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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Harriet woke one morning with a groan as her senses struggled to orient her.
Where was she?
Imprisoned in softness with the most decadent scent in the world wafting by—-
As she sat bolt upright, she drew in a breath and realized she lay in her bed with Severus sleeping on his side next to her.
Harriet bit her lip as the motion forced her tender breasts to painfully swing before she clamped a hand down over her chest.
An hour later, once Severus rose, Harriet stayed in the lavatory under the pretense she had fallen ill.
"My love, I won't leave your side while you're indisposed." Severus reasoned as he called through the wooden door.
"Sev, I'm fine......I will be, anyway, I just need to lie down. Little Sev's hunting mushrooms with Disencan in the forest. Go on......head to the office, won't you?" She called back.
A weighty silence settled.
Harriet sighed as she placed her head between her hands and asked, "Will you go if I say you can come and check on me during lunch?"
"I don't understand why you can't lie in your secondary nest at the Ministry." Severus quipped, "Open the door, my love, and I'll take you there."
"Sev, I really need to be here today." Harriet called back, "Lunchtime, alright? I'll nap until then."
The heavy silence fell again.
Harriet chuckled as she called out, ".....Please? Really, the only thing you can do to help is to let me sleep."
"If you summon me, I'll be at your side in a moment, my love." His low drawl echoed from beyond the door.
Harriet smiled wryly as she heard the distinctive pop of apparition that signaled her husband had journeyed to the Ministry.
Once she was certain Severus had gone, she emerged from the lavatory.
As she walked into their bedroom, she moved the curtains aside and glanced out the window.
The smile on her lips remained while she watched Disencan show Little Sev what fungi could be eaten as they made their way around the forest's outer edge.
Harriet sighed to herself as she pulled the covers back and fought against the irrational rage suddenly flooding her system while her hormones began to shoot out of control.
As her skin began to dampen with perspiration while a wave of warmth overcame her, she grit her teeth as she pulled several soft blankets and fluffy pillows from the closet in the hallway.
Why had she urged her husband to become Minister for Magic?
Harriet blew out a breath as she battled against the urgent nausea that rose in her throat while she arranged the pillows and covers to her liking.
Why had she been so considerate as to not let Severus have a good whiff of her before he left?
So what if he had work to do?
Harriet collapsed into her newly rearranged bed with a heavy sigh as she grit her teeth.
Her body trembled as she writhed impatiently.
There were times when she wished she was less selfless.
What did it matter if Britain's wizarding world needed their current Minister for Magic in his office, at his post?
Harriet frowned as her half-lidded emerald eyes glanced up at the ceiling and imagined Severus moving over her.
Mrs. Snape needed her alpha.
There were few creatures more angsty than a nesting omega in heat.
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Harriet and Severus had both abandoned the hope of conception years ago, but that didn't make a heat cycle any less exhilarating for them.
Mrs. Snape had been careful to hide herself away in the bathroom before her alpha had been able to detect the telltale sweetness of her scent.
By the time the Minister for Magic took his lunch hour, Harriet had nearly sweated through the pillows and blankets of her nest.
She laid with her lips pursed and the muscles of her abdomen tensed against the uncomfortable cramps that rolled through her like the merciless waves of a violent tide.
A mere four hours had passed since Severus had left, but to Harriet, it seemed as if it had been years ago when she had last seen her beloved husband.
Severus had worked through his morning with no lucious dreams, only worry in his mind.
While he had scowled down at the documents on his desk, he had constantly fretted over Harriet.
Was she alright?
What had happened to her?
Why wouldn't she let him in the lavatory?
He had held her hair back when she had vomited.
He had caught their children in his hands when she had given birth.
What sort of sickness would she not allow him to comfort her through?
Once the Minister's lunch hour arrived, Severus stood from his desk, raised his wand in the air, and apparated home with his black eyes narrowed in concern.
While he traveled through the air, he contemplated the best healer he could possibly call to aid his wife if her condition, whatever it was, had failed to improve.
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The instant Severus apparated into the middle of the hallway, he was greeted by his house's startling silence.
