#Snephy

[smilingformoney]

Desirium

Severus is testing a new potion, with unexpected side-effects. (aka: sex potion trope but make it Snephy)

Snape x OC | smut

Warnings/content: masturbation, blowjob, slight dubcon if you squint, desk sex, dom!Snape (later service dom), orgasm denial, overstimulation, possessive Snape, cunnilingus, use of safe word

Read on Ao3 or below:

Now that the twins had started nursery, Persephone and Severus had a lot more time to themselves. Generally, this involved catching up on the sleep they’d lost since they were born, although for Severus it also meant throwing himself into his work without interruptions from feral children - something he had craved ever since he’d started working at Hogwarts over twenty years ago.

It wasn’t surprising to Persephone, then, that some mornings she took the girls to nursery on her own, as Severus was deep in concentration over his desk, or his cauldron, and she didn’t want to disturb him. One morning in particular, she returned home from dropping the girls off when she heard Severus’ voice in his study. He never spoke to himself - he could go without speaking as long as he was allowed to be cooped up in his cave. He and April were similar in that way, their non-verbal communication far beyond anything Persephone, Ariadne or Abbie had been able to achieve.

At first Persephone thought someone might be in there with him, but as she listened, she realised he wasn’t talking, but moaning. He almost sounded like he did in bed, on the now only too rare night that they weren’t too busy, or too tired to have sex.

She opened the door cautiously, knowing he didn’t like to be disturbed, and was surprised to discover exactly why he sounded like he did in bed - he was sat back in his chair, his eyes scrunched tight as he furiously pumped his fist around his cock.

“Sephy,” he mumbled to the air.

He hadn’t realised yet that she was there. Although the sight was arousing, Persephone was a little hurt - could he not have waited for her to get home? Did he now prefer his own touch over hers, leaving her role only to that of fantasy?

He needed a reminder, she decided. On her tip-toes so as to not make a sound, she crossed the room to him. Her sneaking skills must have been rusty, though, because he seemed to sense her presence when she approached and his eyes opened. Rather than being shocked or embarrassed that she’d caught him in a compromising position, his eyes only grew more lustful when he saw her. His right hand showed no signs of slowing; with his spare hand, he reached up and grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him.

“Sev…” Persephone gasped; he only growled in response as she fell on his lap, and he pushed down on her shoulder to force her to her knees. He squeezed her chin to open her mouth, and suddenly his cock was down her throat.

She choked slightly, his cock having been shoved so suddenly and so forcefully into her dry mouth. If Severus noticed, he didn’t care, as he grabbed her by the hair and held her head still as he rutted furiously into her mouth. She knelt there, coat and shoes still on from having been outside, as her husband face-fucked her until he came down her throat. Only then did he finally release her hair from his hand, and Persephone was finally able to breathe when she was able to extract herself from his crotch.

A thousand questions were swimming in her head, but the one that came out was, “How the fuck are you still hard?”

Sure enough, despite having cum down her throat only moments ago, Severus’ cock was still standing to attention.

He groaned, knuckles turning white as he gripped the arms of his chair in frustration, seemingly trying to resist going right back down her throat. “Still… need to cum…” he managed to say, although it seemed to be a struggle for him to even speak.

Persephone got to her feet and looked down at him. He looked incredibly hot, his whole body quivering with lust as he physically restrained himself from moving. His eyes were closed, as if looking at her would be too much.

“I tested a new potion,” he said through gritted teeth. “The side effects are… unexpected.”

Persephone couldn’t help but laugh. “You tested a new potion on yourself, and the side effects make you uncontrollably horny?”

“Yes.”

Severus opened his eyes, and as soon as he laid eyes on her body, his hands were on her hips, pulling her down to straddle his lap.

“Need you,” he growled, his hands clawing uselessly at her clothing. “Naked. Now.”

“Say please,” Persephone teased.

Severus groaned in frustration. “Get your clothes off, please, or else I might just die if I don’t fuck you.”

“Yes, sir.”

She began unbuttoning her coat, but even that was too slow for him. Severus pulled the coat apart with his own hands, sending buttons flying, but he didn’t seem to care. He moaned with relief to see she was wearing a low-cut t-shirt, and he buried his face in her breasts, nuzzling them like they were a pillow after a long day.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he moaned. “Mhm… Sephy…”

He pushed the fabric of her t-shirt and bra to the side to allow a breast to escape, and Persephone hissed slightly in pain as he took her nipple in his mouth and pinched it between his teeth.

She could feel his erection pressed between their bodies, and if she weren’t wearing trousers, she needed only to lower herself a few inches to fill herself up with him.

Severus seemed to be similarly frustrated, because he removed her breast from his mouth with a pop , picked his wand up from the desk, and with two quick waves their clothes had vanished. As his wand clattered to the floor, Severus pushed Persephone backwards to lay her on the desk. He ignored the parchment being crushed beneath her back, and paid no mind to the vial of liquid that crashed to the floor. She had no chance to ask what they’d just broken when she felt her husband’s cock filling her up, crawling up her walls as he fit so perfectly inside her. He wasted no time thrusting furiously into her, his depraved grunts filling the room as he fucked her so hard, so fast, that the desk began to creak beneath them.

At least he was enjoying himself; he’d spent no time getting her ready as he usually did, and so the feeling of his cock rubbing against her dry walls was painful and uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to say something, but whatever had been in the smashed vial wafted into her face, and she breathed in something that smelt a little like Amortentia, but mixed with the familiar smell of sweat and cum.

The gaseous potion filled her lungs, and her heart immediately began to race. The painful fucking suddenly became very pleasurable indeed as her cunt moistened itself around Severus’ cock, and all Persephone wanted was to cum while he was buried deep inside her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that she must have breathed in whatever substance Severus had drank to make himself uncontrollably horny, but that voice was small compared to the overwhelming need for her husband’s body.

She moved her hand towards her clit, desperate for extra stimulation, but Severus slapped her hand away.

“No cumming yet,” he growled. “Not until I say so.”

“Please,” Persephone begged. Maybe if she came, the torturous need coursing through her veins would be sated. She had never been so horny in her life, and she now understood what Severus said earlier; she, too, felt like she might die if their bodies ever disconnected. He was part of her, and she was part of him; why should they ever need to separate?

Severus grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head as he leant closer to her, their bodies pressed together as he grunted furiously into her ear, his face buried in her neck. Persephone let out a small yelp as he sunk his teeth into her flesh, latching on like a hungry babe to a breast, and a wet, cold sensation told her he had drawn blood. Somewhere in her mind she registered the pain, but the sensation of his mouth on her neck, his hands on her wrists, his chest on hers, his cock still pounding furiously in and out of her cunt - it was far more pleasurable than the small pinch of broken skin.

She so desperately needed to cum, to clamp her walls around his cock and milk him for all he had, but he’d given her an order and she was terrified, if she disobeyed, he’d never let her cum at all. So she tried to think of something else, anything else, to keep her peak at bay. Over Severus’ shoulder, she looked at the jars of slimy ingredients lining his shelves, all gross and gooey, wide-eyed dead creatures staring at her from their glass prisons, all lined up neatly and meticulously organised. She could just imagine Severus perusing the shelves, his elegant fingers gently skimming across each jar as he looked for the right ingredient… the same fingers that could find her sweet spot in seconds, the fingers that were now creeping down her arm to wrap around her throat, and she was snapped back to reality when he squeezed just above her clavicle. It was the smallest of squeezes, testing her response, and when she gasped in pleasure, Severus smirked as he lifted his head to look at her, watching her face contorting in blissful pleasure-pain as his grip on her tightened.

“I’m going to cum in your beautiful cunt,” he growled. “And you’re going to take every - last - drop.”

“Yes, Daddy,” Persephone moaned. “Give me your cum, please, I need you to fill me up, please, please, please…”

“Yes, take it, take my cum… my good girl, mine, mine… MINE!” Severus roared as he came, his cries of ecstasy echoing through the room, and if they’d had any neighbours, there would be no doubt they’d be heard. His hips stilled deep inside her, plugging her up as his cum shot inside her, and his grip on her throat tightened so much she almost couldn’t breathe.

Persephone inhaled deeply when his grip relaxed and Severus collapsed, spent, on her sweaty body, as if she’d taken not just his cum but all of his energy in one blissful moment.

Blissful for him, perhaps - her cunt was still on fire, desperate for the wave of bliss only he could so expertly pull from her. She grinded her hips against his, desperate for any kind of stimulation; his cock was softening, but she needed him desperately, if not his cock then his fingers, his tongue, anything…

“Severus…” Persephone moaned, and she realised she was crying. “Please, Severus, please…”

Severus was still trying to catch his breath, but his panting stopped when he heard her pleas. He looked up at her, eyes wide with shock, as if he was only just realising he’d completely forgotten her needs.

He pulled out of her and dropped to his knees in an instant, ignoring the cum dripping out of her as he buried his face between her legs. Persephone cried out with relief when his tongue ran over her clit, and she knew she wouldn’t last long. Severus slipped two of those beautiful fingers inside her wrecked pussy, elegantly caressing her inner sweet spot as his sharp tongue traced circles around her clit.

Thank fuck he wasn’t teasing. He usually ate her out so slowly and carefully at first, building up her pleasure before letting her cum. But now he wasted no time, finger-fucking her furiously as he sucked on her clit for dear life. Persephone clawed uselessly at the desk beneath her, and when she couldn’t find anything to hold onto, she sunk her fingers into her husband’s silky hair, nails digging into his scalp as with one, two, three perfect strokes of his fingers, she exploded with ecstasy, her walls clamping around his fingers as he kept stimulating her through her orgasm, only slowing to a stop when the last aftershock of her orgasm had left her body and she, too, felt her energy drain away instantly.

