I was hurt, just like him, and the thought of what he did sickens me, but I just couldn't summon the will to do more than ward him. I'm sorry, I should have hurt him for what he did to your family"

"No." Hermione shook her head, and turned so she was facing him. "It wouldn't have fixed anything Severus, wouldn't have changed anything…He's captured, it's over, and I just want to put this all behind us and move on with our life, with our family"

Placing a kiss on the swell of her belly, he allowed her to weave her hands gently through his hair as he pillowed his face on her bump. "That sounds wonderful"

oOo

Epilogue

The wedding took place in the forest surrounding their cottage, their traditional handfasting ceremony was undertaken with just a small handful of trusted family and friends, as Hermione and Snape stood barefoot in the lush green and despite their audience, Severus couldn't help but bending down to place a gentle kiss on her swollen belly, how could he not? When her shift she wore for the handfasting draped so gently over her stomach that she looked the very embodiment of Eileithyia.

Magic whipped around them, that was ancient and pure. It could be heard in the trees, the birds and it seemed as though the earth itself woke up and took notice as the pair made their bonds and tied their ribbons around each other's hands.

It rustled in their hair and seemed to settle in their chests when they shared the kiss that bonded them, and when the trees parted letting sunlight alight on the two of them, there were more than one whispered, shocked and awed exclamation of soulmates.

Rose had taken her job as flower girl extremely seriously, and Scorpius had stood proudly as Severus's best man, his little formal robes and the look of such concentration on his face, the cause of many indulgent looks from the adults present.

Lucius and Narcissa had travelled from France and Severus had been concerned that the man might take it as a slight that he hadn't himself been asked to stand for him, but he was quickly assuaged of that notion.

"It's your day Severus, I meant what I said that Narcissa and I are taking our roles as Grandparents seriously, I've spent my life trying to keep myself on a pedestal and and look where it has gotten me… besides, there is still a Malfoy standing at your side, and that's enough for me"

Devon and his husband had attended too, they had been both shocked and delighted when after a few "double dates" they discovered that Devon's husband was actually a squib. His family was French, his Mother having attended Beauxbatons, so they were aware of the magical world, but not a part of it. William had told Devon because it made it easier when meeting his own family in France, but also Devon, like Severus, was sterile and unable to have children, and when they had begun discussing having children together using a surrogate, William had to break the news to Devon that any children that he fathered, that they raised together, might end up going to Hogwarts or Beauxbatons. Devon, being the man that he was, had taken it all in stride.

For Severus and Hermione, It made things so much easier, not having to hide their magic or who they were, but still having the freedom of people who had no knowledge or interest in their roles in the war, voldemort and everything that went with it. It also meant they had an enthusiastic pair of babysitters whenever they fancied a "Date Night" alone, which they didn't have to worry about if one of the toddlers used accidental magic.

It had also been on the day of their wedding, while everyone was dancing, eating and enjoying mead that had been made by Severus from bees raised at the cottage, a new hobby that he had shyly admitted to, then become more confident about when it had been met with much delight and many requests for more, that among all the merriment and dancing, an almost 5 year old Scorpius had given Rose a ring he'd made of flowers, that he'd woven like a daisy chain and asked her to "mawy him when they growed up."

The surrounding witches and wizards were somewhat shocked at the whispers of magic that still hung in the clearing after Hermione and Severus' handfasting, had woken up again at his declaration and the ring he'd woven fitted itself to her hand and glowed with a magic as ancient as time, much to the delight of the two toddlers, who'd simply hugged and ran off to play together, holding hands and completely oblivious to their shocked and awed audience.

There had been such silence in the clearing, even the birds and animals were still, hung in suspense as though waiting judgement, until someone had spoken, which had been of all people, Neville's Grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. Hermione had always admired the strong and no-nonsense witch and she'd been a staunch supporter of muggleborn rights and even testified on Severus' behalf after the war.

"Soul Mates? To find each other so young, to spend their lives together, what a blessing. Truly a blessing from Gaia"

It had been Kingsley who was the next person to speak. "Soulmates yourselves, and now your daughter and your ward? To find your soulmate is such a rarity that many still think it a myth, but to two soul bonds on one day? Your family truly is blessed. I wish you good fortune in the years to come, but I daresay you shan't need it. Congratulations, this is a blessed match"

There had been more hugs, well wishes and tears then as the day went on and both Severus and Hermoine pressed each other close, truly feeling as though this was the turning point in their lives.

oOo

Their daughter was born in the new cottage, with a head full of hair more shockingly red than Ginny's had ever been.

