EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER

Harry strode through Diagon Alley, Severus at his side, while their brood did a combination of running about, and being far more reserved about the stores around them. They were due to meet Ron and Hermione, plus Draco, Ginny, Neville, and Luna at The Three Broomsticks for lunch, but Harry and Severus had plenty of shopping to do beforehand. So much had seemed to change within the wizarding shopping center, as well as within the hearts and souls of the people around them, but Harry and Severus had never fallen out of love with one another.

Lily Eileen Potter-Snape, their firstborn, was due to begin her seventh-year at Hogwarts in just a few short weeks; she turned and regarded her fathers for a moment, her brilliant green eyes off-setting her raven mane perfectly, and she adjusted her robes accordingly. Minerva had already written that Lily had been made Head Girl for the following term, and Lily was very proud of herself; academically, she was quite intelligent, and she had been Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team from her fifth-year. She had aspirations of joining the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and had been under tutelage from Moody from the time she was fourteen, already having mastered the ability to become an Animagus, and ultimately taking the form of a black wolf, which was a shock, due to her apparent blood lust, but Lily was the most in-control of all their children.

Their second child, Maximilian Francis Potter-Snape, who was a charming gentleman with brown hair and blue eyes, was about to begin his sixth-year at Hogwarts, and had been sorted into Ravenclaw, and was every-inch the rule abider. He was a great favorite of his Head of House, Professor Flitwick, and had been successfully making up charms and spells since he was about six. Max, as he much preferred to be called, had eyes for pretty Gryffindor Rose Granger-Weasley, only daughter of Ron and Hermione, and had already impressed her with his superior knowledge of spells and the like, with the pair commencing a relationship in the middle of his fifth and her fourth-year. Max's Patronus was that of a red fox, matching that of Rosie's, and the pair of them seemed to be headed for the wedding aisle upon their graduation from Hogwarts, although they both wanted to be established within the Ministry of Magic beforehand.

Their next child, a second daughter that Harry and Severus had named Guinevere Hermione Potter-Snape, was every inch the Slytherin at fifteen-years-old. Living up to her father's reputation, she had subsequently taken every title that Bill Weasley put forth within his potions classes at Hogwarts, and would share her father's basement lab at Potter Park. Her auburn hair and striking green eyes reminded Harry and Severus so much of her grandmother, Lily, but her stubborn streak matched Harry completely. Gwyn's sharp tongue and temperament was all Severus's, however, and when it came to potions debates, the whole of the rest of the family cleared the room, for there would be two black panthers prowling about and someone could get hurt if they weren't careful.

Their final two children were a pair of mischievous twins that could easily give Fred and George Weasley a run for their money. Conroy Sebastian and Toireasa Marcellina were about to begin their fourth-year at Hogwarts, and Filch had hated every moment that the Slytherin and Gryffindor had terrorized him and Mrs. Norris with their various pranks. Conroy also had striking auburn hair, but his eyes matched that of his brother, Max, while Toireasa had brown eyes and brown hair. Despite their pranks, their marks were good, and although they were kind and popular with the student body Lily, as a former prefect for Gryffindor House, hated to act the disciplinarian around them, especially around Desmond Rosier, a Slytherin who had successfully caught her eye, and who had been named Head Boy for the next term.

"Think she can manage to keep them in line?" Severus asked his husband as they left Madam Malkin's and made their way down the cobblestone street.

Harry smirked to himself at the question, already having an idea of where his husband's thoughts were going. "Perfectly," Harry told him. "Why do you ask?"

Severus waited until the children had gone into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, before he made a grab for his husband and pulled him around a dark corner. After a quick survey of the scene to be sure that they were alone, he casted a quick Notice-Me-Not Charm upon them, and slammed his husband against the brick of the side of the building. "They won't miss us for a few moments," he assured him, pressing his lips to Harry's neck and sucking hard.

Harry shuddered at the feelings his husband could still evoke through him, and proceeded to wrap his legs around Severus's torso. "We won't have long," Harry groaned into his ear, managing to fumble between them so as to free their cocks, and cast a silent Lubrication Spell to ensure that he was ready for his husband. "George and Angelina may have Fred II and Roxanne to worry about, and Fred and Gabrielle might be watching Percy II and Bridgette, but they still have eyes in the backs of their heads..."

Severus smirked against his husband's neck as Harry fumbled with their erect members, and managed to push Severus inside of him, causing the older man to groan in Harry's ear. "Perhaps Ron will be able to watch them..." He whispered.

"Doubt it, especially if Hermione has anything to say about it," he grunted, angling himself so that the head of Severus's cock stroked his prostate just so. "Now that she's in training to take over for Kingsley by next month..."

"And about time to," Severus said, cutting across his husband. "That poor man's been worked to the bone. Someone has to spend some time with all those children they've got..."

"Moody and Kings only have four, Severus," Harry replied patiently. "Seraphina, Emeric, Griffin, and Louisa have proven themselves competent in their respective fields regardless of lack of time with Moody and Kings... And, as for Hermione, you know full well she's pawned off the kids onto Ron at every turn. Ron can negotiate his own hours, but everyone knows that a Minister of Magic never sleeps."

