words together in French
"J'ai trois ans." She beams up at him proudly as she stumbles over the final syllable.
"Correcte." Severus smirks down at her as he shuffles through the piles of parchment littering the glass top counter and turns to make his way to the back storage room to hide them before any prying eyes become too curious. "De quelle couleur sont vos cheveux?"
"Uhmm…" Lorna chews on the inside of her lip, her brow furrowed in concentration as she racks her brain to remember whether this was something they had already covered.
"I asked what color your hair is." Severus says with a groan as he sits himself down behind the desk and discretely hides the parchment in the top desk drawer. It had been a trick question, he had not taught Lorna much more than her letters, numbers, colors, and basic conversational sentences since they had begun their morning French lessons some three months ago. The girl is clever, however, and picked up the language easily enough. With any luck, they will be moving on to basic Italian by this time next year.
"Noire!" Lorna answers excitedly as she twirls a strand of her curly onyx hair around her finger. "Just like you, Daddy."
"Oui." Severus scoffs as he cuts his eyes towards his daughter still twirling a strand of hair with her finger.
If she wanted to believe she got anything at all from him for a bit longer, so be it.
He allows her to believe whatever she wishes in regard to himself while she is still young and gullible, for there will come a time in the not-so-distant future when her head will be filled with every terrible thing he has ever done, and she will likely hate him. Not that he blamed her in the slightest; he would hate him, too. When the time comes, however, he will at least be able to say that he had never caused her harm, which is more than his own father could ever say about himself.
Tobias had been on his mind far more than he would have liked lately, more so than the bastard had ever been before. Perhaps it is due to the fact that he is trying his damnedest to be the polar opposite of Tobias Snape, or the mere fact that his brain relentlessly tortured him for no other reason than pure spite. Whichever the case may be, Severus is glad that the man is long dead.
He can still recall the first time that he realized that his father was a bastard and not anything like the fathers that you see on television, read about in books, or see walking down the street with their child beaming up at them. Severus was not much older than Lorna is now, and Tobias had passed out before the television in the living room, his long legs splayed before him as he leaned back on the threadbare sofa that had been in the house for longer than Severus could remember. The black and white picture flashing through the darkness illuminates them both in a sea of silver as Armchair Mystery Theatre echoes in the background. Severus sits on the sofa next to Tobias, the weight of him causing Severus to lean against him- the only time Tobias had ever permitted Severus to touch him is when it could not be helped.
It was as if he were plagued, a leper.
Severus reaches a hand towards his father tentatively, the dirt beneath his long fingernails causing him to cringe in remembrance, for it was likely one of the seemingly endless stretches of time that their water had been turned off due to lack of payment. In the glow of the television light, Severus places his finger on the corner of his father's lip, and traces it upwards along the long, thick scar that traveled up to his ear on either side of his face.
A Glasgow Smile as it is commonly called.
His father awoke with a start, striking Severus across the face with the back of his hand, as he had seen him due to his mother countless times by that point, before catching his small, filthy hand in his large, strong one. He leaned forward, his small button nose nearly touching Severus' large one, his blue eyes wide with rage.
"Do not touch me you little bastard." Tobias snarled through grit teeth before dropping Severus' hand as quickly as he had caught it and slamming the front door behind him.
Tobias received the jagged, disfiguring scar when he was fifteen years old and visiting his father, Callum Snape's homeland of Glasgow, Scotland for a distant relatives' funeral. He had been drinking whiskey with some cousins, and together the teenage boys had snuck out of the ancestral home to cause a bit of mischief in the darkened streets. Tobias, as he would drunkenly recount throughout the years, had apparently thrown a bottle down a darkened, seemingly deserted street, and struck a man in the head with it. The man and two other assailants chased the boys for what felt like hours, their hearts pounding and their legs aching. Finally, Tobias flattened himself against the side of a building in a darkened alleyway, and before he could so much as regulate his breathing, three pairs of hands wrestled him to the ground and slit his mouth wide with a dull knife.
His cousins, hearing his cry for help, rushed back to the family home, where his father and several uncles took to the streets in search of him. He was found in the early morning hours nearly unrecognizable and unconscious in a pool of his own blood.
It was the first and only time his father had ever stepped foot in Scotland, yet the thick Glaswegian accent was prominent. His father, Severus' grandfather, was born and raised in Glasgow, much like nearly every other inhabitant of Cokeworth. If Corby, the neighboring town, was famously known as Little Scotland, Cokeworth should be viewed as its back door. What Scottish migrants were unable to find work in the steel mills in Corby settled in Cokeworth to take up work in the textile mill whose large furnace loomed over the city, casting a shadow upon the inhabitants of Spinner's End specifically and filling the air, and the river, with the rancid odor.