When he held her for the first time, still covered in the mess from birth, Severus was stricken, but not for the reasons Hermione had feared. She understood the look in his eyes, even if he didn't put voice to the thoughts.

Her second daughter looked more like a weasley than Rose did, but more than that, with her bright eyes and deep auburn hair… she looked like an Evans.

"She can be named for her, if you'd like?" Hermione had offered, still sweaty and exhausted from the birth.

And he'd given her that look, the one so open with disbelief and childish wonder that she couldn't help but love him all the more.

"It doesn't seem right.." He'd begun, cradling the babe to his bare chest. Hermione was topless also, after having discussed first skin to skin contact with Severus, she'd been thrilled when he didn't scoff at the idea ( not that she truly thought he would), but that he'd also implied he'd want to partake in it too. And so here he sat with her, in just his trousers as they cradled the newborn girl between them.

"We wouldn't be naming her because of the crush that you once had, or the mistakes that you made. We'd be naming her for the friend that you lost, Severus." and I don't see anything wrong with that.

He was quiet for a while, the only sound was the baby's gentle breathing.
"On that note…" He'd began, in that hesitant way he did when he was unsure if she'd deny him outright or banish him for the thought, he shared with her another hidden and secret part of himself and she found she couldn't turn him down, not when he was holding her newborn daughter against his bare chest, pressing a gentle kiss to her crown as he whispered soft oaths of devotion and love.

And so, Charity Lily Snape was born.

oOo

Severus was a doting father to all 3 children, and Hermione sometimes had to stop and just take in the vision of the once stoic man, knelt upon the floor with two toddlers sat upon his back and a baby giggling below him as he tickled her.

It wasn't the fact that it was so out of character for him, or for the Severus she recalled from her days at Hogwarts, but that he was just so damn happy, it made her want to weep .

oOo

In the years to come, they repaired their bridges with Molly Weasley. Though she would never be as close to them as Arthur and the other Weasleys, they'd reached a point where they could attend family gatherings together, even if they did not socialise together alone, It was at once such gathering that Hermione and Severus had introduced Devon and William to Molly, and by extension, the Weasley-Malfoy home for children. Devon and William had quickly become interested and they had not long after formed close bonds with a set of twin girls, They were 2 years older than Rose and Scorpius and they'd fostered the 6 year olds for two years before adopting them when they turned 8.

They had one foot in the magical world and one foot out of it, and did a fantastic job of raising their children in both words, just like Hermione and Severus were doing, and as such the Weasley-Malfoy foundation soon gained two new members and expanded the work they were doing to include both squib children and muggleborn children that were having difficulties living in the muggle world. The foundation, Hermione and Severus and Devon and william worked closely with Hogwarts and other wizards schools in the years to come, all had their own version of the "Book of Names" and Hermione, who'd began to study ancient magic in great detail after their handfasting, final managed to weave a new spell matrix based on the ancient magic that filled the book of names. It notified the school, the ministry and the foundation if any magical child was in danger. There would be no more magical children neglected like Harry Was, no children abandoned like Tom Riddle was and no children abused like Severus and Rose were. It was a new era for the magical world and Hermione's spellwork became so sought after that over the coming years her spell matrixes were adopted and used in every wizarding School in the world, and with the help of Devon and William and funding from Severus and the Malfoys, more squibs, halfbloods and families of magical people were brought in, meaning that no magical children would ever grow up confused and alone in orphanages or in care, with a network of foster families that had one foot in the magical world and one foot in the muggle one.

oOo

Over the years, Severus continued to experiment and brew, growing many ingredients at the cottage and supplying Saint Mungos and hospitals around the globe with unique, complicated and specialised brews.

Hermoine gained a dual mastery in arithmancy and charms, and rewrote the syllabus for Hogwarts in a way that was easier for children to understand. After her experiences with Rose, they also introduced a new outreach program to help magical children who were struggling.

Whereas many thought magical children didn't suffer from the same issues muggle children did, like autism, dyslexia, adhd and more, that simply wasn't the case. The wizarding world had no knowledge of these kinds of conditions and children were either shunned or mocked for idiocy, or hidden away. The new outreach program helped children who were struggling, taught sign language, and linked families with muggle health services that could do things wizards could not, such as dentists, optometrists and more. Magic couldn't fix everything it was true… but that's because a lot of the time they didn't know what they were fixing, and as soon as muggle knowledge and science started to be absorbed and accepted by the magical world, there were less mad-eye moodies out there, and more witches and wizards with smart and functional prosthetics, and 20/20 vision.

