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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Whispers.
Whispers raced throughout the room like the gentle hissing of a dozen deadly snakes.
Somehow those whispers turned to hisses that surrounded a twisted vision of Voldemort.
The Basilisk.
Nagini striking in the ruined home of Bathilda Bagshot.
A scream, a flash of hideous green light and-
Harriet opened her eyes with a gasp.
Severus, Ingrid, Healer Margot, and the midwife who had attended Little Sev's birth all blinked down at her.
"My love......" Severus frowned as he quickly took her hand.
Harriet slowly became aware she had been returned to her home.
As she glanced to the side, she recognized the familiar colours of her blankets.
She lay in her nest.
"Harriet!" Healer Margot exclaimed.
Ingrid watched her great great daughter-in-law closely as the midwife spoke, "My goodness, Mrs. Snape! What a terrible fright you gave us all! Your poor alpha was nearly inconsolable when I arrived!"
"Wh-What happened?" Harriet blinked.
"You've pushed yourself over the brink, my dear! That's what's happened!" The midwife laughed mirthlessly, "It's done now, you're safe, but you're a prisoner of your own making. You won't be leaving this bed much until those three little ones are safely in the world, I'm afraid."
Harriet furrowed her brow as she thought back.
The last memory she had was of the room darkening around her as she felt herself fall down, down, down......
"ASTORIA?!?!" Harriet blurted out, "What about Astoria?!"
"The youngest Mrs. Malfoy is resting comfortably." Severus explained in his deep voice as he raised Harriet's hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss.
"Our efforts were successful!" Healer Margot told Harriet with a bright, beaming smile, "She is exhausted as well, but cured and on the road to recovery! She may be in bed a few weeks herself though, given her ordeal. I daresay that after this, she'll go on to live a normal lifespan, free from the pain she's had to endure."
"She'll live?" Harriet asked as she swallowed thickly, struggling with her scrambled mind to gain a proper summary of the recent events.
"Yes!" Healer Margot laughed, "She will live!"
Harriet closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as she let her head rest against the fluffy pillows.
She heard Severus murmur something to the three women before she noticed the sound of shuffling feet, followed a few seconds later by the closing of the bedroom door.
When Harriet opened her eyes again, there was only Severus there, still holding her hand as he sat on the side of her nest.
The disapproving scowl on his pale face made her chuckle.
"I know you're angry with me, Sev." Harriet said with a wry smile.
"It displeases me that you gambled with your life and our children's." Severus remarked in his decadent voice.
"I wasn't trying to gamble with anyone's life." Harriet yawned, "I couldn't just let Astoria die, could I?"
"Draco could have sat at her side instead." Severus reasoned.
"Malfoy wouldn't have lasted five minutes in there. Be grateful they used a Silencing Charm." Harriet said as she yawned again.
Severus's angry scowl melted into a sad frown while he released Harriet's hand to pull the covers more tightly around her shoulders.
"Rest, my love." He whispered as his wife closed her eyes, "While your efforts were admirable, your reckless work is done. I'll not allow you to take on any more projects until you've completed your current one.....mothering our triplets. Is that understood?"
"You've always protected me, Sev." Harriet sighed as she let herself relax in her nest, ".......Even before we were mates."
Severus gazed at his wife for a long moment in silent awe of the compliment she had paid him.
While Harriet laid there with her eyes closed, her beauty nearly pulled him into a trance.
His dark eyes softened as he gazed at Harriet, the woman he loved, his mate, the mother of his children.
Her long, dark tresses fanned out over the sheets in a perfect compliment to her soft, pink lips and the generous lashes that stretched from her closed eyelids.
"Sleep well, my love." Severus whispered as he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on Harriet's forehead.
To his surprise, his darling hadn't quite dozed off just yet.
As he pulled away, she reached up, caught the collar of his robes in her hand, and before he could protest, pulled him down towards her until their lips met.
Severus groaned softly as Harriet continued their sweet, slow kiss while she slowly guided him under the covers out of a primal need to be close to her mate after her ordeal.
To Harriet's delight, he gladly obliged as he removed his shoes and cloak before he slipped into his mate's nest and held her in his arms.
As their kiss deepened, Severus batted away the annoying urges his mate's delicious taste inspired.
Harriet was far too weak to go any further, Severus knew that.
He selflessly pulled away from their kiss before their affection could crescendo to a jeopardizing level for them both.
In the silence that followed, Harriet cuddled against his chest while his fingers soothingly trailed up and down her spine.
