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Severus Snape had always been an efficient worker.
He utilized that talent as much as possible as Harriet began her midwife-mandated bed rest.
Disencan remained at the Snapes' home with Little Sev.
Although the skilled house elf was more than capable of seeing to Harriet's minimal needs, Severus preferred to look after his mate himself.
Any and all menial tasks were promptly assigned to his aides or other Ministry employees.
The duties that had to be completed by the Minister for Magic were done with swift speed and alarming accuracy.
Severus minimized his meetings, many of which he understood to be unnecessary.
He reviewed the many documents that needed his attention at home, beside Harriet while she lay in her nest.
"You don't have to rush to me like this each day." She chided one afternoon after he apparated directly into their bedroom, with his dark robes swirling around his feet and a concerned frown on his pale face, "I'm alright, Sev. I'm just lying here."
"You're my mate." Severus frowned as he gazed at Harriet's fair face, "Your well-being is my responsibility to ensure."
His words invoked a sense of obligatory duty but as he leaned down and gave Harriet a loving kiss, she delighted in the knowledge that Severus wanted to take care of her.
Severus Snape was not just an alpha fulfilling his requirements, even after more than a decade of marriage and two children, Severus Snape remained an alpha in love.
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As someone who enjoyed being busy and active, while the weeks droned on through the spring season, Harriet quickly tired of lying about all day.
Even with not one but three lives in her womb, she would have much preferred to be occupied and on her feet when she pleased.
Harriet's family did everything possible to make her unexpected confinement pleasant.
Disencan checked on her at least once an hour during those tedious times Severus was forced to fulfill his role at the Ministry.
As soon as Severus came home each afternoon, he sat beside Harriet to provide her with not only his watchful eye, but pleasant conversation and gentle kisses.
Against his wishes, there were several evenings during which he gave into his wife's pleas and carried her to the sofa so that she would at least have a different set of walls to look at instead of their bedroom.
"Perhaps this weekend I can go outside for an hour or two." Harriet suggested one morning after she woke in Severus's loving embrace.
A noise between a purr and a groan rumbled from her husband's throat as he let his smooth hands slip over her bare skin.
"How do you figure that, Mrs. Snape?" Severus asked without opening his eyes in the dim light of dawn while the sun began to rise outside.
Harriet placed a tender kiss on the exposed part of his chest his nightshirt failed to cover.
"If you can carry me to the sofa, perhaps you can place me on the porch too?" She asked.
Severus cracked one of his dark eyes open to scowl down at his wife in disapproving suspicion while she asked nicely, ".........Please?"
"I've allowed you to override my better judgment for too long." Severus drawled, his low voice rough and gravelly in the lingering drowsiness that accompanied first waking, "The midwife placed you on bed rest, my love, not 'sofa rest' or 'porch rest'."
"I don't see what difference it makes where I am." Harriet shrugged as she cuddled against him, "I sit up in bed sometimes, why not sit up and breathe some fresh air?"
"I'll gladly open a window to let the breeze inside." Severus offered.
Harriet moved back to frown in disapproval of his mocking tone.
Once Severus heard her hair rustle across the soft pillowcase, he cracked his dark eyes open and cast his wife a sly smirk.
Harriet watched his expression swiftly change to one of silent reverence as his dark eyes softened and his lips relaxed as his mouth fell open.
"You are......quite......beautiful, my love." Severus whispered there in the privacy of their bedroom.
She had no intentions of denying her alpha's unspoken desires.
Desperate to feel his hands on her skin and his lips on hers, Harriet moved forward to ensnare Severus in a deep kiss.
He had only continued making love to his mate after he had received specific instructions from the midwife that their activities would be safe as long as Harriet enjoyed them.
Severus possessed an expert level of understanding about how to guarantee his wife's satisfaction.
He eagerly accepted the generous affection his expectant mate lavished upon him that morning.
Harriet sighed into their kiss while he explored her bare frame under the covers.
His large, skillful palms took a loving moment to caress the noticeable curve of her growing womb before he promptly pulled her into his arms, but eyes widened as Harriet suddenly pushed him flat on his back.
With his heart racing, Severus watched his lover gaze down at him as her emerald eyes glowed in the bright sun rays that crept through the room's drawn curtains.
He gasped sharply as Harriet lowered herself onto his waiting form and joined them in one, breathtaking dip.
