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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Although Harriet and Severus focused on their children for the rest of Hogwarts' winter recess, sadness plagued Harriet as she considered Draco's unfortunate situation.
Reaching out in kindness, Harriet penned a letter one morning while Severus chatted with Maggie and Little Sev in the kitchen:
Dear Mrs. Astoria Malfoy,
It was lovely to meet you over the holidays. If you ever find yourself up to it, I'd be delighted to have tea.
Sincerely,
Harriet Snape, Wife of the Minister for Magic
Severus watched Harriet send her letter off with the first owl that flew to the windowsill.
He asked no questions as she joined the family at the dining table, but as he stared into her eyes and read her thoughts, he realized to whom she had written.
A sense of humble pride flowed through Severus's heart as he gazed at his beautiful wife.
Harriet's kindness remained one of her best qualities that had first attracted him to her.
Severus frowned as Harriet immediately joined in the conversation.
While she spoke to their children, he gladly took the opportunity to stare at his mate in loving adoration.
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It took a week, but Harriet finally received a reply from Mrs. Malfoy.
She held the brief letter in her hands while she spoke to Severus.
The lines scrawled on it clearly read:
Mrs. Harriet Snape,
It was a pleasure to meet you as well! My son talks about your daughter all the time. She seems to be a very sweet girl and your family is very lovely! I would be delighted to have tea, though I can't currently guarantee a date. I'm afraid I struggle to get out of bed most days. Perhaps you can come by the house for a visit when you have the chance?
Sincerely,
Astoria Malfoy
Harriet clutched the letter while she sat and watched her husband fasten the many buttons on his dark robes.
"And you're certain you won't harbor resentment towards me for this?" Severus asked Harriet as they prepared to travel to the Ministry early one morning.
Little Sev still slept in his bed while Disencan hurried around the kitchen, tending to breakfast.
"No, Sev, not at all." Harriet replied with a wry smile, "It was wrong of me to.....to insist that you stay in office. I suppose I didn't want you to give up anymore of yourself for us.....Maybe that's it?"
"And if I were to remain there, my love..." Severus sighed as he looked at Harriet, "Surely, you understand I'd give up far more?........On every front?"
"Yeah, Sev." Harriet nodded, "I do."
After they went to the kitchen for breakfast, the couple ate in silence until Harriet smiled, "I will miss that secret room though."
"My love........?" he asked.
"Yes?" Harriet blinked.
"My intentions are to resume if not the headmaster position, then another teaching expenditure at the castle, as you know." Severus drawled.
"Yeah, I do." Harriet nodded.
"Whatever post McGonagall will grant me, headmaster or professor, I wish for you to remain at my side, just as you did before Maggie's birth." Severus purred.
He watched in fascination as the veil of doubtful dread vanished from Harriet's expression.
A bright smile lit up her fair face as she asked, "...........Do you mean that, Sev?"
"Of course I do." Severus replied before he took another bite.
With Harriet's qualms put to rest, she and Severus journeyed to the Ministry after they finished their meal and turned in his notice of resignation together, as a team.
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"Severus, how good to see you!" McGonagall cried as she welcomed her old friend back to her office one February afternoon.
Severus greeted the headmistress with a polite nod as he glided over and sat down in the chair across from her desk.
"I must say, I was quite excited when I recieved your letter!" McGonagall smiled, "It does come as a shock though, you've served the Ministry well for so many years, may I ask what's prompted you to step down now?"
"There are several factors, though they are all related to my family." Severus answered cryptically.
"Oh........" McGonagall blinked, "Harriet.....Is she..........?"
Severus scowled as he hurriedly shook his head, "No.......We've put the possibility of family expansion behind us, Minerva, and chosen instead to focus on the two children we have been gifted. As my daughter continues her Hogwarts education and my son joins her, I would prefer to be available to them instead of the public as a whole."
McGonagall nodded silently in understanding.
"With your assistance......I had hoped to find employment at the castle once more." Severus slowly revealed.
"Employment?! Severus, of course!" McGonagall exclaimed.
He cautiously continued the conversation, "May I ask what positions are currently open?" He frowned as he spoke, "If teaching is not an option, I could easily work as a treasurer or a-"
"-If you'll agree, Severus..." McGonagall nodded, "I would have you take over my own post........at least for the foreseeable future."
Severus hadn't actually expected it to be that easy.
"I beg your pardon, Minerva?" He asked with an incredulous scowl.
"Severus...." McGonagall sighed as she mirrored his expression, "There's many days I end up in my rooms hours before the sun sets. The hustle and bustle has started to wear on me, though I may be able to manage a part-time teaching career still.......Regardless, the headmistress' duties are becoming overwhelming at my age. I'm not sure how Dumbledore kept up all those years."
As Severus stared at his friend, he noticed just how weary she seemed.
McGonagall had gained many wrinkles during the last decade.
Her hair had lost nearly all of its remaining colour and her eyes had sunken.
Severus silently wondered if his resignation from public office hadn't come at an opportune time for his friend.