"I love you, Severus." She confessed before she tumbled into a deep, restorative sleep, comforted by her alpha's embrace and calmed by his hypnotic scent of smoky lavender and warm amber.
"..........And I you, my love." Severus whispered as he bent his head and kissed the top of Harriet's head.
His lascivious desires vanished in an instant.
Hearing his darling utter those words was more satisfying to Severus than any orgasm.
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Severus decided to spare his daughter from fear in the letter he sent to Maggie the next morning.
It had made her frown to notice Scorpius was absent from the Great Hall.
While Maggie read over her father's elegant handwriting, she frowned in surprise.
To my dearest daughter,
I am writing to inform you of certain events that have transpired over the last day before you hear of them otherwise. You may notice that your friend Scorpius enjoys a brief absence from Hogwarts soon. Your mother has taken it upon herself to see to his mother's recovery and as a result of her dedication, Astoria Malfoy is no longer considered a sick woman. While your mother's cause was noble, she managed to exhaust herself in the process and will be confined to her bed until your three siblings arrive. Have no fear, she is comfortable and in good spirits. I am watching over her and your younger brother closely. It is my hope you are well. I look forward to your response.
Your Loving Father,
Severus T. Snape
Maggie blinked at the blank bottom of the page.
She trusted her father, although it did sadden her to think of her mother's discomfort.
A thousand questions danced through Maggie's head before the sound of pounding footsteps rang out, followed by a shout, "MAGGIE!"
She glanced up from the parchment to watch Scorpius race towards her with his blonde hair flying around his head in response to his wild steps.
"Hello!" Maggie greeted him with matching enthusiasm as he skidded to a stop beside her.
More than a few glanced over at him curiously while he panted for breath and tried to comb his disheveled, short hair back into place with his hands as he exclaimed to his friend, "I don't know how I'll ever repay your family!.......For what your mum's done!"
"I've just read about it in Dad's letter! It's wonderful, Scorpius! Wonderful! I'm so glad your mum's better now!" Maggie beamed.
"Dad brought me home last night!" He cried as he practically pushed a Ravenclaw aside to sit next to Maggie.
The boy in the way scowled at the unwelcome Slytherin before he pulled his plate in front of himself and continued his meal.
"Did he?!" Maggie asked, "You got to visit your mum, then?"
"I did, yeah!" Scorpius nodded, "I did! She's still a bit weak but.......she's not gray anymore! She's not gray anymore, Maggie! She-"
Maggie frowned as Scorpius turned away from her suddenly, too ashamed to admit his tears of joyful relief had gotten the best of him.
It was absolutely unacceptable for boys his age to openly weep at Hogwarts.
Desperate to impress his darling with the stoic masculinity Scorpius silently decided Maggie would value in a worthy potential mate, he glanced up at the ceiling and bit his tongue until he wrestled his emotions under control.
Once he turned back to Maggie with his eyes still a telltale red, she smiled softly as she said, "I don't mind if you cry, you know.......I really don't, I'd cry too."
Warm and loving, Maggie opened her arms to comfort her friend.
A hug seemed out of place at Hogwarts for two students from separate houses who were not upperclassmen in a committed relationship, but Scorpius didn't care how others viewed their exchange.
He needed comfort and he was glad that Maggie offered him exactly that.
Scorpius accepted her invitation and embraced her briefly before he pulled away and murmured, "........Thanks."
He hadn't been wise enough to brace himself for the sweet scent of Maggie's shampoo that wafted from her freshly-washed hair.
The dizzying, sweet smell nearly made him giddy.
Maggie was eager not to dwell on a topic that may further Scorpius's uneasiness.
To change the subject, she suggested, "Maybe once your mum recovers, you and your family can visit mine this summer. Dad's letter said Mum will be in bed until my little brothers or sisters are born......So, it's going to be a while before she can leave the house."
"Maybe." Scorpius nodded, "I'll ask my father. That'd be lovely!"
"Yeah, it'd be brilliant." Maggie smiled.
"I hope your mum's alright." Scorpius frowned as he thought of Harriet, "My dad said she was very tired."
"That's what mine said too, in his letter." Maggie nodded as she laid the communication Severus had sent on the table, "I'm sure she's fine. If anything was really wrong, Dad would have already been by to bring me home."
Scorpius nodded, "That's good to hear."
As worries about Harriet were quickly dissuaded, the pair gazed at each other in mournful triumph.
Astoria's recovery was cause for celebration, yet as Maggie and Scorpius contemplated the daunting idea that the upcoming summer would split them apart for months on end, a part of the joy brought on by the happy news seemed unmercifully dampened.