"Why can't I stay with mom and dad, grandma?" asked the brown-eyed boy with a pout on his face while sitting on the wide windowsill with his back to the window.

The woman he referred to as 'grandma' was sitting nearby, eagerly writing on parchment after parchment, only now looking up at him.

"I already told you, Philo. The next few days are going to be very stressful for your parents and I thought you might like staying with me for a few days. Look, here are so many books about various topics. Why don't you choose one and read it?" was the elderly woman's answer.

"But I have already read most of those I am allowed to read and the rest are really boring." He crossed his short arms over his chest and pouted even more than before.

The woman sighed, stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the young boy called Philo clueless.

A minute later she returned with a well-worn book and crouched down on her knees next to where he sat.

"I wanted to wait for your tenth birthday to give you this, but I think you may already be old enough now. This is not one of those books you are reading usually. This is one you will definitely also use in your school time here at Hogwarts." She handed over an old worn book.

"Thank you," said Philo, eyeing the book curiously before opening it.

Right on the very first page was a whole page filled with a handwritten letter. Intrigued, the young boy started to read it.

To Minerva McGonagall

Thank you for always helping me out and believing in me even when what I was about to do was totally mad and dangerous. Your lessons have certainly helped me to be able to study all those fantastic creatures and thus to write this book you are currently holding in your hands. I will forever be grateful.

Yours,
Newt Scamander

"Who is Newt Scamander?"

"Oh, he is a former student of mine. One of my first classes ever, to be precise. He wrote this book and kindly gave me one of the first copies," answered Minerva, smiling after which she returned to her desk and continued writing away, leaving him to inspect the volume.

+++++++

"Can I hold her, too?" asked the young black-haired boy who stood next to his proud father. They both looked down at Hermione who was lying on the bed in the hospital wing, cradling a small baby to her chest.

Hermione carefully handed the baby to her husband of 5 years, who helped their eight-year-old to hold his newborn sister.

Their son sat down in a chair next to the hospital bed, all the while looking down at his baby sister, giving her his pinky to hold. Barely more than whispering he said: "Hey there, Deanne, I am Philo, your brother, and I will make sure that no one will ever harm you and daddy will help me, won't you?"

The young boy looked up at his father who had taken a seat nearer to Hermione so that both proud parents were looking at their children.

"Of course I will, I will make sure that no one will ever harm any of you, neither Deanne, nor you, nor your mother. I promise, Philo." His voice was soft as he spoke and Hermione would have never thought that Severus Snape of all people would be speaking such words in this tone about children. He was nothing of his former self.

Hermione, who had been sitting up on the bed for a while now, leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and looked at her son holding his sister with a gaze filled with love and adoration.

Severus leaned his head closer to hers and whispered: "We chose the right name for him."

"We did, didn't we? He is such a loving child," answered Hermione as she turned to face her husband.

Their eyes found the other's, and they explored each other's eyes. In this light, Severus found that Hermione's eyes looked so very light, making the gentle-looking and even warmer than usual.

His eyes in turn were as dark as ever, and she found herself getting lost in them like so many times before.

They rested their foreheads against each other's, basking in the peaceful silence around them.

"I wish that time would stop. I wish for this moment to never end. I wish that they would never grow up, that we would never age. I could do this for forever and even beyond. If I had known that things would turn out like this, I would have never given up on hope, I would have never done the things I have done. I would have just waited, waited for the right moment to come and this is it. This is the moment I have been waiting for all my life without really knowing it. And I am so happy that I can spend it with you, the one I was meant to find all the time," whispered Severus after some time, still looking her in the eyes.

"If you wouldn't have done certain things, we would not be here today. Everything was meant to be this way, and I am grateful for every tear that I shed, for every scar I carry, because they led me to you. I love you and that will never change. I promise, Severus."

Philo looked up at his parents, observing them, trying not to disturb them with his newborn sister still cradled to his chest. He might not have known much about being an adult and being in love with someone, but he knew that once he was a grown-up, he wanted to find a love as special as his parents'. He wanted to love and be loved the way his parents loved each other. He wanted the same blissful happiness they shared. At that moment, he wished for that. He wished for that for himself and for his sister. He wished for that for every person living. After all, that's what everyone deserves, as his grandmother had taught him.