Callum Snape may have had a cushy managerial position at Cokeworth Textiles that offered him a nice office chair and an above average salary for the time, but that does not mean that his only living son followed in his footsteps. Shortly after Tobias returned from the worlds war in nineteen forty-five, after he had been called to fight for in nineteen forty-two at the age of eighteen, leaving him with a permanent limp in his left leg due to shrapnel in his thigh, Callum got him a position shoveling coal in to furnaces to heat vats of water for dying fabrics. It was not long after that when Callum Snape succumb to heart disease, leaving his shell-shocked only son, everything he owned, which was soon squandered.
How his mother had ever crossed paths with the monster remains a mystery to this day. She never divulged, neither did Tobias. Any time Severus would ask her, she would promptly change the subject.
Eileen detested the beginnings of Severus' Scottish accent, and promptly took to wracking him across the knuckles with her wand, likely at the first sign of the rolling Rs in his words. The accent was wiped from him before it could even begin to settle, replaced instead with slow, careful enunciation and immaculate pronunciation. She taught him to speak clearly, slowly, and precisely. She taught him French, German, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Italian; he studied Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. She imposed the importance of each of these unique languages forced upon her by her own mother and father, told him the doors it would open for him, the very ones now locked tight against her.
While remaining near fluent in French and Italian, the remaining languages would not get him far should he somehow be stranded amongst native speakers. Those doors locked tightly against his mother's advances were now long since sealed shut for himself as well. Perhaps Lorna will be the one to break through the barricades that held his mother back, the very ones he himself built when he succumbs to the fantasy life his young Death Eater friends promised him so many years ago.
"Daddy." Lorna announces, drawing him from his reminiscing. "How do you say 'dragon'?"
"Dragon." Severus is careful with his enunciation, showing the subtle difference between then English and French pronunciation as Lorna scrunches her brow and mimics his mouths movements.
"How do you say, 'have you ever seen a dragon'?"
"As-tu déjà vu un dragon?"
"And how do you say, 'can I see a dragon'?"
"Est-ce que je peux voir un dragon?" Severus turns towards his daughter standing entirely too still behind him and raises a brow at her. "This would have nothing to do with Potter and Weasley taking Mister Lupin to see a dragon last week, would it?"
"It's not fair!" Lorna stomps her foot in protest. "Teddy got to go see Charlie and a dragon with Harry and Ron!"
"An excellent teaching opportunity. You are learning that life is not fair." Lorna scowls up at him and crosses her arms across her chest, her face set sternly in anger. "Besides, we were busy; there will be other dragons."
Lorna still had not forgiven her mother for the missed opportunity due to needing to go explain magic to her extended family, blaming her fully for the inconvenience of a day wasted in her young opinion. Severus too was subject to her wrath when she had learned of the dragon the following day from young Lupin, giving him the silent treatment and sharply cut eyes for the better part of two days. Danu, however, was still on very thin ice with Lorna.
"I wanted to see that dragon with Teddy!" Lorna makes to stomp her foot once more; Severus narrows his eyes at her and sets his jaw to mimic her stern face. She gently places her foot back on the ground and softens her face, only to stick out her bottom lip in mock sadness. "You're always busy."
"I spend far more time with you than any other working parent does their children." Severus chuckles as she climbs up onto his lap and wraps her arms around his neck.
"You made me stay home with mummy yesterday!" Lorna pries her arms from his neck and cups his cheeks in her small hands while glaring into his eyes.
"Excuse me?" Severus chuckles once more at her ridiculousness. "I did not make you do anything. I told you that I would be leaving in fifteen minutes, and you refused to rise from your bed, due mostly to the fact that you would not go to sleep the night before."
"I had to go shopping with Mummy, Nan, and Rose. It was BORING!"
"Had you woken up when I told you to, you would not have been subjected to that. Another valuable teaching lesson. You are learning a lot this week."
The bell above the shop's door chimes in the next room, alerting them to a customer. Severus stands abruptly, adjusts his robes with one hand, and carries Lorna on his hip to the storefront with him, despite the fact that she was now entirely too tall for him to carry, as she towered over children the same age as her. He could not resist; it will not be long before he is unable to carry her at all.