At Harriet's request, Disencan had returned only to pack a lunch for him and Little Sev before he led the boy on an entirely new adventure through the woods.
Once Severus drew in a breath, his eyes widened as his mouth fell open.
He struggled to swallow against the drool that pooled in his mouth at the delicious, decadent scent he knew all too well.
Slowly, he took a staggering step forward as he lurched towards the bedroom he shared with his beloved wife.
Severus didn't bother to knock or announce his presence before he entered, instead, he threw the door open as he charged into the room, infuriated by Harriet's beckoning scent.
He had missed that familiar, hypnotic smell for such a painfully long time.......
"Severus!" Harriet gasped as her husband stormed towards her with a scowl on his face and his dark eyes narrowed by want.
His black eyes glimmered as he gazed at his mate who lay waiting for him in her nest, bare and vulnerable.
"On your knees." His decadent, low voice commanded as he slipped his wand out and locked the door behind himself with a quick flick of his wrist.
Harriet huffed as she gradually crawled onto her knees.
She pouted while she waited for Severus to come closer, able to push aside her own longings in favor of her mate's preference from her raging instincts to please her mate.
Severus glided over to stand in front of her as he crossed his arms and glowered, barely moving his lips, ".........Turn around."
Harriet drew a shocked breath of wild anticipation as she stared up at her alpha.
Silently, she obeyed his command as she turned herself on the bed and widened her knees while she settled on all fours.
Harriet heard the swishing of robes hitting the floor.
The bed creaked as a new weight crawled onto the mattress behind her.
The cry that left her lips as her alpha gripped her bottom in his hands couldn't be stifled, nor could the wailing shriek of ecstasy he drew from her throat as he sank himself deep within her.
Harriet squeezed her eyes shut as the unignorable ache between her legs she had endured all day finally ended.
While they made love, Harriet allowed herself to enjoy the moment after years of fruitless anguish.
Regardless of whether or not their efforts resulted in a child, Harriet promised herself she would treasure the time she spent in Severus's arms.
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Once the initial, stifling rush brought on by Harriet's hormones finally cooled, she lay on Severus's shoulder while they chatted and recovered.
The soothing crackles of the hearth's flames provided pleasant background noise for the evening.
"Sev......." Harriet whispered as she closed her eyes.
"Is something wrong......my love?" He asked as he glanced down at his resting mate.
"Nothing at all....." Harriet sighed.
She neglected to open her eyes, but her arms squeezed him tightly as she whispered, "I love you."
Severus let out a low groan that almost sounded like a purr as he slipped Harriet onto his chest and kissed her lips gently.
She would have smiled if she hadn't been busy returning his kiss.
Her legs slid over his while the soft pads of his fingertips traced gentle circles across her lower back.
Harriet and Severus were overjoyed she had finally experienced another cycle, although their hopes were put aside for fear of having them shattered once more.
Mr. and Mrs. Snape both looked forward to spending the next few days basking in one another's loving embrace.
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At Hogwarts, Scorpius Malfoy dreamed of one day sharing a similar, loving embrace with Maggie.
While they sat and talked after dinner, Maggie genuinely believed the bright smile on his lips and the sparkle in his grey eyes came from his amusement about her story from class earlier that day.
Maggie didn't dare allow herself to think Scorpius may eventually see her as anything other than a friend.
In his mind though, Scorpius envisioned the days when he and Maggie would no longer be students.
He looked forward to becoming a man, proud, tall, and strong. A man who controlled his father's company with various charities started under his name that helped thousands of people, both magical and muggle, every day.
Scorpius envisioned Maggie at his side, accomplished at whatever she chose, with their son or daughter proudly next to them.
While she had certainly never mentioned it to anyone, as Maggie gazed into Scorpius's handsome face and basked in his kind smile as they talked, her heart fluttered.
Unlike other children her age, she had never viewed the sentiment between her mother and father as vile or humiliating.
In fact, Maggie Snape hoped that eventually she would find a mate who loved her as much as her father loved her mother.
She dared not consider that Scorpius could possibly turn out to be the exact person she wanted to find.