"Fudge slept," Severus growled into Harry's ear.

Harry smirked against Severus's jaw, and proceeded to pepper it was kisses. "Of course he slept, love. And why do you think he was sacked?" he queried.

"Point," Severus allowed, pressing his palms against the wall of the building, and proceeding to pound into his husband. "How long do you think it'll take for Minerva to step down?"

"Didn't you hear?" Harry asked. "Filius sent out an owl this morning during breakfast. He's taking over this term as headmaster."

"And who will assume his post as Deputy Head?" Severus managed to question, which was becoming difficult, as Harry was periodically squeezing his inner walls around him. "Bill, Ginny, or Neville?" he wanted to know.

"Bill, as he is the senior member of the staff, despite the fact that Neville and Ginny didn't take too long to join after he did," Harry replied. "I think it has to do with his age more than anything else, to be honest with you."

"Or, perhaps, they didn't want to give the Head of Gryffindor or Head of Hufflepuff the position," Severus said with a smirk.

"Oh?" Harry huffed. "And why... Is that?" he managed to get out, grunting as Severus pressed himself in deeper still as he fucked him.

"Gryffindors are too reckless, whereas Hufflepuffs far too sensitive," Severus said, narrowing his eyes at Harry as he clamped down along his sensitive cock.

"I'll have you know that you married a reckless Gryffindor, my love," Harry told him, smirking up at his husband at the death glare he received. "And as for Hufflepuffs, Newt Scamander happens to be a former member of that very house. Were it not for him, we wouldn't have the innovative developments in the magical creature world."

"Fantastic beasts indeed," Severus replied with a roll of his eyes. "Far too much information if you ask me. Why couldn't they have just left things as they are?"

"Because there was more of the story to be told, my love, no matter in what order it was presented to the people who clearly wanted to hear it, regardless of the opinions of others," he said simply to his husband. Harry planted his palms down hard upon Severus's shoulders, thus gaining some form of leverage, permitting him to work with him in order to achieve their goal of mutual orgasm. "Although, one can admit that, perhaps, the reckless streak has rubbed off on you somewhat, love..."

Severus scoffed. "Rubbish."

"Hardly," Harry replied, grinning cheekily up at him. "You're literally fucking your husband in between two businesses in Diagon Alley."

"I put up a Notice-Me-Not—"

"Despite the strength and prowess behind your spell work, my love," Harry said patiently, "you wouldn't have consented to public sex at the beginning of our marriage."

"At the beginning of our marriage, you were pregnant, and a madman was after the both of us," Severus said quickly. "We hardly had any time."

"We have time now," Harry told him gently. "Forever, if you want it."

Severus yanked Harry closer then with a sudden possessive growl, wrapping his hand around his husband's stiff cock, which directly caused Harry to keen and explode between them, prompting Severus to finish off inside him, whereupon he pressed his lips to his, their mutual moans drowned out in each other's respective mouths. "Of course I want it," he whispered to Harry, continuing to kiss him, never wanting to let him go.

Harry sighed with contentment, gently easing himself down from his husband's embrace and casted a quick Cleaning Charm, whereupon they put themselves back together and walked out from the alley. Taking off the Notice-Me-Not Charm, Harry and Severus stepped into the Weasley's shop, and, amid the customers flurrying around them, noticed Ron, Fred, George, Angelina, and Gabrielle looking on as Lily and Desmond snogged in a corner, Max and Rosie held hands reading in a corner, Hugo and Gwyn making tentative eyes at one another, Fred II, Percy II, and Conroy dashed about testing new products, while Toireasa, Roxanne, and Bridgette attempted to establish rules for the products themselves.

It had been a slight shock for the Weasley and Delacour family, when Gabrielle came to England the summer after she had turned seventeen to assist Bill and Fleur with their children, when she had run into Fred rather unexpectedly, as Bill and Fleur had inadvertently scheduled the both of them to watch the children. However, it didn't take too long for the attraction to set in, and the Weasley boy was overcome with emotion at how much Gabrielle had grown, and it didn't hurt that she was a Veela, and even more beautiful than Fleur, according to Fred. Despite the age difference and their knowledge that it could cause controversy on both ends, Fred and Gabrielle hadn't cared, and were married three months after their reunion, just after Gabrielle's eighteenth birthday, and Gabrielle had found that she had truly come into her own by working in the joke shop, tending to their lovely little cottage in Hogsmeade just down the lane from Hogwarts, and raising their two children, with the help and support of the Weasley family, was all she had ever truly wanted in life, after many years of being overshadowed by her older sister's beauty and magical abilities.

"We miss anything?" Harry asked casually as they stepped inside, and stood where the adults were congregated.

Ron flashed Harry a knowing look before he turned back to oversee their various children. "Not much. Just our kids being kids."

"Naturally," Severus replied, giving a wary look towards Lily, who looked about ready to do just about anything with Desmond.

"Love, don't," Harry said, gently nudging Severus and giving him a look. "You know as well as I do that I was sixteen when I found out we were mates."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Nevertheless, Lily is..."