Persephone released her grip on him and he sat back into his chair, his hair a mess, his cheeks flushed red and his chin glistening with her sticky juices. Severus closed his eyes as he caught his breath, and only opened them when his wife crawled onto his lap, nuzzling his neck as she snuggled up to him.

His rock-hard chair might be suitable for him to work from, but it certainly wasn’t made for cuddling. He apparated them up to their bedroom, their naked bodies appearing on the edge of the bed, and together they slid under the blanket, holding each other as close as they could.

For a few moments they lay there, soaking in the blissful aftereffects of what had just happened, until Persephone spoke.

“What the fuck was that?” she mumbled sleepily.

“Not the intended effect of the potion,” Severus replied.

Persephone chuckled. “Clearly. What was it supposed to do?”

“It was only supposed to give me an erection. I may have to dial back some of the ingredients.”

“Why do you need a potion to give you an erection?” Persephone asked curiously, looking up at him as she rested her head on his chest.

“I don’t - not yet. But it’s a common issue among men my age - I’m hoping to create a potion to market. I may need it myself one day, but I assure you, the only assistance I need to get hard is thinking of you.”

Severus wrapped his arms tighter around her, holding her close and taking in her scent. “I’m sorry, I was very selfish just now. All I could think of was my own pleasure.”

“Thank Merlin the orgasm stopped the potion’s effects. I don’t think either of us would have the energy to go for much longer than we did.”

Severus hummed thoughtfully. “It seems it was only that last orgasm that worked. None of the previous ones did - I still felt desperately horny.”

“Previous ones? How many times did you cum in your own hand before I came home, Sev?”

He blushed, his eyes darting to the side to avoid hers. “Three times,” he admitted. “Each time, I maintained the erection and my desire throughout… it was only cumming inside you that worked.”

“Maybe it doesn’t just make you horny… when I breathed it in, I felt a need to cum, but mostly it was just a need for you. Perhaps it was less a need for pleasure, and more a need for connection, the intimacy of sex.”

“Perhaps. My mind was swimming with thoughts of you, but it wasn’t until I had you in front of me that I really felt sated. I suppose that’s logical - I based the recipe on that of Amortentia.”

“I thought that was what I smelt. It’s hard to tell when Amortentia smells like you, and I’ve already got you there. I can’t tell if I’m smelling you or the potion.”

“Your Amortentia smells like me?”

Persephone laughed. She propped her head up on her hand and smiled at him incredulously. “Of course it does, Sev. What else would it smell like?”

“Mine smells of you too,” he admitted. “When we were apart, I always hated teaching Amortentia, because the whole classroom just smelled like you. Your lavender shampoo, the firewhisky you always kept at your home… and a smell I couldn’t identify for years. It wasn’t until we had the girls that I realised it was the smell of baby powder. I must have smelt it that day I came to see you when Abbie was a baby.”

“I smell firewhisky too,” Persephone said with a laugh. “We must be a couple of drunks.”

Severus chuckled and brushed a stray hair from her face. “What else do you smell?” he asked.

“Cinnamon, of course. And a kind of damp wood smell - it’s what your old house smelt like after the rain.”

Severus smiled. Even after all this time, he still seemed to find it hard to believe she loved him as much as she did.

“I should probably reduce those elements,” he said thoughtfully. “My aim is arousal, not carnal lust.”

“And you should probably wait until I’m home to test it,” Persephone said, firmly but with a hint of a tease. “I can be your… control subject.”

“Mmm, I do like having you under my control,” Severus teased as his hand snaked down her body to squeeze at her arse. “And you’re certainly my favourite subject.”

Persephone laughed, then kissed his soft lips lovingly before he turned the kiss hungry, hands digging into her waist as he held her flush against him. He flipped her onto her back and moved his kisses to her neck, taking care across the bruise that was forming across her neck, before moving further down her body and taking her nipple into his mouth. Severus hummed with satisfaction, never releasing his latch onto her breast even as his hand travelled lower down her body.

“Is the potion still working?” Persephone asked, trying to contain a moan as her husband’s skilled fingers began teasing at her folds.

“No,” Severus replied as he released her nipple from his mouth and began kissing every inch of her breasts. “This is all you. All for you. Five orgasms for me this morning and only one for you?” He tutted with disapproval. “That won’t do. I’ll make sure you have another six, at least.”

“We’re not as young as we used to be, Sev,” Persephone reminded him. “I don’t know if - ah!” She gasped as his finger slipped inside her. “...if I can do that anymore.”

“Oh, you will,” Severus promised. He looked up at her, dark eyes alight with a fierce determination. “I’ll keep you in this bed all day if I have to. Oh, the things I’ll do to you, Sephy… I’ll have you cumming until you’re begging for mercy.” He pressed his thumb against her clit, and chuckled darkly when she twitched.

“So eager for me already. This is going to be so easy…”

She came within a minute, and just as he promised, by the time lunchtime came, she’d cum not just six, but seven more times before she was indeed begging him for mercy, insisting she had no orgasms left in her.

“One more,” Severus promised. Persephone had her arms tied above her head, the other end of the soft yet secure ribbons meeting the ceiling above the bed. The ribbons were just long enough to suspend her above the mattress, her bent knees not quite meeting the surface. Her arms ached as they held up her weight, unless she were able to sit on a pillow - but Severus, of course, had no intention of giving her any sort of pillow to rest on. Instead her weight rested on his face, and as his tongue explored her cunt and his nose rubbed against her clit just right, Severus moaned with lust, enjoying every moment of his wife’s dripping wet cunt trapping him beneath her.

When she came for what he promised was the last time, her thighs clenched around his head, and Severus knew that even the slightest of friction against his cock would have him cumming too. But he ignored his aching member - he’d taken his own pleasure enough, perhaps too much, that morning. He wanted to give his wife all the pleasure she deserved, and he was sorely tempted, when her orgasm subsided, to keep going, to lap up everything she had, to leave her trembling and unable to speak. He was just picking up the pace again to do exactly that when she spoke, and his movements froze.

“Gillyweed!”

On hearing her safe word, Severus gently withdrew his tongue from inside her and removed her hips from his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quickly, grabbing his wand from nearby to release her bonds, allowing her to finally drop onto the bed. He caught her as she fell and laid her down gently. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, just… too much. I can’t… I can’t cum again, Sev, I might pass out,” Persephone replied, catching her breath as a tear of frustration rolled down her cheek.

Even so, Severus insisted on checking her over, and although she was red and sweaty from exertion, and some handprints and fingernail marks adorned her body, there were no new marks past the bruise on her neck.

“Oh, darling, you’re exhausted,” he said soothingly, gently caressing her face. “I think you need a bath, hm? We’ll get you cleaned up, then we’ll have some late lunch.”

Persephone smiled and nodded, and soon enough they sunk into the hot, soapy bath together. She knew he was really going all out when he filled the bath with his favourite soap, a fancy concoction Lucius had gifted him last Christmas. A sigh of relief escaped her lungs when she felt the hot water on her sore skin and a relaxant in the soap left her melting into her husband’s arms.

“Better?” Severus mumbled in her ear as he held her carefully, as if worried he may break her.

“Mhm,” Persephone mumbled in response, her eyes already closed as she relaxed into his embrace.

“Is there anything more I can do for you, my love? Anything at all. I am yours to command.”

“There is one thing you could do,” Persephone replied, and her cheeky tone made him suspicious, but he was determined to stick to his promise.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“Pick the girls up from nursery today.”

Severus chuckled warmly.

“Of course I will, darling. Of course I will.”

#severus snape #snape x oc #snape smut #Snape fanfic #hp fanfic #Snephy #soul of ice

[murkyhazed]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

what made you pick up the muse you have? you mean muses lmao. honestly i pick ones that i personally enjoy or resonate with in some way. for the most part i have to actually like them in order to write them, so any character i have on my muse list i like at the very least.

is there anything you don’t like to write? not particularly? i find it difficult sometimes to do action based replies, but it doesn't mean i don't like to write it. just is a little more difficult.

is there anything you really enjoy writing? threads that are fluffy with a hint of angst are a fave.

how do you come up with your headcanons? i just do i guess? i don't really have a process, it usually comes up either while writing or when watching something i'm like "actually my muse would feel like this instead" kind of thing if that makes sense?

do you write in silence or do you play music? i have to write in silence, music is so distracting to me when writing.

do you plan your replies or wing them? i don't really plan all that much? usually just go with the flow, whatever comes naturally to the muse in question.

do you enjoy shipping? i absolutely fuckin love it, ship with me you cowards.

what’s your alias/name? stephanie! but i also go by steph or stephy. my nieces and nephews call me stephy, that all started when my first niece couldn't pronounce my name properly and called me "snephy" and then i wanted to replicate that when my second niece came along, but she was able to pronounce the "t" so stephy became a staple in my life.

age? 26, i can't believe how old i am.

birthday? october 7th!

favorite color? i really do love yellow, like bright neon yellow. highlighter yellow.

favorite song? lately i've really loved listening to confetti by charlotte cardin.

last movie you watched? alvin and the chipmunks lmao.

last show you watched? it was riverdale season 1. its so hard for me to want to continue even though i love the characters. its kind of like glee, where i could never get past the 2nd season.

last song you listened to? i can't actually remember, it was on the radio in the car. i think it was you spin me round by dead or alive?

favorite food? chicken. just anything chicken i am so game.

favorite season? i like spring, the spring where the bugs haven't come out yet and the weather is getting warmer.

do you have a tumblr best friend? obviously i have a few! naturally @unheald is, i forced her onto this hellsite years ago. also @strnza and @crownslip and just so many others i can't @ everyone sadly

tagged by : i stole it from @sheldoney

tagging : anyone who wants to talk about themselves

#* &. ooc.

[thetorturedpoetsintern]

honesty I find it hilarious that you haven’t actually read my fic but you’ve taken the time to think about the snephy dynamic 🤣

Fine, you caught me! I'll admit it!

I only read the smut chapters, but if you let me go I promise to read it for the plot too. I already intended to do that anyway.