Scorpius was obsessed with plants and flowers. It was clear he was going to be a keen herbologist one day, and Hermione and Severus had once joked between themselves if it wasn't a Freudian obsession with everything to do with Rose. He idolised his uncle Neville and Grandma Sprout and spent more time covered in dearth that he did clean, or so Hermione was convinced. His proudest moment was when Severus used a plant he'd grown from scratch in one of his potions, even sleep didn't wipe the smile off of his face.

Rose however took after Severus, and was going to be a keen potioneer one day, after having spent so many years on her father's hip while he brewed, there was nothing that she wanted more. For Rose, her proudest moment had been when Severus sent a potion she brewed to Saint Mungos, alongside some of his own.

Charity however was the polar opposite of both her parents and the other children, and could care nothing less about academia and all its nuances and spent all the time she had since she was able to crawl in the presence of whatever beasts, magical or muggle that she could find. It was she would frequently brought home birds with broken wings, or foxes with injured paws until the forest that surrounded the cottage seemed to recognise the heart of the little witch within and beasts and their ailments would seek her out, she'd long ago earnt the nickname "snow white" from Severus when the niffler she'd rescued, that now refused to leave her, once more attempted to pilfer his goblin silver stirring rod when he was in the middle of a brewing session with rose. " I swear to Merlin snow white, if you don't get your beasts under control, I'll turn them into potions ingredients!" He wasn't serious of course, and they had all laughed at his expense, but the nickname had stuck. Much to an overprotective Severus's delight, she also showed no interest in wizards (thank Merlin), nor witches either. Hermione had joked that she was taking the muggle view of witches too seriously, and that her life's goal was to become an old crone with a houseful of Kneazles, to which Charity replied that would suit her just fine. So it was no surprise when she turned 16 and came out to her parents as Asexual, she had no romantic interests and if they wanted grandchildren, they best pester Scorpius and Rose because she had no intention of ever having a spouse or becoming pregnant. While it took Hermione a little while to understand fully, once she realised that Charity was happy the way she was, and not missing or pining for anything or anyone) else, she loved her and accepted her and her lifestyle. Severus, once the meaning had become clear to him what she meant, was fully and wholly supportive, if not bordering on thrilled, Severus had a spring in his step that Hermione hadn't seen in years as he'd been given the overprotective father's dream, after all. They loved their children equally but Charity was definitely the baby and by announcing herself as Ace, to Severus at least, it meant that no "dunderheaded and unworthy wizards (or witches) " would ever be getting their paws on his baby girl and Severus was not so secretly, over the moon.

As for Rose and Scorpius, they had been very clear to them growing up about their roles, even though for anyone it was clear to see the children very much adored one another, the living ring of flowers that adorned Roses finger, gave off such an aura of earth and ancient magics, that no one could deny the two were soulmates.

Even so, they had very clearly defined their roles, from a young age. Though Rose and Charity called Hermione and Severus, Mummy and Daddy, Scorpius always referred to them as Hermione and Godfather, or Miney and Sevus when he was younger.

That was of course until the day came that they became Mum and Dad instead. Hermione clearly remembered seeing rose and scorpius off to Hogwarts for the first time, and she'd parted with a "I love you mum and dad"

The moment had been bittersweet that her baby was growing up, but one look at Severus and she could see he'd been absolutely devastated and affected much more in his change in title than she had.

She wasn't the only one that had seen it , because when the owl came with the news of Rose's sorting into Slytherin (of course) and Scorpius in Hufflepuff (where else? ) she'd added a note at the bottom to Severus, letting him know that even if she didn't say it, he would always be her Daddy.

He'd cried and held onto Hermione so tightly she could barely breathe, but she held onto him just as much.

Rose and Charity shared a room when they were younger but from the day they moved into the cottage, Scorpius always had his own room and always knew that though he was loved and cherished, he was their 'ward' and not their son. They had always worried about the technicalities of it all growing up, that Scorpius would not understand in a house of 3 children why he was singled out, but the ever-precocious boy had simply taken it in his stride. Severus had often joked that if the boy was any more laid back he'd be horizontal, but as it turns out, Scorpius and Rose had been one step ahead of them the entire time.

When the day came that both Scorpius and Rose had finally turned 16, they eloped to stonehenge and handfasted the same day.

They'd had received a panicked floo call from the headmistress at Hogwarts when both of them had disappeared, but when they turned up at the cottage the day after, wearing matching rings and smiles, looking all too pleased with themselves, the telling off they were going to get fell by the wayside when Scorpius, already almost as tall as Severus, pulled his arms around both of them and said

"I've waited so long to say this. I love you mum and dad"

The End