"Seventeen," Harry replied, cutting across his husband gently and patting his hand. "And you know full well that she's been head over wand about Desmond for years. Desmond seems to be an all right fellow, despite the fact that his grandparents were locked away in Azkaban for Death Eater activity."

"Felix Rosier always had a good head on his shoulders," Severus put in.

Harry smiled. "There you are. Desmond must've learned from his father, then."

The front door to the shop opened, and Ginny and Draco stepped inside, their seventeen-year-old son Artie flitting in just ahead of them, his shock of red hair and engaging silver eyes not lost on Toireasa, who had been drawn to the fellow Gryffindor since they were children, and although Severus was a bit wary of the age difference, Harry needed only remind him of their own, and the subject and trepidation connected to it were promptly dropped. Severus and Harry watched as Artie and Toireasa immediately walked towards one another and began a whispered conversation between themselves, as Ginny and Draco's only daughter, thirteen-year-old Slytherin Vera Molly, clung to her mother's hand, her blonde hair long about her shoulders and her brown eyes engaging as they swiftly darted about the store, never one to wander too far, although she did openly stare at Conroy, and he her. Draco himself held onto their youngest child and his own miniature, six-year-old Thaddeus Aaron, who merely rested his blond head upon his father's shoulder, his silver eyes calm, every inch the Hufflepuff, despite five more years before his beginning at Hogwarts, much to Ginny's amusement, and Draco's slight horror.

Ginny whispered to Vera that perhaps she might wish to speak to Conroy and, after a fair bit of reluctance, the girl stepped away from her mother and went to join them. Satisfied, Ginny climbed the stairs and accepted the embrace of her siblings and in-laws, in which she firmly counted Harry and Severus. "So, how are the children?" she asked.

"The same, as you can see," Harry replied.

The back door to the store opened shortly thereafter, and Hermione stepped in, immediately gravitating towards Ron, as Luna and Neville came up behind them. Luna and Neville also had twins, a boy and a girl, whom they had named Ginevra Pandora and Loreto Alexander, and the pair promptly moved to join the fray below. Luna and Neville spoke to Ginny and Draco about the upcoming changes to Hogwarts in the next term, and about how Bill and Fleur couldn't possibly leave the school for the moment, due to the added responsibility of Bill's promotion to Deputy Headmaster. However, they did care to mention Bill and Fleur's daughter, Victoire, and her established romance with Teddy Lupin, son of Remus and Tonks, as well as the health of Dominique and Louis, Fleur and Bill's other two children.

As the conversations picked up around them again, Harry saw that his husband had wandered across the room to stare out of a massive bay window, and walked over to lean in closer to Severus, inhaling his traditional scent of sandalwood and lavender, and smiled automatically when his husband's arms seemed to come around him like a moth to a flame. He looked up at him and turned his cheek into his robes.

"I really should learn to use a different ink," he muttered, looking down at his fingertips, "for I find that scrubbing beneath my fingernails on a daily basis is growing quite tiresome."

Severus chuckled. "As one of the foremost writers of our time, my love, I cannot help but find myself in awe of you," he replied.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're quite a popular writer yourself, love."

"Yes, but what with your in-depth research on vampires, as well as your re-vamped version of Hogwarts: A History to make it more palatable towards younger generations..." He sighed. "I'm afraid I cannot apologize enough for believing you to be lazy and arrogant."

"We were both wrong, love."

Severus pressed a kiss to his husband's temple. "Both, love?"

"Extremely," Harry said softly to him. "We both misjudged the other's character so harshly that it took quite a while for us to get to know the real person, hidden due to circumstances placed upon us by the war and the pawns we'd been made out to be."

Severus sighed. "Pawns, eh?"

"Of course," Harry replied, caressing his husband's hand "Your circumstances being the way they were because of spying, and mine due to the walls I'd built up around myself."

"Those were for your own protection, on both accounts."

Harry sighed, staring out into the street of Diagon Alley below. "Yes, and I am aware of that, now," he told him quietly. "I suppose I just wish that nothing had been hidden from me at all. I know that, up until a certain point, I was not deemed mature enough to know and handle such things, but still, a significant part of me is aware that I could have benefited considerably from some of the information."

Severus gave a nod. "Yes, I suppose you could have, love. However, the past is finished, as are the dark times."

Harry sighed, lifting his arms to wrap around his husband's, which had gone over and around his frame, and knew then that he was truly fulfilled. "I've got all I could ever possibly want," he whispered. "I'm fulfilled in my professional life, as well as in my personal one. I wanted to fall in love, to have children..."

"Even though I took away your human life?"

"What was the point of it all, anyway?" Harry asked with a chuckle. "I live and breathe for you, and for our children, Severus. I couldn't have survived, in the end, without you. And with the transformation, we're assured of my survival, tantamount to yours, being forever. I said as much then, as I do now at least several times in any given day," he went on, turning to look up at his husband, "I love you, Severus Tobias Snape."

"I love you, too, Harry James Potter-Snape," came the reply from the potions master, as he bent down and brushed his mate's lips with his, "always."

THE END