Lorna runs her fingers through the ends of Severus' hair as they make their way behind the till, the whole time babbling on and on about how awful her day spent wedding planning with her mother was. A piece of him pities Danu for how little time Lorna seems to want to spend with her these days, yet he refuses to admit that he is not happy to have the time with her instead. Their girl is clever, witty, incredibly fascinating, and spectacular. Every moment spent with her is time well spent; time he is allowing himself to make up for. A year ago, she was a stranger, now it was as though they had known one another for eternity. He knew how to make her smile, what made her laugh, and exactly how to enrage her.
As they round the corner to the storeroom, Severus finally allows himself to look up from his daughter's face, only to be greeted by none other than Lucius Malfoy.
His blood runs cold.
Severus puts Lorna down on her feet, places a firm hand on her shoulder, and steers her back the way they had come.
"Go to the back and practice your writing." Severus instructs her firmly as he gives her a slight nudge. Lucius smirks down at the scene before him. "Now."
Lorna, with miraculously no fuss at all, follows his direction. Severus removes his wand from his sleeve and casts a Muffliato around the two of them and looks into Lucius Malfoy's ragged face.
His light grey eyes are sunken and sagging, his once pale blond hair is now mostly grey, the ends yellowing slightly. His face is wax-like and lined with wrinkles, his face unshaven for several days. Life in solitude, without the favor of The Ministry, has not been kind to him. He looks far worse than he had upon his escape from Azkaban.
"Narcissa and I have been taking bets on whom the child favors since we learned of her from Draco." Lucius smirks as he rolls the cane he was carrying in his hand. "Draco will divulge nothing of her, however. We only learned her name from reading The Profit; the photo of her with her lovely mother gave us no indication; it only showed the back of her head. I will have to tell Cissy that she won; the child does favor the Black's strongly."
"What do you want, Lucius." Severus snarls as he grips the edge of the counter so tightly, he is amazed that the glass does not shatter in his hand; the other remains locked around his wand.
"Can I not visit an old friend?"
"We are not friends."
"Ah. How correct you are. You see, I had believed us to be friends. Believed us to have common interests, common ideas. How very wrong I was indeed. Tell me, Severus, how wonderful does it feel to have your name plastered alongside Potter's? How good is it that The Boy Who Lived saved your miserable life?"
"I have nothing to say to you, Malfoy."
"You see, Severus," Lucius begins as he looks around the shop uninterestedly and runs a finger along the length of a shelf to inspect it for dust. "My boy seems to fancy himself a philanthropist these days. Has it in his mind that he owes the world something for the so called, "bad things" his family has done. Where, I wonder, has he gotten this idea?"
"Whatever it is your son does these days, Lucius, it is none of my concern. I fulfilled my duty to your family when I spared his life for your wife."
"None of your concern, you say?" Lucius turns towards him with a cocked brow and a sinister smile. "Are you not the one who asked him to be your best man at your wedding? I would hardly call that unconcerned, would you?"
The two stare menacingly at one another for several moments before Lucius breaks the silence with a snicker.
"Narcissa and I have grown bored of waiting for an heir. You call yourself a potions master." Lucius straightens his back, squares his shoulders, and reaches into his robe before tossing a leather pouch of gold onto the counter. "Make it happen."
Lucius' eyes gleam with the superior hint of power, a mere flicker of what they once held, and leaves the shop in a blur of robes and long unkempt hair.
—
Christmas morning arrives entirely too soon. Severus had just fallen asleep, he and Danu had been up nearly all night building a doll house for Lorna and ensuring that everything was as it should be for her the following morning, when her elbow makes contact with his sternum and she begins bouncing up and down, shaking the entire bed.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Lorna shrieks as Danu groans beside them and pulls the pillow over her head. "It's Christmas! It's present time!"
"Lorna, please!" Danu whines as Lorna leaps from his stomach and onto her mothers in an effort to pry the pillow from her face. It is of no use; Danu has a tight grip on the pillow, forcing Lorna to tunnel underneath of it with her.
"Mummy, you have to get up if you want presents!"
"I don't want presents. I want sleep."
"Daddy, make Mummy get up!"
"Let your mother sleep. We can go down and open gifts." Severus says with a yawn as he rubs the sleep from his eyes with the backs of his hands.
"No. I'm coming. I'm getting up." Danu says with a groan as she pulls the pillow from her face and rubs the sleep from her own eyes. Her hair is a tussled mess, your lips plump with sleep. The moments shortly after waking are when she is the most beautiful to him.
Lorna leaps from the bed and barrels from the room, presumably to begin tearing into her gift's downstairs. Severus pulls Danu tight against his chest and kisses her gently on the forehead. She sighs and leans back to give him a tender kiss on the corner of his mouth.
"She's so loud so early in the morning." Danu whines as she yawns deeply.
"That she is. I will make coffee if you will make breakfast."