Severus grit his teeth while he watched his mate take her pleasure from him.
He wasn't quite sure what he'd rather stare at while he received his unanticipated treat before his day officially started; his mate's magnificent, bouncing curves, or the mesmerizing look on Harriet's face.
She fascinated him, her mouth open in a silent scream and her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Severus's hands squeezed what they could reach of his wife's flesh, as eager to connect with her as she was with him.
Harriet had slept for hours the previous night.
Regardless, after they finished their morning exertions, she needed another nap just to recover her spent energy.
Before Severus left for the Ministry, he bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his sleeping wife's cheek.
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Harriet woke later that morning to the clinking sound of rattling glass.
She blinked as she looked over in the direction of the noise and found Little Sev standing beside her nest with a large, wooden tray in his hands.
"Good morning, sweetheart!" Harriet said quickly as she sat up, careful to keep the covers close to her chest.
"Good morning, Mummy!" Little Sev happily greeted his mother. Harriet watched his happy smile fade into a worried frown as he asked, "Are you alright? You usually don't sleep this late....."
"I'm fine, love, I was a bit more tired than usual, that's all." Harriet shrugged as she forced herself not to blush as memories of her and Severus's steamy morning ran through her mind. Eager to change the subject, she nodded at her son and the tray he held, "What's all this, then?"
"I brought you breakfast!" Little Sev proudly declared as he offered the tray to his mother.
Harriet smiled as she scanned over the generous helpings of food, the glass of pumpkin juice, and the fluffy daisy the tray held as she reached out to take it, "Well, thank you, sweetheart. That's very-"
Before Harriet could grab the tray and haul it onto what remained of her shrinking lap, Little Sev graciously assisted her.
He climbed onto his mother's bed and scooted the tray beside Harriet so that she could easily reach what waited on its surface without being crowded.
"I could have lifted it, sweetheart, but thank you." Harriet chuckled at her little boy.
"Daddy said you aren't supposed to lift things." Little Sev frowned.
Harriet began to eat as she shrugged and said, "I don't think a breakfast tray would have hurt me, but your kindness was brilliant, thanks, sweetheart."
"You're welcome, Mummy." Little Sev smiled.
"Would you like some......of anything?" Harriet asked her son, selflessly offering her food to her second eldest child, "There's plenty here for both of us."
"No, thank you, Mummy. I already ate." Little Sev nodded, "Disencan and I looked at the worms we collected yesterday after we finished breakfast......." He smiled before his eyes drifted to the swell of Harriet's belly the covers hinted at, "You need to feed my brothers, not me."
"Your brothers?" Harriet laughed.
Little Sev nodded.
"They may be your sisters instead." She smiled wryly as she placed a hand over her abdomen.
"No." Little Sev said as he shook his head with absolute certainty. He pointed at Harriet's belly and nodded again as he declared, "Those are my brothers."
Harriet's emerald eyes glowed with pride as she reached out and rustled her little boy's hair.
She knew their eldest son was still quite young and it was most likely too early to say for certain, although she did begin to wonder about what talents Little Sev possessed.....
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As Hogwarts' academic year drew to a close, Maggie found herself unmercifully conflicted.
On the morning of students' departure for summer recess, her heart ached as she longed for home yet dreaded the moment she and Scorpius would part.
As they shuffled onto the Hogwarts Express an hour later, they chatted to one another with the heartwarming familiarity and fondness that only the very closest of friends could possibly share.
They both ignored the ominous passage of time as the train hurtled along its track, bringing them closer to their families and the doom of separation.
Once the train finally pulled into King's Cross Station, Maggie's happy smile faded as she noticed Severus standing on the platform as she glanced through the window.
Suddenly, the reality of the situation pressed down upon her.
"Don't worry." Scorpius nodded, "I'll come visit you."
"Yeah." Maggie said as she slapped a brave smile on her face, "......Yeah, we'll see each other this summer."
"We will." Scorpius nodded again as he tried to convince himself while he reassured his darling, ".......Write to me in the meantime?"
"Every day." Maggie agreed without hesitation as a sincere grin curled her lips.
The train halted abruptly and sent them exiting along with the other students.
While Scorpius and Maggie both looked forward to spending the next months with their families, their heartbroken woe was evident as they cast each other one last glance before their fathers pulled them in different directions towards their separate homes.