And for the record, the smut chapters alone can provide very good hints about their dynamic. Just saying 😅

#smilingformoney #asks #i have the right to remain silent until i call my lawyer

[goreador]

snephy

snebit?

[smilingformoney]

Rickmas 2023: Day 19. Hope | Severus/Persephone

Read now on Ao3 or below the cut:

December 1978

The work for the Dark Lord didn’t stop for any holiday, not even Christmas.

Severus preferred it that way. He found no joy in Christmas anymore. He hadn’t for years, not since his mother - his only real family - had died. So when other Death Eaters were reluctant to carry out orders over Christmas for the sake of family time, Severus stepped up and volunteered to fill in for them, spending as much time as he could carrying out the Dark Lord’s orders.

Including, of course, his one main order: getting information from Persephone Payne. So when Christmas Day approached, he invited her over for Christmas Dinner, knowing as he did that she didn’t have family to go to. Whether they were estranged or dead, she’d never let slip, but Severus knew enough to know she’d be alone for Christmas.

The dinner mostly cooked itself, leaving Severus and Persephone time to sit on the sofa and drink their way through the bottle of mulled wine she’d brought over.

“So, your first post-Hogwarts Christmas. How have you been spending it?” she asked.

“I’ve hardly had time to think about it, I’ve been so busy with tasks for the Dark Lord. A lot of the others are spending time with family so I’ve been covering for them.”

“Is he okay with that? Surely he’d expect them to put him first?”

“He certainly wasn’t happy about it, but he knows raising the next generation of wizards is important, so nobody got crucioed. Especially when I said I’d pick up their slack. He seemed pleased that I was willing to put the cause first. Not that I’ve… got anything else to do at Christmas. I’m all alone here.”

Persephone snorted. “He’d get on well with my boss. Always gives me the Christmas assignments because he knows I’m the only one without a family. I’m glad you invited me over when you did, by the way - the next day he asked me to work today and I had an excuse to say no.”

“Glad I could help,” Severus laughed. “Sounds like your boss is worse than mine. At least he let me do what I want today.”

“And you chose to spend time with me?”

“Yes, of course! I remembered you said you don’t have family, so I thought we could be alone together.”

“Ha. Well, here’s to being alone together.” Persephone raised her glass and drank. “I have to admit, I miss Christmas at Hogwarts. Nothing beats the elves’ cooking. And I usually got the common room to myself - at least until you started staying behind too,” she said with a friendly nudge. “Shame we weren’t friends then.”

“I tried to talk to you,” Severus admitted, fidgeting slightly with the glass in his hand. “But I never had the courage.”

“Was that why you never thanked me for the hot chocolate?”

“…What?”

“The first Christmas you stayed back, I left you a hot chocolate and a note. You never said thanks, so I figured maybe you didn’t get it or you didn’t like it —“

“That was you?!” Severus frowned. “I thought - well, I don’t know what I thought. I didn’t recognise the handwriting. And… nobody knew about my mother. Only Slughorn and Lily.”

Persephone winced awkwardly. “I… may have overheard you telling Lily. And by overheard I mean eavesdropped.”

“But the hot chocolate — how did you know about the hot chocolate?”

“What do you mean? I just thought you’d like it.”

“With cinnamon? From the stall in Diagon Alley?”

“Well, yeah, that’s the best hot chocolate you can get.”

Severus sank back into the cushion, his mind spinning. The mystery of the hot chocolate that appeared on his bedside table that Christmas had always plagued him. Who had put it there, and how had they known about both his mother’s death and the significance of the hot chocolate? And all along it had been Persephone who left it, having overheard him telling Lily — and the hot chocolate was just a coincidence?

“My mother and I used to have that hot chocolate every year,” Severus admitted. “It was something of a tradition for us. Then she died and that very same hot chocolate appeared. I thought - but it was just you being… nice?”

“I know, me being nice is rare.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re always nice.”

“To you. I like you. Don’t like anyone else.”

“…Did anyone ever tell you that leaving hot drinks and mysterious notes next to a person’s bed is not the most efficient way of making friends?”

Persephone laughed, almost choking on her wine, and Severus smiled.

“So that’s why I don’t have any friends! What should I be doing instead? Leaving cold drinks?”

“Well, signing the note would be a good start. I’d have thanked you if I’d known it was you.”

“I was the only other Slytherin there, I thought it would be obvious it was me! Damn, we really did just keep missing each other at school, didn’t we? Lucky that we were both in the Leaky Cauldron last July, huh?”

“Yes, very lucky,” Severus lied. Luck had nothing to do with it. I was looking for you.

“You know, Severus, I… I haven’t enjoyed Christmas in a long time. But this… this is nice. Gives me hope, y’know? That people like you and me can still have merry Christmases.”

“People like us?”

“You know… people without families. I only ever feel lonely at Christmas.”

“…So do I,” Severus admitted. He’d been staring into the bottom of his now empty glass, but now he looked up at her, and she smiled a cautiously warm smile, one which set his heart aflutter.

“Can we do Christmas next year too?” he asked. “At yours, perhaps.”

“Yes! Yes, I’d like that. Even if we get married and end up with our own children, we should still see each other every Christmas. Make sure neither of us is lonely.”

“Deal.”

***

December 2000

“Here they come…”

“Oh, no…”

The bedroom door swung open at exactly 5am, and Severus hid under the duvet.

“Dada’s not here,” he said firmly.

“Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!” Ariadne squealed excitedly as she and her twin sister jumped onto their parents’ bed.

“Christmas is cancelled. Dada’s going back to sleep.”

“No, Dada, wake up! Father Christmas put a million presents under the tree!”

“Get your sister up first. Jump on her while she’s asleep. That’s an order from Dada.”

Laughing rather maniacally for a two-year-old, Ariadne raced out of the room, followed by April, and through two walls Severus heard the girls screaming excitedly as they burst into their older sister’s room.

“Those two need to calm down. It’s only Christmas.”

“It’s their first proper Christmas, Sev! And it’s their birthday too, they’re excited. They were too young to understand it last year.”

Persephone rolled over, stretching, as if she’d just woken up serenely and the screaming, bouncing two-year-olds hadn’t bothered her. Then again, she was married to him, so surely nothing could faze her.

“No Grinch this year, you promised.”

Severus sighed. “I suppose. Besides, it’s hard not to enjoy Christmas when I have you.” He wrapped an arm around her, holding her in close, savouring the peace and her warmth until he had to get out of bed and face the chaos of the day.

“Christmases are going to be a lot more chaotic now with those two around.”

“Mmm… I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’ll tell them you said that.”

“You will not.”

“Better get downstairs before me, then.”

“What - Sephy!”

But she was already up, waving her wand to dress herself; Severus jumped out of bed too, scrambling for his own wand, knowing he was doomed. But even so - being doomed to a happy life with the family he loved wasn’t so bad after all. If only his younger self had known where he’d end up, happy and safe and loved - it may well have given him hope.

#rickmas2023 #severus snape #pro snape #alan rickman #snephy

[smilingformoney]

Rickmas 2023: Day 2. Restless Waiting | Snape/Persephone

Read on Ao3 or below the cut:

Never had time moved so slowly. Severus was pacing back and forth in the hospital room so much that eventually Persephone piped up.

“Sev, stop pacing, you’ll wear the floor out. They’ll come when they come.”

“How can you be so calm?” he replied, although he did as she said and stopped his frantic movements. “You’re in labour!”

“Oh, gee, thanks for telling me, I would never have known. Labour takes hours, Sev. Abbie took ten hours to come.”

“Yes, I know that, but anything could happen in that time. Can we not speed it along? All this magical knowledge and we can’t even placate the suffering of labour?”

“Your suffering or mine?”

“Yours, of course, my love.”

Severus sat down by her bed in the chair the Healers had nicknamed “the husband chair.” Hundreds, if not thousands of impatient husbands had sat on that chair waiting for their child’s birth, but none so impatient as him.

“They’ll be here, Sev. And on Christmas Day too… typical. They clearly have the Snape flair for the dramatic.”

“I’m not dramatic —“

“Yes, you are.”

“…I suppose.”

Severus got out of the chair again and knelt down by the bed to come face-to-face with her belly, and he gently laid a hand on her bump.

“I’m very proud of you, my beautiful girls, for choosing such a day to be born,” he said softly to his not-yet-born daughters. “Even if you are giving your father heart palpitations by taking so long.”

At least he was here. Abbie was at home, waiting to hear the news that her baby sisters had been born. She had no idea if they were out yet, if they were okay, if her mother was okay. Severus, at least, was here with Persephone.

She reached out to take his hand, and Severus looked up at his wife.

“Are you nervous, Sev?”

“Am I nervous? You’re the one pushing them out, Sephy, not me.”

Persephone chuckled, but they both knew that wasn’t what she’d meant. Severus brought her hand to his lips and gently placed a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Of course I’m nervous. I’d be a fool not to be. But we have each other, and Abbie. It’ll be different this time. Better. You don’t have to do it on your own anymore, Sephy. We’re a family now.”

Persephone smiled. She was in labour, and still she was the most beautiful thing in the world to him.

“Team Snape,” she joked.

Severus rolled his eyes, but he smirked.

“You’re in labour, so I’ll allow that. Yes, Team Snape. And we’re about to get two more team members… if they ever hurry up and get out of you.” He leaned up to press a kiss to her temple. “I’ll be patient, my love. I waited so long for this… I think I can wait a little longer.”

Persephone winced suddenly, her grip tightening on his hand.

“Maybe you won’t have to,” she said. “I think it’s time.”