Severus and Danu watch proudly from the kitchen island over mugs of steaming coffee as Lorna rips through the wrapping of her gifts. The doll house had been a success; they each smirk at one another as she stares at it in awe.
Potter's gift Lorna a Quidditch set. The Weasley's several dolls, sweets, a jumper with a large silver L stitched onto it. The Malfoy's a flying dragon toy that she can chase on her broom; the thing blows a plume of white smoke from its nose when caught mid-air. Granger gifts her a Muggle detective playset, complete with a finger printing powder set which Lorna immediately spills all over the rug the moment she opens it. Danu's gift is a small white jewelry box with a ballerina with black hair who twirls around the inside of the box while humming loudly. Severus' gift is simple, yet meaningful; a fresh set of Gobstones, a silver bracelet with small amethyst stones, and a matching set of earrings. The last his way of relenting and allowing her to get her ears pierced, which she had been begging ceaselessly for the last three months, ever since the eldest Weasley's child announced at Halloween dinner that she had gotten her ears pierced.
"I can get my ears pierced like a big girl?" Lorna asks as a wide grin spreads across her face.
"Yes. You may get your ears pierced." Severus assures her as she wraps her arms around his legs. "You do not have me to thank for this, it was your mother who held the deciding factor. Thank her."
Danu, for whatever reason, had denied Lorna's request to get her ears pierced for weeks, which only made her beg more so than before. Finally, three nights ago, Danu relented after Severus admitted that he did not think it would be such a terrible idea for her to have it done. Danu finally admit that her worries were more due to the fact that Lorna accompanied the request with "because I am a big girl" which did nothing but make her mother sad that their only child was growing up and was no longer "her little baby."
Late that evening, after visitors had left, their rounds to the Weasley's for Christmas dinner had been finished, phone calls to Rose had been completed, and several mugs of tea and hot cocoa had been drank, Severus and Danu relax on the sofa before a blazing fire while Lorna sleeps peacefully on the rug before them after falling asleep while pestering the cat, who was now curled up on a footstool just out of her reach.
Danu yawns deeply and nestled her head against her shoulder. He throws his arm around her and pulls her tight against him. Her eyes flutter shut as he kisses the top of her head.
"Do not fall asleep, yet. You still have not opened my gift." He whispers against her head as he produces his wand from his sleeve and summons her gift from beneath the tree.
"I'm sorry. I forgot all about giving you yours, too. It's been a long day." Danu mirrors his summons, Severus watches as two neatly wrapped packages race his from beneath the tree. His gift lands neatly on her lap only a second after hers stack themselves to rest on his knee.
Severus watches patiently as she unwraps her gift and stares down at it, a confused look on her face.
"This," Severus begins as he reaches over her to remove the stack of documents from the top of the box. "Is the application and course study for you to obtain a Herbology certification. And that," Severus points to the ornate golden frame packed securely in the bottom of the box. "Is the frame for your certificate once you complete it."
Danu continues to stare up at him dumbfounded, her mouth opened slightly as her eyes dart between him and the box.
"You mentioned in passing some weeks ago that you feel as though your only title is, 'housewife' and how you never imagined yourself being nothing more than that. You stated that you feel as though you are not doing enough with your life. Complete the application, pass the assessment, which I am positive you are capable of, and then you will be a certified Herbologist. You can sell to any apothecary you wish, you can create, and register, your own hybrid plants. You will even be able to purchase any Ministry protected plants that you wish. You are not, 'just a housewife' nor have you ever been, you are so much more than that. I only thought that you would enjoy a 'title' as you put it. However, if you wish to venture out and find a different job, I will support your endeavors. I simply enjoy seeing you any time of the day that I wish; not being subject to other schedules does have its benefits."
"You really think I can do it?" She whispers and she places her hand on top of his.
"I would not entrust you to grow my potions ingredients if I had a single doubt in my mind that you were not capable."
"Thank you." Danu beams up at him and places the box containing his gift on the floor before turning to him once more. "Open yours now."
Inside of the top box, beneath mounds of white tissue paper, is a brown hardcover book with gold lettering. Its spine is well worn, a single crack in the cover, and a water stain in the top left-hand corner which had removed the R and U in the word "Russian" in the words, "A Russian Realistic Novel" that stretch across the top of the cover.
Beneath the copy of Crime and Punishment is a second book wrapped neatly in a silk cloth. Severus removes the covering and is greeted by something so interesting, so rare, and so sought after than he nearly drops the contents to the floor. The book is bound in rich crushed red Moroccan, the spine elegantly painted with a steady hand in gold, the edges gilded, the corners perfect and unbent. Inside, the end pages are marbled and in flawless condition. Severus runs his finger over the name of the book, still shocked to even be holding the thing.