"As long as that is your decision, Minerva......I will respect it." Severus nodded, "However, please know it is not my wish to bully my way in or to remove you from your post."
"Oh, Severus! Of course not!" McGonagall scowled, "Hogwarts will be glad for your return, as will I!"
"Forgive me for not mentioning it at first, however, I do desire to keep my wife at my side. She acted as my assistant before.....Our working relationship went surprisingly well." Severus drawled.
He resisted the urge to smirk as memories of taking Harriet against the rough wood of the dungeon classroom's tables played through his mind.
"Of course." McGongagall nodded, ignorant of his lascivious recollections, "You two seem to make a great pair. She balances you, Severus."
Severus narrowed his eyes at McGonagall's last remark.
"..........I beg your pardon?" He asked.
McGonagall shrugged quickly, hoping she hadn't offended her old friend, "Students always spoke about how much they enjoyed having Harriet in the classroom during your lessons. Some find you.....severe......Severus, and your wife helps soften that a bit."
Severus scowled at McGonagall until she nodded and asked, "When do you two wish to return?"
"By the end of summer....at the start of the new academic year." Severus nodded.
"Very well....that gives us a few months to prepare." McGonagall smiled.
Severus nodded again as he stood from his seat and prepared to take his leave from the room.
".........Severus?" McGonagall asked as she stuck out her hand.
Severus blinked as he slowly reached his arm out and shook McGonagall's hand.
"Hogwarts will be glad to have you home....Both of you." McGonagall said with a bright smile.
Severus left her office a moment later with his confidence fortified and his heart lifted high.
He couldn't wait to spend less time away from Maggie and more time working one on one with Harriet.
While she assisted him by performing her duties as wife of the Minister for Magic, he and Harriet had maintained a much.....closer.....daily relationship during their time at the castle.
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Britain's wizarding world fell into a pit of melancholy despair once the news of Severus's official resignation was published.
Press conference after press conference was held as rabid reporters assaulted Severus and Harriet with anxious questions, each outlet hoping to be the first to blare their answers.
While most were happy that the Minister for Magic had decided to be with his family, a quality that earned Severus even more public admiration, the people's hope for the next election grew dim as a suitable candidate failed to appear.
Less than a week after Severus had announced his departure from the Ministry, Harriet smiled at him while they sat at their dining table one morning and enjoyed breakfast.
Little Sev slept in as he remained in his room.
Harriet watched her husband's narrowed eyes move over the printed lines while he read the morning paper.
"You may have to retract that resignation, Sev." Harriet smiled.
Severus glanced up without moving anything except his narrowed eyes.
"The public may not let you leave." She laughed.
"What a pity......" He mused, "We'd have no other alternative then but to liquidate our assets and move with the children to a remote cabin in a foreign country."
Harriet smiled as she ate the last bite of her omelette.
"All jests aside...." Severus began in his velvet voice, "It is rather touching......to ponder the support you've helped me gain, my love."
"I haven't helped you....do anything." Harriet stammered as she swallowed another swig of pumpkin juice.
Her voice wavered as a sudden heat rushed over her body.
Severus failed to notice the shakiness in her tone as he stared at the newspaper, but Harriet blinked as sweat beads erupted across her skin alarmingly quickly.
Her cheeks flushed.
Her throat went dry as her mouth turned metallic.
As if on command, she rose from the table and gingerly walked towards the hallway.
"........My love?" Severus asked as he looked up from his newspaper at Harriet's abrupt departure, "........Where are you going?"
"I.....just need the lavatory." She quietly explained.
Speaking was difficult as her thick tongue smacked against the roof of her dry mouth.
Her steps quickened as she rushed down the hall as fast as she could without running while her heart pounded.
Once she reached the lavatory, she barged inside and closed the door.
The door clicked shut as she bravely faced her reflection in the mirror.
Harriet took a few heaving breaths before she closed her eyes and sighed in relief as that sensation of extreme heat faded.
Her racing pulse slowed.
She swallowed as she opened her eyes.
Mercifully, Harriet listened to her instincts and moved before the dreadful feeling of imminent sickness slammed into her.
Without further delay, she leaned over the toilet and vomited.
As she flushed the mess and wiped her mouth with a quivering hand, she was grateful Severus couldn't possibly have heard her from his position in the kitchen.
If anything else had caused her symptoms besides some inexplicable upset of the stomach, Harriet wanted to be the first to know.
Once she cleaned herself up, she quietly left the bathroom and hurried into the bedroom she shared with her husband.
She silently opened one of her vanity drawers and quickly dabbed on a scent-blocking slave.
Harriet knew she was over-reacting, getting her hopes up again only to inevitably be thrown into disappointment, but just in case.......
Just in case she had conceived one last time, she wanted her lips, not her hormones, to announce the happy news to her alpha.
As she rejoined Severus at the breakfast table and smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, a flutter of excitement danced in her heart.
Her husband would still have business to tend at the Ministry, that would give her plenty of time to consult a midwife.