#rickmas2023 #severus snape #alan rickman #snape x oc #snephy #gif not relevant #but closest i could get to snape smiling lmao

[smilingformoney]

“And where am I supposed to sit?” Abbie asked when she turned back towards them and saw that Persephone was sat on the end of the sofa, her legs on Severus’ lap as he sat in the middle. “With me, of course,” Severus said matter-of-factly. He gestured to the remaining seat next to him, and with a roll of her eyes Abbie sat, cuddling up to him before hitting play on the remote. “Worth coming home early for?” Severus asked softly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. Abbie smiled. “Definitely.”

Home for Christmas

Art by @reinekefoxart

#severus snape #pro snape #dad snape #snape x oc #snape art #harry potter art #fanart #snabbie #snephy #snamily #TY SO MUCH FOR THIS BESTIE IM CRY TO SEE MY BABIES REAL

[smilingformoney]

The Nightmare

Snape x OC | Angst/Comfort

Severus wakes from a terrible dream.

Read on Ao3 or under the cut:

Severus woke in a panic, sweat dripping from his brow as he cried out for his wife. He reached out across the bed for her but - she was gone.

He bolted upright, looking around desperately. It couldn’t have been real, could it? Had she truly been taken?

“Sephy!” he called out. “Sephy, where are you? Sephy…”

He brought his knees to his chest, his breathing quick and shallow. She was gone, he had taken her, and their babies too…

Severus almost jumped out of his skin when he felt the mattress move as someone weighed it down. He looked up, and sobbed with relief when he saw Persephone sitting on the side of the bed, concern etched into her beautiful face.

“Oh, Sephy, there you are!” Severus gasped in relief as he threw his arms around her and pulled her body against his. “I thought - are you alright?” His hand flew to her stomach. “Are they okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, Sev,” Persephone said softly, albeit with some confusion. “Just a bit of morning sickness, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong.”

Severus buried his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling her lavender scent and listening to the throb of her pulse reminding him she was alive.

Persephone cradled him in her arms, holding him protectively. “Did you have a bad dream?” she asked.

Severus nodded, not looking up.

“Oh, Sev, come here. Lie down with me.”

Persephone climbed into her side of the bed and allowed Severus to cling to her, his head resting on her breast, one hand carefully cradling her stomach.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” she asked as she gently stroked his hair.

“It was so vivid,” Severus said hoarsely. “So real… he was back. He took you. I tried to find you but I was too late. He… he killed them. Our babies, he killed them.” He sobbed against her chest, tears staining her nightgown. “Then he… he killed you. I screamed and - and then I woke up, and you weren’t here. I was so frightened, Sephy. What if he does come back? What if there was something we don’t know about -“

“Shh, shh, don’t talk like that,” Persephone said soothingly. She gently took his left arm, the one that was laying over her belly protectively, and carefully turned it over to show him the bare skin. “See? Gone. It died with him.” She took his hand and softly laid it on her skin near where she had felt Ariadne squirming against her organs some minutes earlier. “We are alive, and our love is so strong that we made two of them. Can you feel them?”

Severus closed his eyes and focused. Underneath his hand, ever so gently, he could feel something moving. Then, to his surprise, he felt a kick, right on his hand.

“Does she know I’m here?” he gasped.

Persephone giggled as Ariadne kicked again. “She’s excited to meet her daddy.”

Severus moved down the bed to gently kiss her belly. “Hello, my darlings,” he whispered against her skin. Persephone felt Ariadne stop moving, as if she was listening to his voice.

“Oh, I think we found the secret to calming them down,” Persephone chuckled. “Say something else.”

Severus smirked, pressed his lips against her skin, and murmured, “I love you so much, my precious babies. I am counting down the days until we meet. I know that you are both going to be so brilliant, so brave, just like your mother and your sister. I will spend every day of my life working to give you everything you need. I love you both so, so much.”

“They like that,” Persephone smiled. “They like your voice. They’re calming down already.”

“Then I shall speak to them every day,” Severus promised. “And they will know they are loved from the moment they are born.”

He placed another gentle, loving kiss to her belly, then glanced up when he heard a sniff.

“Are you alright, my love?” Severus asked with concern as he realised she was crying. He moved back up the bed again to kiss away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

“Happy tears,” Persephone promised. “I’m just… overwhelmed by how much love you have for us. And how much love I have for you.”

“I never thought I could love a single person until I fell in love with you,” Severus said. “And now I love four. Four beautiful, perfect, incredible girls.”

“I bet they’re going to look like you, like Abbie does.”

“Certainly not. I must have given Abbie all my genes, I have none left to give. They’re going to be the spitting image of you, I’m sure of it. Will they be identical, do you think?”

“I’m not sure,” Persephone mused. “What if we end up with one of each? One you and one me.”

“There’s already a second me next door, we don’t need a third. One was more than enough; Abbie is only tolerable as she’s a better me than I ever was.”

Persephone laughed. “Tolerable?! Severus, you worship the ground that girl walks on.”

“Maybe so, but don’t tell her that, I’ll never live it down.”

“Oh, I don’t need to, she’s well aware. Now come on, let’s get back to sleep. Do you need a potion?”

Severus hesitated. He wanted to say he didn’t need it with her there, but he was still a little shaken up. Sensing his hesitation, Persephone took her wand from her bedside table and summoned a Dreamless Sleep Potion from the cabinet.

“Thank you,” Severus murmured before taking a generous gulp from the vial. As he did so, Persephone settled onto her side, her belly supported by a pillow.

“I miss snuggling into your chest,” she sighed as Severus wrapped his arms around her, gently cradling her belly protectively. “The first night after they’re born, I’m giving you a proper cuddle again.”

Severus chuckled against the back of her neck and laid a gentle kiss to her shoulder. “Thank you, my love,” he said softly.

“For what?” Persephone asked, although her eyes were already closed for sleep.

“For soothing my nerves so easily,” Severus replied. “For loving me so well, and for so long. For staying by my side, and for marrying me despite all my shortcomings. For giving me three beautiful daughters. For… well, for you. I love you so very much.”

Persephone smiled. “I love you too,” she mumbled sleepily. “Now get some rest, Severus.”

He placed one more kiss on her shoulder, then settled down to sleep, resting easy now knowing that his wife and unborn children were safe in his arms.

#Severus snape #pro snape #snape x oc #Snape fanfic #Snape angst #Snape comfort #soul of ice #Snephy

[smilingformoney]

Persephone twitched again, and Severus knew the dreams were getting worse. Her frown deepened, and she let out a small whine.

“Shh,” Severus soothed, hoping she could hear him. He tentatively placed a hand on her arm, then, when she didn’t protest, he wrapped his arm around her further until he had her in a solid embrace. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ve got you, Sephy. I’m here.”

Soul of Ice, Chapter 30, A Prince and His Goddess

Art by @thetalesofprince

#severus snape #pro snape #snape art #hp art #snape x oc #oc fanart #snephy #soul of ice #AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #LOOK AT THIS #IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL #soul of ice art

[smilingformoney]

Summary: Snape/OC | Severus Snape is trying to ignore his feelings for his best friend, but little does he know she’s fallen for him too.

Warnings/content: hurt/comfort, mutual pining, angst, DE!Snape, blood loss, reference to sexual feelings and masturbation, scars, reference to child abuse

AN: This is a piece written for the @snapebang 2023. It’s a part of the bigger picture of my story but is written to be read on its own too.

This piece also comes with a playlist and art!

Read on Ao3.

#severus snape #pro snape #snape x oc #snapebang 2023 #snape fanfic #hp fanfic #soul of ice #snephy

[smilingformoney]

Motherhood

Summary: Persephone thought she knew what motherhood was, but the second time around is nothing like the first.

Read now on Ao3 or below the cut:

June 1980

Persephone was not doing well.

She sat down with a groan, releasing the levitation charm that was holding her shopping for her. The bench was rock hard and a little bit wet, but in that moment it was the most comfortable place in the world.

Merlin, she hated being pregnant. She hated the way her swollen feet ached, the way her insides constantly felt like they were being rearranged every time the baby moved. She hated the fact her breasts had doubled in size and leaked milk even though the baby was still inside her.

She hated that everything was a struggle, and she hated the way people looked at her in the street, pitiful for the heavily pregnant woman all on her own yet no one ever offered their help.

Bless his heart, the only person she really liked at work, Jamie Bennett, had offered his help. He no doubt felt indebted to her as she was the one who’d headhunted him in his seventh year, but he owed her nothing and she didn’t want his pity when he realised there was no father about.

Persephone wondered, for the nth time, if she would ever have a day go by she didn’t think of Severus and question herself. Had she made the right decision in keeping the baby a secret from him?

But then she would read the Prophet and see the latest damage wreaked by Death Eaters, and she was reminded that it was too risky to let the baby anywhere near him.

Her feet were aching, screaming out for relief. Just taking her enormous weight off them for some minutes wasn’t enough; she needed a nice hot bath, maybe a small glass of wine and a nap.

She heaved herself to her feet, picked up her bags and continued down Diagon Alley, making it as far as the Leaky Cauldron before she had to stop again.

If only she could apparate, she thought bitterly. But apparition when pregnant was strongly advised against; what if she splinched and hurt the baby? She couldn’t use the floo network either; she was too big for the chimneys.

So she was resigned to regular transportation. She didn’t live too far from Diagon Alley - before, she might have been able to walk it. Sometimes she had, when she needed the air, although she usually apparated. But now, especially with her feet already sore, walking was out of the question and so she was to use the muggle bus.

Persephone ordered an orange juice from the bar and sat down at a spare table. Across the room, she could see the table she’d sat at the first day she’d spoken to Severus as a spy, the day he had invited her back to his house and everything had changed.

If she knew then what she knew now, would she change anything? It hadn’t taken her long to figure out Severus was spying on her for Voldemort, but she let him do it, knowing that it meant he would let her keep spying on him. She didn’t care about that.

What bothered her was how real it had become. When they had sat at that table a million years ago, she had found him interesting and undeniably cute. She still found him interesting and undeniably cute; only she had fallen in love with him, not knowing how much of their relationship was real, not knowing if he had slept with her for love, lust, or seduction.