Robinson Crusoe. DEFOE VOL. III.
"This—this—is... How?"
"I was in the right place at the right time." She smiles sweetly at him. "Do you like them?"
"Do I like them? Woman. Are you insane?" Severus runs a trembling hand over his face, still amazed at what he was holding. "I have searched high and low for any trace of a copy of Robinson Crusoe's third volume and have not so much as caught a whiff of it. Now you tell me that you were simply, 'in the right place at the right time' and managed to secure a first edition? If I were not already married to you, I would marry you. How? How on earth did this happen?"
"Well, I called this used book shop in London and asked if they had any first editions of Crime and Punishment, since yours bit the dust. When I went to pick it up, I was just browsing around waiting for them to bring it out of the back for me, and I overheard this man there appraising a book with the owner. I hear him tell the owner that it was definitely real, and they were both really excited about it. So, I went in for a closer look, and I saw it. I remembered you looking for it one summer, so I knew that I had to buy it. I made him an offer on the spot and begged him not to sell while I went to the bank. I may have used every cent of the wedding budget and then some. I have been terrified to tell you that bit, but I knew if I passed it up and you somehow found out, you would never forgive me."
"I am not concerned about the gold in the slightest. This is—this is incredible." Severus chuckles, his heart still hammering in his chest. He looks down at the ground, where her measly gift lies abandoned, and his heart suddenly plummets. He gifted her a damn application and a cheap frame, and he is currently holding a book so rare he has spent the last twenty-seven years searching for it.
"Open the next one. It isn't as exciting, but I think you'll like it."
Severus obeys and reluctantly places the box containing the books on the floor next to his feet before turning his attention to the next box, somehow much heavier than the first. Inside are two slabs of agate. The first banded brown, red, yellow, orange, and several shades of whites. Carved into the smooth inside is his name, followed by the word, OWNER. The next is a dazzling purple color with a white band and a clear center, carved in to is Lorna's name, the word MANAGER beneath. Severus chuckles at this as just last week Lorna had shouted at a customer for messing up his neat rows of potions on the shelf, and glared at the man with her hands on her hips until he straightened the bottles back the way they were and immediately fled the shop.
"Thank you." Severus announces as he places the box of desk plaques next to his books on the floor and pulls her into a tight embrace.
This had been by far the best Christmas he had ever experienced.
—
Monday, sixth of January, Severus sits at the kitchen island tapping a quill against the smooth wooden countertops and racking his brain for words that just will not come to him. He had stood in this very spot each morning for months, and again at his counter at the shop after the house had woken, trying desperately to string along a cohesive paragraph or two that summed up his feelings towards his wife. Words that would not have the entire audience laughing behind their hands at the foolishness he undoubtedly will spew. The idea that so many eyes will be on him is almost nerve wracking, the knowledge that he will have all of those eyes upon him while spilling his guts to the woman whom had somehow not only married him initially, but procreated with him to produce a child, married him legally a second time, and took him back after everything he had done to her made him sweat.
Lorna and Danu left bright and early that morning, each sporting red, swollen ears with tiny diamonds in them, to sample cakes with Molly Weasley for the wedding. Severus had opted to stay at home, trusting Danu's taste would match his own when it came to desserts, and that she would not take Lorna's word in favor of the sweetest cake they came across.
The wedding would be taking place in three short days, and he had only written a single sentence. Severus sighs and runs his hands down his face before checking his watch. He must meet with Draco, Potter, and several Weasley's in a quarter of an hour to finish setting up the tents and tables in a neighboring field where the wedding will take place.
The field in question is large, sprawling, and has a clear view of the setting sun. A small hill sits proudly in the center; this is where Danu had opted to construct the altar where they will be standing to pledge their already established loyalty to one another before a crowd of onlookers.
Rose and her family would be arriving late that evening and would be staying at their home until the following weekend when they depart for their honeymoon, which Severus painstakingly planned without Danu knowing a single detail. Lorna would be staying with the Weasley's, as usual, with strict orders to not allow her to go near any dragons, which she had been begging Molly Weasley to write to her eldest son for since the debacle some weeks ago when she missed out on seeing one.
Severus admits his defeat, rips the parchment apart, and sets it alight in the sink before stalking from the house and towards the voices trailing up the path to meet him.
—
Severus stands at the kitchen sink, staring idly out of the window while nursing a cup of coffee. The house is silent, all inhabitants finally sleeping after a night of begging for silence.