He was dangerous, she knew, but so was she. Voldemort had sought information from her for a reason. If she wanted to, she could be a great asset to the Death Eaters or to the Order of the Phoenix. The information she held could turn the tide of the war.

But she couldn’t side with anyone. To do so would make her a target to the opposition; and her unborn child would be a target too.

She had to stay neutral. She had to keep her baby safe.

Persephone had been so lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed the table she’d been looking at was now occupied. It took her a few moments, but she realised she recognised the couple sitting there.

It was Lily and James Potter, and Lily was just as pregnant as she was.

Persephone looked away quickly, but she suspected she’d already been spotted. That was another thing she hated about being pregnant - her best skill, hiding in the shadows unnoticed, was completely impossible as her huge belly made her stick out like a sore thumb.

Yep, it was definitely too late, she realised with frustration as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, James Potter stand up and walk over to her.

“Hey - it’s Payne, right?” James said as he approached her table. “Persephone Payne? James Potter.” He pointed to himself as if it weren’t obvious. “You crashed my wedding, remember?”

Persephone looked up at him with a sigh. “I worked your wedding,” she corrected him. “Sirius invited me to hang out. You decided to start a fight.”

James crossed his arms. “Nah, pretty sure Snivellus started that by being there. Listen, Lil and I noticed you’re on your own and, well, in the same situation as her. She wants to know if you’re waiting for someone or do you wanna join us?”

Persephone hesitated. She really didn’t want to join them, but she also didn’t have much of a reasonable excuse not to.

“Sure, I’d love to,” she lied with a fake smile.

She heaved herself back to her aching feet, and James picked up her bags before she had a chance to. She almost protested, but she decided to let it slide and let him think he was being a gentleman.

“Hi!” Lily greeted cheerily as Persephone slid into the seat opposite her. “It’s Sephy, right?”

“Persephone,” she corrected. She’d always hated people shortening her name. At first she’d only let Severus do it to keep him friendly, but she’d come to like it from his lips. It was familiar, affectionate - something she only allowed from him.

Christ, she was in deep.

“The last time I saw you was… at my wedding!” Lily said with a laugh. “You stopped James and Severus duelling. I wish you’d done that at school, it would have saved James a lot of detentions!”

It would have saved Severus a lot of detentions too, but I suppose you don’t care about that, do you?

Although, if Severus hadn’t had so many detentions in his sixth year, maybe they’d never have met.

At least James Potter had one use.

“I didn’t really know Sev at school,” Persephone replied casually. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention to who he was or wasn’t duelling.”

A curious expression crossed Lily’s face, and Persephone knew she’d noticed the use of Severus’ nickname.

Ha. You’re not the only one who ever called him that.

“Yeah, what is old Snivelly up to these days?” James asked without a hint of subtlety.

“James!” Lily admonished.

“Right, right. What’s Snape up to these days?”

“Dunno. We don’t talk these days.”

“Thank Merlin, she sees the light!” James gasped dramatically. “He didn’t get you up the duff, then?”

Lily sighed, but she didn’t tell James off this time.

“Actually, he did.”

Fuck’s sake, Persephone thought immediately. Keep everything a secret but that, apparently.

At least she’d shocked them the way she’d intended. They both stared at her, open-mouthed. Then, James laughed.

“Ha, you nearly got me there! If Snape did manage to convince some poor soul to sleep with him, no way he’d get a hottie like you without, like, a love potion.” James’ face suddenly turned serious. “Wait, he didn’t, did he?”

She could have let him believe she was joking. She probably should. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix: she’d found that out the day she’d infiltrated his wedding. She couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t use a Death Eater’s bastard child as leverage.

Oh , but she wanted to gloat. She wanted Severus’ old bully to know that yes, actually, he did manage to get a hottie like her. She wanted the friend who’d abandoned him to know he had someone who loved him more than she ever had.

“No,” she said firmly. “Severus didn’t give me a love potion.”

“But… he is the father?” Lily asked cautiously, as if she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer.

The last people in the world who Severus would ever talk to again were Lily and James. The chances of them telling him were minimal. He was more likely to find out by seeing her in the street, and she didn’t let that stop her going out.

“Yes. Severus is the father.”

“You’re not married?” was Lily’s first question with a glance down to Persephone’s left hand wrapped around her glass of orange juice.

“You’re sure he didn’t give you a love potion?” James asked.

“No, I’m not married. And yes, I’m sure. If you must know, I was the one who… propositioned.” Let my heart lead my head, more like.

“Actually, you know what? I totally believe this,” James decided. “If anyone was gonna do a runner, it’d be Snape.”

Persephone frowned. “Who said he was the one who did a runner?”

“Wait… you mean you left him?” Lily gasped. “While pregnant? Why…?” she leaned forward conspiratorially. “What happened?”

“I really don’t see how that’s any of your business, Potter,” Persephone said coolly.

Lily sat back, affronted. “Alright, then,” she said stiffly. “I suppose it’s not.”

James looked between the two women, not quite sure what was happening.

“I’m not surprised you left him,” he said. “Seeing Snape naked is enough to make anyone run, baby or no.”

Persephone had a sudden flash of an image of James suspended upside down over the Great Lake at Hogwarts, and she was tempted to let him fall.

She stood up quickly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you invited me over here to talk shit about Severus Snape. You’ll have to excuse me.”

“No!” Lily protested. “I’m sorry, Persephone. James is a little… overeager when he gets the chance to insult Snape. They were rivals at school, you see -“

“Rivals?!” Persephone scoffed, a little too loudly, causing heads to turn in her direction. She lowered her voice and continued, “They weren’t rivals, Lily. James was a bully. Still is, by the sounds of it. Severus is no saint, but at least he doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not.”

James scoffed. “What, you in love with him or something?”

Persephone picked her bags up off the floor. “I’d rather him than you any day, Potter,” she hissed, then turned on her heel and left.

Her exit was rather undramatic. She wanted to storm out, but it was more of a waddle. It was probably embarrassing to watch, but she’d be more embarrassed if the person she admitted her love for Severus to was James Potter.

She was hardly halfway down the street when she had to stop again on a chair outside a café. She tried to bend down to rub her sore ankles, but her bloody great big belly was in the way.

She loved her unborn child, but she really wanted her out.

“Let me drive you home,” came a voice. Persephone looked up to see Lily had followed her. James was nowhere to be seen.

“No thanks,” she grumbled. “I’ll get the bus.”

“Please? It’s the least I can do.”

Persephone sighed. She didn’t want help from Lily Potter of all people, but truthfully she wasn’t sure she’d make it to the bus stop.

“Fine.”

Lily’s car was spacious and clearly new, no doubt bought to accommodate the new baby. Clearly Lily was the driver of the couple, as the driver’s seat was already pushed back to accommodate her protruding stomach, whereas Persephone had to push the passenger seat back to fit in.

She gave Lily directions, and for a few minutes, they drove in silence. Being in central London, it wasn’t long before they got stuck in traffic.

“Have you thought of any names?” Lily asked eventually to break the silence.

“No,” Persephone admitted. “I can’t think of one I like.”

“We like Harry for a boy,” Lily said, even though she hadn’t been asked. “Or if it’s a girl, I like the idea of naming her after a flower, like me and my sister were, but we can’t really agree on one.”

“Don’t you know what you’re having?”

“No, we want it to be a surprise! Do you know?”

“I’m having a girl.”

“Ooh, congratulations!” Lily squealed, as if it were entirely normal for the two of them to have girly chats. “You must be due around the same time as me, I’d suppose?”

“First of August.”

“Thirty-first of July for me! Oh, how funny will it be if they end up with the same birthday? They’ll be at Hogwarts together for sure.”

The light turned green, and Lily managed to move the car forward almost to the junction before it turned red again.

“Listen, Persephone… I really am sorry about James. Sev’s kind of a sore spot for him.”

Oh, so now that James was gone, he was Sev now, was he?

“I know you said you didn’t really know Sev at school, and I really hope he became a better person since. But the people he hung out with…” She shivered. “Well, I heard one of them got arrested for being a Death Eater.”

“Severus isn’t responsible for his friends’ decisions,” Persephone reminded her. “No more than you’re responsible for your husband’s attitude.”

“…I suppose,” Lily admitted. She finally turned left, and for a little while they sat in silence as they moved towards the next line of traffic.

“How did you get to know each other after school, then?”

Persephone strongly suspected that Lily didn’t care at all about helping a pregnant woman get home; she just wanted an opportunity to get some gossip on Severus.

“We’d had a few detentions together in my last year, so we kind of knew each other. We bumped into each other at the Leaky Cauldron after he graduated, got talking and we’ve been friends ever since. Well… we were.”

Lily frowned. “Wait, just friends?”

“Yeah.” Persephone gestured to her belly. “This was… a one-off.”

“Hmm. And why did you stop talking to him?”

“…I’d rather not go into that.”

She might have admitted he was her baby daddy, but no way in hell was she going to tell anyone that he was a Death Eater.

Lily nodded sympathetically. “Not my business. I get it.”

She certainly seemed to ask a lot of questions for someone who claimed to “get it.”

“Isn’t this where the Ministry workers live?” Lily mused as she turned into Gamp Square. Contrary to the busy streets surrounding it, the square was quiet – muggles never passed through, always finding a way to their destination that involved going around the exclusively magical area.

“Yep. That’s me. Just here, thanks.”

Lily pulled up and stopped the car. They were still a few doors from Persephone’s house, but she had no intention of showing either of the Potters where she lived – not that Lily would be able to find the house anyway with all the security measures Persephone had up.

“Are you sure you don’t want help with your bags?” Lily insisted as Persephone gathered them up from the back seat.

“I’m sure,” Persephone replied shortly. She hesitated, realising how rude she was being, and Lily had driven her home in the busy London traffic.

“Thank you,” she said after a moment, then straightened up and shut the door.