Danu, Lorna, Rose, and her daughters had stayed at the Weasley's the night before in preparation for the ceremony. Leaving him alone with Vincent, and later Draco, Potter, Arthur Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley, and George Weasley who all insisted on throwing him a stag party. It actually turned out to be a late night for them all drinking and throwing Exploding Snaps at one another while Severus sat puffing on a cigar in a dark corner with Vincent.
On his voyage to the kitchen, he tripped over the damn cat on the stairs and then stepped over several limbs of fallen bodies from where they had all passed out wherever they had sat around the living room.
The weather outside is frightful, as one might say. Snow threatens in the distance, leaving the sky grey and ominous. A sharp rap on the window causes him to jerk slightly. There sits a small brown Scops owl that Severus recognizes as one of the Weasley's. He opens the window and the tiny terror hoots and flutters around the room, as if it were playing keep away with the tiny scroll of parchment attached to its leg.
After Several moments and a handful of curses, Severus has possession of the parchment, and several owl feathers to thank for his work. The owl bounces impatiently from foot to foot on the windowsill as Severus unties the scroll of parchment and is met with the familiar, tight cursive inside.
It looks like it could snow. Molly says it means fertility and prosperity if it snows on your wedding day.
Maybe we'll be in luck if you still want another.
Severus scours the kitchen for a quill and quickly scribbled his reply below hers.
I have just tripped over your damned cat on the way to have my morning coffee. I hear it told that seeing a black cat on your wedding day is a sign that your lives together will be nothing short of perfection. I sincerely hope that they are correct, for had I broken my neck, you would have been quite upset with me for what I would have done to the insufferable beast.
Is this your way of telling me that you would like to try for another?
Severus tosses the tiny owl from the kitchen window and watches as it makes it depart from the cottage and down the lane to The Burrow. He takes his own parchment from the pocket of his house robe and reviews his vows to read to his wife that evening. As he reviews the final paragraph, the owl chirps from the window, carrying with it his wife's reply.
Perhaps it wouldn't be too terrible if Lorna had a sibling.
I miss you. I can't wait to see you tonight.
Severus smiles to himself, unable to believe the amount of luck he has had later in life; luck that he once was certain to spell disaster. He has a peaceful, clean home. A supporting, forgiving, patient, beautiful wife. A daughter who is a whirlwind of delight and terror. A business that is his own and doing quite well.
Severus Snape is a happy man.
The snow did not hold off for long, and by the time the group of still hungover men make their way down to the field where several large white tents stand, it was nearing an inch on the ground with no chance of stopping soon. It is only four thirty in the afternoon, and the ceremony is not meant to take place until six, shortly before sunset. Severus sends Potter and Weasley to The Burrow to ask Danu is they should put a tent over the alter as they had already done to the aisles of chairs sitting before it with strands of golden twinkling lights with strands of purple and white winter heather weaved through on the backs of all of the chairs, connecting them all in a sort of chain. Along the aisle that his wife will soon walk is a deep green runner with candles of varying heights lighting the way.
Guests begin arriving by four forty-five, just as Potter and Weasley return with Danu's answer, no tent over the altar. Perhaps she is not aware of just how hard it is snowing. Weasley's flutter around finishing slight touched and adjustments. Severus marvels at the thought and preparation now only Danu, but also Rose and Molly had put into this. On each of the tables inside of the reception tent is a lit glass bowl filled with floating white winter clematis and pink cyclamen. The bar is stocked with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, menus are passed around to tables laden with name cards, a band sits ready to play in a far corner, and a large area is cleared at the back for dancing. Severus makes his way to the band and passes them a parchment with a special request for him and Danu's dance later that evening. The goblin standing on a stool behind a large bass gives him a curt nod and tucks the parchment into his lapel.
"Severus." A familiar, stern voice calls from behind him. Severus turns to greet Minerva who is smiling brightly up at him.
"I am pleased that you could make it, Minerva." Severus offers her his arm and escorts her through the tent to the open bar.
"I would not have missed it, my dear." Minerva pats his hand as he orders her a Firewhisky and passes it to her with a smile of his own.
Severus' hands begin to tremble as more guests begin to flood into the seating area, and Draco pulls him aside to announce that the wedding party had just arrived. The two men take their places at the alter as the soft stream of piano music fills the air. He grips his tightly with his right hand behind his back and takes several deep breaths to calm his pounding heart.
Rose, her daughters, Molly, and Arthur enter first and take their seats in the first row next to Vincent. Next comes Granger, followed closely by Potter's wife. Then comes Potter's son, holding the hand of one of the Weasley granddaughters. Severus smiles when Lorna pokes her head around the corner and drags Lupin along with her down the aisle, dropping white and pink quince petals behind her.