Lily leaned over to call out of the window, “Well, if I don’t see you sooner, I guess I’ll see you at King’s Cross on their first day.”

Persephone smirked.

“Twelve years and counting,” she replied.

With that, Lily drove away, and it wasn’t until she’d turned back onto the main road that Persephone levitated her bags and waddled the rest of the way home.

November 1998

The only regret Persephone had about moving to the countryside was that, while pregnant, she couldn’t get anywhere. She couldn’t apparate for risk of splinching the babies, she was too big for the floo network, and the Knight Bus was far too risky with its physics-defying acrobatics.

So she was stuck at home. She regretted not learning to drive - she’d never needed to in London. All she could do was walk.

For the most part, Severus and Abbie had been doing the shopping. They insisted on it, both convinced they had to make up for her difficulties in her last pregnancy – neither of them would hear a word of it when she told them neither of them were to blame for her choices.

Persephone hated being dependent, even on those she trusted, but she really wanted chocolate cake. Thanks to stupid Gamp and his stupid third law, she couldn’t conjure it. Abbie was at school and Severus was in his study, which was only a room away, but that was so far. In her first pregnancy, she’d been able to look after herself right up to the birth, although it had been difficult. But this time, her belly was twice as big, and she could hardly stand up. She was resigned these days to sitting on the couch; she at least had her films to entertain her, but her bum got awfully sore sitting still for so long.

And it wasn’t just her bum that was sore. Her back hurt from carrying the weight of her space hopper-sized belly and her swollen breasts. Her feet hurt if ever she tried to walk more than a few feet. One of the twins seemed to have a serious case of tarantallegra, because she was constantly kicking Persephone in various organs.

All this led to one conclusion: walking to the nearby town of Lamorna was not going to be possible.

And she really needed some cake.

Persephone hit pause on the VCR remote and tried to heave herself to her feet. That seemed to be impossible too. She made several further attempts, but when one ended with her almost falling stomach-first onto the ground, she gave up and sat back into the pillows.

“Sev!” she called. No reply.

She drew her wand, pointed it at a shoe near the door, then flicked her wand, causing the shoe to fly into the door of the study. She repeated the action three more times until she heard the door open.

Severus caught the flying shoe and examined it, then turned to see Persephone on the sofa, looking exhausted.

“What on earth is going on?”

“Nee’cay…” Persephone mumbled.

In one swift movement, the shoe was tossed aside and Severus was kneeling in front of her, gently adjusting her on the sofa to prop her belly up against the ocean of cushions she was laying in.

“What is it, my love?”

“Cake,” Persephone repeated, more clearly this time. “Need cake.”

Severus looked at her incredulously, then shook his head with a smile. “You threw a shoe at my door because you need cake?”

“Our door.”

“Of course, my love. Our door. Abbie brought you a cake from Hogwarts yesterday, remember?”

“I ate it.”

“You ate the entire cake?!”

“I’m pregnant, I can eat what I want.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, darling, I’m simply amazed that you were able to fit an entire cake in your stomach. But, I suppose, you do have two smaller stomachs inside you at the moment.”

Persephone’s eyes narrowed at him. “I’m hearing a lot of talking and not seeing a lot of cake getting.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll have to apparate to town. What kind of cake do you want?”

“Chocolate.”

“Anything else?”

“Kisses.”

Severus chuckled, then leant down to kiss her gently.

“How’s that?” he murmured against her lips.

“More please.”

“I can’t get you any cake if I’m busy kissing you.”

Persephone groaned. She hated when he used logic against her.

“Fine. Get cake, then kisses.”

“Cake and kisses. Promise.”

He gave her one last kiss, then stood up straight and apparated away.

Persephone huffed when she checked the clock twenty minutes later. He was still gone! It only took a few seconds to apparate, and that was for an unskilled wizard - Severus, as powerful as he was, could get to the other end of the country in half a second. So why was he taking so long to get to a town a few miles down the road?

Grumbling, she hit play on her remote, and settled back into her pillows to watch the rest of her film.

The next thing she knew, the credits were rolling and she was being shaken awake.

“Huh? Wha? Is it cake time?” she mumbled as she came back to reality. She was still yawning and peeling her eyes open as she felt Severus’ strong arms lifting her up into a sitting position.

“You took ages!” she moaned.

“I’m sorry, my love. I went to that shop you like in Diagon Alley; there was a queue, and to make matters worse, I was accosted by Hermione Granger. I don’t know if you’ve ever actually spoken to the girl, but she does not stop talking once she’s begun. I had to apparate away while she was mid-sentence to get out of there.” He sighed. “The things I do for you, Sephy.”

“Oi! You’re the one who knocked me up. Again.”

“It takes two to tango, my love. Anyway, I brought you your cake.” He presented a single slice of delectable, rich chocolate cake, and it was the most beautiful thing Persephone had ever seen.

“Cake!” she exclaimed. She grabbed the plate and fork from him and immediately dug in.

She moaned in pleasure, closing her eyes to savour the taste. It had been a couple of months since they’d last had sex, thanks to her giant belly, so her memory was hazy but she was pretty damn sure that an orgasm wasn’t as good as the taste of that cake.

The slice was gone in less than a minute.

“More. Oh, and kisses! You promised kisses!”

“Mmm, that I did.” Severus leant over her, one hand balancing his weight on the sofa behind her and the other gently caressing her stomach, and kissed her deeply, his tongue tracing her chocolate-stained lips.

“Delicious,” he purred. “Here - let me get you the rest of the cake from the fridge. I don’t know why I thought you’d be happy with one slice.”

“And the rest of the kisses!” Persephone reminded him as he returned to the kitchen. While he busied himself setting up a side table to place the cake on, she rewound the tape until she found a scene she recognised.

“What are we watching?” Severus asked as he sat next to her, his bony bum sinking immediately in the sea of pillows. He didn’t have as much interest in films as she did, preferring to get lost in a book, but since she was couch-bound, if he wanted to sit in the living room he didn’t have much choice.

“Jumanji. It’s funny, so you’ll probably hate it. You can go back in the study if you want –”

“Nonsense. I probably will hate it, but I love you, and I have a promise to keep.” He leant over to give her another kiss. “Besides, I’m stuck in these pillows now, I’ll need Abbie to fish me out again, so I’m stuck here regardless.”

Persephone laughed. They both probably looked rather silly, he tall and thin, she short and fat, both glued to the sofa among a sea of pillows. She pressed play, took his hand, and settled back into the sofa, plate balancing on her belly as she stuck into her second slice.

If she’d known he would care for her like this, she would definitely have told him she was pregnant last time.

October 1980

It was 4am, and Persephone wasn’t sure when she’d last slept. Maybe she’d never slept at all. She was pretty sure she’d spent her entire life with the screaming child in her arms.

She was at her wit’s end. She had no idea what to do. She’d tried rocking her, feeding her, changing her nappy. What else could Abbie possibly have to cry about?

She tried to recall the books she’d been reading religiously throughout her pregnancy, but they all conveniently left her mind now.

What am I supposed to do?, she thought desperately. How am I supposed to do this?

She tried moving around, standing up and holding Abbie with her head against her chest, near her heart. Perhaps the sound of her heartbeat would help?

Nothing. She just kept screaming, her little face red as a tomato, eyes screwed closed and mouth wide open.

“What do you want, Abbie?” Persephone whimpered, almost on the verge of tears herself. “Why won’t you sleep?”

Abbie didn’t reply. She just kept screaming.

Why am I even trying? Persephone thought bitterly. She wasn’t cut out for being a mother. What on earth had she been thinking, keeping her? She should have taken a leaf out of her birth mother’s book and left her with someone who was ready, someone who wanted to be a mother, rather than having it thrust upon them from one stupid mistake.

Was it worth it? Was it worth these sleepless nights, the endless crying, the crippling loneliness - and for what? A single indulgence?

It would end, she knew it would. Abbie would grow, she’d stop crying so much, she’d learn to talk and communicate. But that was a long way off, and already the days dragged on as Persephone spent her time juggling breastfeeding, changing nappies and trying to get the damned child to sleep .

The worst part was, she knew she only had herself to blame. Most newborns had six adults to care for them - two parents, each with two grandparents. Abbie had a father, of course, and two surviving grandparents. But Persephone was too proud to go crawling back to any of them.

What would she even say?

Sorry I haven’t spoken to you for three years, but here’s your grandchild.

Sorry I broke your heart, but here’s your child.

Now please leave me to sleep for three weeks.

Her parents would do it. The good Christian couple who took in the abandoned child; they’d love to parade around the village as the doting grandparents, showing off their granddaughter to the parishioners whose opinions were more important than anything. They would shower Abbie with the love and adoration she deserved… until she began to show signs of magic, then she’d be forced to kneel until her knees were grazed, praying away the devil inside her.

But Severus… what would he do?

He’d probably slam the door in her face before she got a chance to speak. She’d deserve it.

But if she had the chance - if he allowed her over the threshold and saw the newborn with her unmistakable tuft of dark hair - what would he do?

Would he want her? Or would he refuse?

Severus Snape was a wildcard, impossible to predict and dangerous to be around. He was mean, he was a loner, and he associated with the worst of people.

And Persephone was still in love with him.

She thought of him every day. She told herself it was impossible not to when her daughter looked up at her with eyes dark enough to match her hair - but truthfully, Abbie could have shared her grey eyes and blonde hair, and still Severus would play on her mind.

Abbie was beginning to tire herself out. Persephone felt a sense of relief, but she was also disappointed in herself. She hadn’t been able to soothe her own child, to comfort her and know what she needed with her mother’s instinct. No, she had just waited until Abbie was too tired to scream anymore, and her relief wasn’t that her daughter had calmed; it was that she could finally get some sleep herself.

December 1998

Persephone was going to lose her mind.

Not one, but two screaming babies.