The music stops. A moment passes, and then another. Everyone stands as the piano starts back up again. The snow falls harder now, the sun has fully set, yet between the candle glow and the newly fallen snow, the air is light and area well lit. The crowd gasps as she steps from behind the tent flap on Potter's arm.
She is breathtaking.
The dress she has chosen molds itself to her body. It is elegant, yet simple. Her collar bones protruding from the top of the lacy fabric causes his mouth to water; his mind to wander. What he would give to have her in his arms at this very moment as his lips skim along them. Her hair is half up, half down, with perfectly shaped curls cascading down her back, the portion that is up is knotted expertly. Pearls placed randomly throughout the crown of her head glistening in the candlelight. Sprigs of purple and white winter heather are tucked neatly in the knot on the back of her head. She holds a bouquet of blush and burgundy colored hellebore and some sort of evergreen foliage tied together neatly with a strip of deep green silk. Her make-up is expertly done and simple, not taking anything away from her naturally beautiful features. The deep burgundy lipstick she wears reminiscent of the shade she wore the night of the Yule Ball.
Their walk to him his excruciating. Draco clasps a hand on Severus' shoulder, and he remembers to unlock his hands from behind his back and place them at his sides. Her eyes are wide, her chest rises and falls sharply with each breath she takes. Finally, she stands before him. Potter gives her a long, meaningful hug before shaking Severus' hand firmly and taking the bouquet of flowers from her hands to pass to Rose. Severus offers Danu his trembling hand, she takes it and stands before him.
Suddenly, no one else around them exists.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Elphias Doge, acting as officiant, begins behind them. "We are gathered here today to witness the vows between Mister Severus Tobias Snape and Danu Iris Black. While the two have already lived as man and wife for several years, they are honored to have you all join them today as they rekindle their love for one another, and formally announce themselves man and wife. You may be seated as the two read the vows they have written for one another."
The piano stops, the crowd shuffles as they take their seats. The only sound that can be heard here is the snow gently falling on the tops of the tents. Elphias clears his throat, Draco steps forward and passes him the rings from the inside of his robe pocket. Danu and Severus release one another's hand. Elphias passes one to Severus; his grandmothers wedding band that Danu had worn for nearly eight years. He passes Danu the second ring, one that he had never seen before as he had left his own wedding band on the kitchen table at Spinner's End the night he had left her.
"Severus. You may begin." Elphias instructs him.
His throat suddenly feels tight. He must clutch his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. He takes another long, deep breath as Danu's index finger brushes against the back of his right hand. He links his with hers and looks into her eyes.
"Danu." He begins, his voice shaking slightly. "You are…There are truly no words to explain what you mean to me. I feel as though I have already told you what you mean to me in a letter written during a time of uncertainty; a day in which I had fully prepared myself for death. Many years have passed since that night; and I have likely broken your heart a dozen times or more since then. Yet, you have stayed by my side. You have trusted me; you have loved me. I do not deserve you; I never have. I will likely go to my grave believing that I still do not deserve the life you have given me. You are as pure as the snow falling around us tonight. You are kind, courageous, strong. You are a wonderful mother, a fantastic wife. I hated Albus for the prophecy he read to me; the one he believed had us written in the stars as one. I believed myself much too old for you; in fact, I still do. I have experienced a life without you in it, and I can tell you with certainty that it was not worth living. You, since the very day I first vowed to him to protect you, have made my life worth living. I would have been content calling you only a friend, would have gladly kept our lives exactly the way they had been exchanging books and brewing potions together once a week. The day I fasted with you to spare your life; I knew that I could never be away from you again. I did not intend to have us here today, nor did I want you tied to me for the rest of your life. I only knew, without any doubt, that I would spend whatever time I had left remaining on this earth ensuring that you were safe and well looked after. I fell in love with you, however. It was not my intention, I fought it every step of the way. The day you yelled at me in my quarters, if my memory serves me correctly, I believe you called me a, 'fucking asshole," The crowd chuckles at this, Danu smiles up at him, her eyes glistening with snow and tears. "I knew that day that I was in trouble. You told me that you loved me, and I knew in that moment that I loved you as well. There is nothing that I would not do for you, nothing that I would not face for you. You have made me a father; you gave me a life worth living when I believed I would never have anything to call my own. You are the reason that I am still living, you saved my life, and more than that, you saved my soul. You are my best friend. Danu, you are my soul. I swear to you today, and every day, that I will love you for the rest of eternity. I will never leave you; I will never cause you harm, and I will spend whatever time I have left showing you that what I swear to you this day is true."