Ariadne had woken first. Persephone rushed to her side in a bid to calm her before she woke her sister up, but it was too late and April began to scream too. She had read up on tandem breastfeeding during her pregnancy, but she was struggling to put it into practice. Even when she managed to get them both into position, Ariadne suckled with ease but April kept crying. Of course, she wasn’t hungry, she just wanted to get back to sleep. But she couldn’t sleep because she was screaming. So she screamed because she couldn’t sleep.

Persephone thought she might cry because she couldn’t sleep. She hadn’t checked the time, but it must have been early morning because Severus was already up, no doubt burying his head in a book downstairs. So that left Persephone to deal with April’s screams on her own.

She was just trying to figure out a way to cradle April while feeding Ariadne when the bedroom door opened. She looked up, expecting Severus – but instead, Abbie stepped through, still in her sleepwear and her eyes half-closed from sleep. She shuffled over and wordlessly took April from Persephone’s arms.

Abbie held April against her chest and began to rock her gently, hushing her as she did so.

“Ari woke her up,” Persephone explained quietly. “She just wants to go back to sleep.”

“I don’t suppose silencio would be appropriate?” Abbie whispered back.

“Sadly not. Believe me, I was tempted to use it on you many times, but casting magic on babies is risky. Can you try swaddling her?”

“Oh, yeah, good idea.”

Persephone and Severus had spent a lot of time over the past few months practising for when the twins came. Although Persephone already knew a lot from raising Abbie, she was rusty, and having two babies made everything twice as difficult. What she hadn’t expected, though, was for Abbie to become just as involved as her parents in their preparations. Whether it be swaddling, bottle-feeding or supporting the neck, Abbie learnt it all just as diligently as Severus – they even made it into a competition, racing to see who could change a nappy on a practice doll faster. (Abbie usually won thanks to the dexterity of her pianist’s fingers.)

So when tasked with swaddling April for the first time, Abbie had no qualms about it. She was admittedly a little nervous since it was her first time swaddling a real baby, not a plastic one, but the technique was the same.

April cooed happily when Abbie lifted her back into her arms, now fully enclosed in a comfortable wrap of blanket. Ariadne was calm now too, having released Persephone’s nipple from her mouth, and she stared happily up at her mother, who was now wiping Ariadne’s mouth before tucking her breast back into her nightie.

“I thought I was needed, but apparently not,” came Severus’ voice from the doorway. “Are they okay?”

“We’re fine, Dada,” Abbie replied in a babyish voice, gently squeezing April’s cheeks to move her lips. “We don’t need you when we’ve got Mama and Abbie.”

“Oh, good, I’ll leave their care to you, then.” Severus closed the gap between them and gently stroked April’s cheek. She was drooling, so he wiped it away, and her lips closed around his finger.

“Uh-oh, Dada’s getting eaten!” Abbie gasped.

“I’m not food, April, I’m your father. It’s your mother who’s food.”

Persephone sighed. Technically, he was right. “Maybe she’s hungry now.” She stood, handed Ariadne to Severus, then took April from Abbie and sat on the edge of the bed. She offered her breast to her, but April showed no interest.

“No, I think she just wants finger, not milk,” Abbie said with a laugh. “Or maybe she thinks milk comes from Dada’s finger.”

“Well, they’re calm now, so hopefully they’ll get back to sleep. Thank you, Abbie. And you, Severus, even if you were too late.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you don’t have to thank me,” Severus replied sharply, though his voice was still quiet for fear of disturbing the twins. “They’re as much my responsibility as yours.”

“Should have told her that when I was a baby,” Abbie said teasingly. “Anyway, I’m going back to bed and I’m putting a silencing charm up. If the house burns down, just break the door down.”

She yawned, as if to make her point, then left and quietly shut the door behind her. Severus sat next to Persephone on the bed, both of them holding a twin each, both knowing they wouldn’t be moving until they knew their two youngest were fast asleep.

“What were you doing downstairs?” Persephone asked quietly.

“Just reading. I’m sorry, I should have stayed up here. I did watch them a while when I woke, but they seemed so peaceful. I didn’t expect them to start crying so early.”

“Babies don’t believe in a full night’s sleep like we do.”

Persephone looked down at April with a smile, then looked up at her husband. His profile was illuminated by the candle she’d hastily lit, outlining his angular cheekbones and Roman nose even more than usual. His hair fell in front of his face slightly as he looked down at April, his eyes alight with utter adoration.

“You’re beautiful like this,” Persephone said quietly.

It took Severus a moment to realise she was addressing him. He returned her gaze, and blushed to see the way she looked at him.

“Not as beautiful as you," he replied, his voice hardly louder than a whisper now. “You cannot imagine how beautiful a sight it was to walk into the room and see the two of you with them. If I had the talent, I’d have wished to paint the scene in an attempt to capture the moment.”

“I love you,” Persephone said. It was difficult to encapsulate what she felt in that moment, and she certainly didn’t have Severus’ way with words - nor Abbie’s, for that matter, for her song lyrics always painted a deep, rich tapestry of emotion - so it was all she had.

“I love you, too.”

Severus, apparently, felt the same – that those three words, in that moment, were all he had to encapsulate all he was feeling.

In her father’s arms, Ariadne cooed in her sleep, and soon enough April was drifting off too.

With the girls back in their cot, Persephone climbed back into bed without a moment’s hesitation. Chuckling, and despite the fact he was already up and dressed, Severus climbed in with her, holding her to his chest in his strong arms.

“My boobs are gonna leak on your shirt,” Persephone mumbled sleepily.

“Let them,” Severus replied. “Nothing else matters as long as I have you in my arms.”

August 1985

For her fifth birthday, Abbie hadn’t asked for a toy, or a book, or a doll. No, for her fifth birthday, Abbie wanted a cauldron.

She already had one, but it was a toy, and she was getting too old now to be satisfied with putting the same plastic valerian root in cup of water and forcing her mother to pretend it made her feel better.

Persephone had tried to convince her that making mummy a cup of tea in the morning was potion-making, but Abbie was having none of it. She wanted a cauldron.

So, her birthday that year falling on a Thursday, the following Saturday the pair of them set off for Diagon Alley. Usually they walked, but it was Abbie’s birthday treat and she wanted to floo for the first time. So, not wanting to send her through the floo network on her own, Persephone held Abbie in her arms and they spun through the flames together, stepping out into the Leaky Cauldron in a cloud of soot.

Abbie coughed furiously until Persephone waved her wand to vanish the soot, and Abbie laughed.

“That was fun, Mummy! Can we go again?”

“When we leave, sweetheart. Come on, let’s get going. Is there anywhere else you want to go while we’re here?”

“Can we get ice-cream?”

“Well, of course. We can’t go to Diagon Alley without getting ice-cream, it’s the law.”

“I think you made that up, Mummy.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s true,” Persephone replied as she tapped the bricks with her wand. “Either way, we should get some anyway just to be safe.”

The wall moved aside, and the bustling street came into view. It wasn’t too busy, as although it was the summer holidays, the rush of students wouldn’t come until the week before term was due to start. Persephone felt safe, therefore, to put Abbie down but with a warning to stay close.

“What do you want to do first, Abbie? Ice-cream or cauldron?”

“Umm…” Abbie stopped, thinking. “Cauldron!” she declared. “I want the bestest, biggest –”

“You’re having a little cauldron, Abbie. There’s no point getting you a big one, you won’t even be able to reach it.”

Abbie’s eyes lit up as she spotted Potage’s Cauldron Shop. She grabbed Persephone’s hand and pulled her towards the shop. “There it is! Come on, Mummy!”

“Slow down, Abbie, it’s not going anywhere!” Persephone laughed. There was a tinkle of a bell as she pushed the door open and stepped through, Abbie dashing into the shop ahead of her.

While the shop floor held stacks of larger cauldrons, the walls were lined with various makes and models of smaller cauldrons. Persephone had no idea what the difference was between them, but knowing Abbie, she’d want to look at each and every one before making a measured decision over which to choose.

The shopkeeper greeted them, and Persephone explained to the woman what they were there for. Madam Potage was glad to see such a young witch taking an interest in potion equipment, and soon the two of them were getting on swimmingly, leaving Persephone feeling rather left out.

She glanced out of the window and spotted the Apothecary. It was directly across the street, which was mostly empty, and the two shop windows had a direct view of one another.

“Madam Potage,” Persephone said, “Would you mind if I leave her here while I pop over to the Apothecary?”

“No, I don’t mind at all, dear!” said the woman cheerily. “We’ve got plenty to keep us occupied, haven’t we, Abbie?”

Abbie nodded, not taking her eyes off the gold cauldron she was examining. Persephone bent down and gently moved her daughter’s head towards her. “I’m just going across the road to get some ingredients for you,” she explained, “so we can make a fun potion together later. Is that okay?”

“Yes, Mummy,” Abbie agreed.

“Good girl.” Persephone glanced at the price tag on the gold cauldron Abbie was admiring. Merlin, that’s half a month’s wage right there. She straightened up and gave Madam Potage a grateful smile. “Thanks. I figure she’ll be here a while. She can look, but she’s not getting a gold one.”

The shopkeeper agreed, and with a final goodbye Persephone left the shop to cross to the Apothecary.

By a few seconds she just missed spotting a tall, dark figure entering the cauldron shop.

Abbie knew Mummy wouldn’t let her buy a gold cauldron, but she still wanted to look. They were so pretty! That was probably why they were loads of money, ‘cus everyone wanted a pretty cauldron.

A man was in the shop now, and so the nice shop lady turned away to help him too.

Abbie was curious about the big cauldrons. Mummy had said she couldn’t have one because she was too small, but Abbie was sure she could reach it! There was a stool near the shelves so Abbie picked it up and put it by the big gold cauldron. She climbed on it carefully, then stood on her tiptoes to peer into the cauldron.