Severus slips the ring onto her hand, back in the spot that it had rested since the day he had slipped it on her finger in their kitchen the day she discovered that he was a Death Eater. There are several sniffles and blown noses in the crowd as he looks down at his wife. He does not dare remove his eyes from hers as a single tear drips from her eye and trains down her cheek. Severus wipes it with the back of his index finger before linking it with hers at their side once more.
"I don't think that I can top that." Danu begins as she takes a deep breath and releases it with a plume of white vapor in the frigid night air. "You have given me so much. You have protected me, taken care of me, and you have loved me more than anyone else ever has. I look at you and I see the man that you truly are, the one that no one else ever gets to see. I love your laugh, your smile, the sound of your voice when you first wake up in the mornings. You are the most beautiful man in the world to me. I saw your heart and your soul when the entire world thought you a monster. I would have laid down my life for yours that night when I thought I would lose you forever. You have never allowed yourself to be vulnerable with anyone in so long, and I am honored that I get to experience the real Severus Snape. You can be cranky, sarcastic, and at times mean, but you have never caused me to stop loving you. You are my entire world. The prophecy was true; you and I were destined for one another. We were written in the stars. You gave me a family when it was the only thing that I ever wanted, even if it wasn't the family that I had in mind. You will forever be the most important person in my life. I love you more than I could ever begin to explain to you, but I will spend the rest of my days showing you just how deserving you are of my love."
Danu slips a thin golden band over his finger and the audience begins to sob; others begin to clap. Elphias clears his throat once more and calls for silence.
"It is my pleasure to formally announce, for the first time in public under their own volition, Mister and Missus Snape. Severus, you may kiss your bride."
Severus places one hand on the small of her exposed back and pulls her against him. Her right hand comes up to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear and cup his cheek. He kisses her with such passion the snow around them seems to melt and turn to a drizzle as the audience stands and begins to loudly applaud. A golden stream of fireworks ignites behind them, the band starts up in the tent. Danu pulls away from him slightly, takes his hand, and leads him down the aisle with a wide smile as all of the witches and wizards in around them raise their wands and shower them in golden sparks.
They eat to their hearts content as guests shower them with well wishes and praise and dance merrily around the dance floor. Several people clasp him on the shoulder, most of which he pays no attention to as his eyes are fixed to his wife as she laughs and talks around him.
"I must say, Severus," Gaultier Bardot announces from behind him, "You truly are a lucky man. Beautiful family you have here, my good sir. It has been a pleasure meeting your lovely bride at last. And as always, Miss Lorna is a treat."
"I am glad to see you made it, my friend. I was afraid you would be stuck in France for another week."
"I only returned this afternoon, narrowly missed the service. I arrived just in time to hear the ending of your vows." Gaultier raises his glass of champagne at the words and shakes Severus' hand firmly with his free hand.
"Enjoy your evening, Mister Bardot. Eat, drink, converse with our guests. My godson, Mister Draco Malfoy is just there by the tent flap with his wife, Missus Astoria, formally Greengrass. I taught him well, I assure you, he is excellent conversation."
"Greengrass, you say? Of the Greengrass family?"
"The very one." Severus says with a smirk as he skirts away from his new friend to reach his wife on the opposite side of the tent.
Severus checks his watch, less than one minute until his request. The song the band is currently playing is beginning to wrap up. Severus reaches Danu just as the music begins to change. The song going from an upbeat popular Wizarding song, to the smooth into of the Elvis Presley song he had requested.
"May I have this dance?" Severus asks with a bow as he offers her his hand. Danu takes his hand and allows him to lead her to the dance floor and pull her body against his once more.
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Should I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you?
"Do you recall the Christmas that you asked me to dance with you?" Severus whispers into her ear as he spins her around the dance floor.
"Yes. I remember."
"You implied that I had no imagination when I stated that there was no music playing. Well, this is the song I imagined as I danced with you that night."
"Really?" She asks breathlessly as the candlelight gleams in her yes.
"Yes." Severus murmurs against her lips as he kisses her gently. "I meant every word I spoke to you tonight. I love you so desperately."
Take my hand
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you
"I love you too, Severus. I love you so much it hurts."
"I do not wish for it to hurt, darling."
"Just a figure of speech. You make my life worth living too, you know."
Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
"You are what I have waited my whole life for."
"You make me the happiest woman in the world, Severus. I'm so lucky to have you."
"No, I am the lucky one."
Take my hand
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you