Wow , it was big! Abbie reckoned she could fit in the whole thing herself. Without thinking how she was going to get out, she lifted herself up and climbed in.

With a thump, she dropped down into the bottom of the cauldron. Looking up, she saw the rim was way above her head. She laughed. She was a potion ingredient!

The light got dark all of a sudden, and a strange man’s face peered down into the cauldron.

“What are you doing in there?” the man said abruptly.

“I’m an ingredient!” Abbie giggled, spinning on the spot as if she were being stirred. “I’m gonna be in a potion!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, child. Get out of there.”

Abbie tried to climb up the side of the cauldron, but she slipped. The man sighed, then reached in and pulled her out. She giggled as she flew up and was placed on the ground with a thud.

She could see the man now. He was very tall and wearing all black. His hair was black too, and it was very long for a man.

“Thank you, mister,” Abbie said, remembering to mind her manners.

“Yes, well… we don’t want you being turned into a potion. Little girls don’t go well in potions.” The man glanced around with a frown. “Where are your parents?”

“Mummy’s in the ‘Pothecary.”

“And your father?”

“I don’t have a daddy.”

“You… don’t have a father?”

“Mummy said I don’t need one. She said the man who put me in her tummy was a meanie so is just us.” Abbie turned to the little cauldrons on the shelf. “What cauldron should I get, mister? Mummy’s gonna buy me one for my birthday.”

The man looked around again as if looking for someone. Abbie had completely forgotten about the shop lady.

“How old are you?” he asked Abbie.

“Five!” Abbie announced proudly. “My birthday was Thursday but Mummy had to go to work so we’re shopping today. Mummy said I can have my first cauldron and she’s getting ‘gredients for me and we’re gonna make a potion! And we’re gonna have ice-cream!”

The man looked at her curiously. “Do you like potions?” he asked.

Abbie nodded enthusiastically. “Potions are so fun! Mummy makes them sometimes and she lets me help but I never done my own before, ‘cept for pretend. Mummy promised I can do my own when I’m five and now I’m five so I’m big enough!”

“Well… good. That’s very good to hear. Most children think potions are boring.” He turned to a shelf too high for her to reach and selected a grey cauldron. “Here. This one should be suitable for your needs, and it’s reasonably priced.”

He handed it to Abbie, and she took it reverently, staring at it like it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen - ‘cus it was!

“Thank you, mister!” she squealed. “I just gotta wait for Mummy to come back.”

“That’s alright. I’ll wait with you for now; it seems the shopkeeper has got herself lost trying to find my order. Tell me, will you be going to Hogwarts when you’re eleven?”

“Yeah, I did my first magic at Christmas! My present opened all on its own and Mummy said that’s ‘cus I’m a witch like her and I get to go to Hogwarts!” Abbie gasped, an idea popping into her head. “Mister - mister - can you do potions at Hogwarts?”

“You can indeed. In fact, I’m the teacher for Potions at Hogwarts.”

“No way!”

“Yes way. I think you’ll be a refreshing change to the students I usually teach. Most of them have never even touched a pestle before stepping into my classroom.”

“Ooh - ooh - I have! I done loads of squishing for Mummy. I like to squish the dittany so it’s all soft and Mummy says I’m the bestest squisher!”

“I’m sure you are. I look forward to seeing your squishing skills in action at Hogwarts. I’m Head of Slytherin, too, so I hope you’ll be in my house.”

“Mummy was in Slytherin!”

“Oh?” The man looked at her with a frown. He frowned a lot, but this was a funny one, like he was thinking really, really hard. “Who is your mummy? And what’s your name, for that matter?”

“My name’s –”

She was cut off when the shop lady came back in, a big pile of cauldrons floating in front of her.

“Sorry for the wait, Professor,” said the lady. “There was a doxy nest in the corner of the storeroom, I had to get them out quickly before they got too big. I did salvage their eggs, though, do you want them for Hogwarts?”

“If you’re offering, yes.”

“Well, I’ll just chuck them out otherwise. Waste not, want not. Am I invoicing Dumbledore?”

“Yes, if you send him an owl he’ll sort it all out for you. Thank you, Potage.”

“No problem, Professor. Have a good school year!”

The man took his cauldrons, gave Abbie a nod, then left. Abbie ran to the window, watching the man. Even though it was hot, he had a long black cloak on, and it waved around behind him, making him look kind of scary from behind.

With a tinkle of the bell, the door opened again, and Persephone returned, carrying a bag of shopping.

“Have you found your cauldron, Abbie?” she asked.

“Yes, Mummy! The Hogwarts man helped me!”

“Hogwarts man? What Hogwarts man?”

“The man!” Abbie turned to point him out through the window, but he was already gone. “He said he’s from Hogwarts and he does potions and - and he said when I go to Hogwarts I can do potions too!”

“The Potions professor,” Madam Potage explained.

“Ah.” Persephone had no idea who the current Potions professor was - was it still Slughorn? Whoever he was, she was glad to know he was the kind who helped students even six years before he became responsible for them. “Alright, Abbie, let’s pay for your cauldron then we can get some ice-cream.”

“Ice-cream!” Abbie exclaimed excitedly. “Then can we go home and do a potion?”

Persephone smiled as she counted out five galleons from her pocket. She hoped this Potions professor, whoever he was, was ready for her boundless enthusiasm. “Yes, Abbie, then we can do a potion.”

June 1999

Normal life was taking some getting used to.

All her adult life, Persephone had either been denying her feelings for Severus, hiding her relationship with him or, for one short period, in hiding herself.

Now, though, they were free to be together, and to be together publicly. Not that any of them were particularly minded to share the beautiful thing they had with anyone other than their children – it was nobody’s business but their own. But there was a difference between private and secret.

So when the five of them took a trip to Diagon Alley together, Persephone didn’t hold hands with Severus – not least because her hands were usually occupied with juggling two twins and their shopping – but even if they hadn’t been, even if it had just been the two of them, they still would have kept a chaste distance between them.

Severus had always been well-known. There were seven years’ worth of sorcerers who’d known of him as a student, and seventeen years’ worth who’d known him as as teacher; much to his chagrin, therefore, it was impossible for him not to be recognised amongst the wizarding public.

Most of those people knew to leave him alone. Even if they wanted to talk to him, they were usually too intimidated by him. They were used to jumping out of his way as he glided down the hallways of Hogwarts, and so their natural instinct was to do the same in the streets of Diagon Alley.

But since the war had ended, something had changed. After the Prophet had reported every detail of his trial and eventual acquittal, the entirety of Wizarding Britain now saw Severus Snape as a war hero, as a courageous man who’d risked his life and sabotaged his reputation in order to protect them all.

It was all true, of course, though Severus would never admit it. He did what he did for his family and no one else, he claimed –  saving the wizarding world was just a byproduct.

But Persephone knew better. She knew, even without her and Abbie, Severus would have still done what he did, because he was a good man despite it all. She had known all along that underneath his dark, brooding facade, his heart beat strong and true, and he harboured a deeply buried need to protect others.

And so, apparently, did many other women. The letters poured in from former students and classmates following the trial, all claiming to have always seen the good in him.

At first the letters would be opened and read before being thrown away. After a week of this, Severus got frustrated and refused to read any letters he didn’t recognise or expect. So Abbie took to opening them – she found them funny, she said, and occasionally read out the funniest ones. Eventually, she got bored of it too, and any letter that appeared to be from a ‘fan’ was promptly thrown in the fire.

The letters died down after a few months, but they still came on occasion and provided excellent fodder for the fire.

What the women never did, however, was approach him. Writing to him was one thing, but when presented with him in person, one glowering look from him was enough to remind them that actually he really was as mean as they remembered.

So, despite knowing about her husband’s fans, Persephone didn’t expect to turn around in Flourish and Blotts, having wandered into one section while he perused another, and see a woman talking to him. Even from a distance, the flirting was painfully obvious. The stranger leant against the bookshelf almost too casually, her hip jutting out slightly and her shoulders pushed back to accentuate her chest, and she was twirling her hair around her finger as she giggled at something Severus had said.

Persephone had many insecurities about herself, but one thing she wasn’t insecure about was her relationship. She had absolutely no reason to believe Severus would stray. So when she saw him talking to the girl - because she was a girl, Persephone realised as she came closer, not much older than Abbie - there was no reason for her to believe that Severus was flirting back. In fact, he was probably completely oblivious to the fact that she was flirting with him.

But even so, Persephone felt a bubble of rage rise up in her chest. The girl might not be able to take Severus from her, but the audacity to try!

Her hand twitched as if to draw her wand, but she reminded herself that she was in a bookshop, and it was generally frowned upon to start hexing people in bookshops. Severus would kill her if she harmed any of the books in the process.

So she was left to her old tricks.

Back in the day, she might have played it subtle. But she wasn’t a spy anymore, and boy did she want to embarrass this harlot.

The section she’d wandered off to was the history section; Severus, meanwhile, was looking at books on parenting. Merlin, that witch was dumb.

Out of the girl’s vision - not that she had eyes for anyone other than Severus - Persephone took a book from the shelf and bounded up to Severus with an unnaturally spry energy, holding the book aloft.

“Sev, darling, look what I found!” she announced so cheerfully that it startled her husband. She pointedly ignored the fierce stare from the girl. “This one’s all about managing sibling relationships. There’s even a chapter on age gaps!” She turned to the girl with a polite smile. “Oh, hello. Are you one of my husband’s former students?” She put her spare arm around Severus’ waist to make her claim more pointedly. “I bet it’s been strange this year without him around. My fault, I’m afraid, he simply refuses to leave my side long enough to teach anymore. None of those dunderheads need me more than my pregnant wife, he said. Well, I’m not pregnant anymore, but still he insists on staying by my side. Isn’t that right, Sevvy?”

Persephone almost baulked at using a cutesy nickname, but she felt it was a good final punctuation to her performance. She looked up at Severus, who was doing a good job of hiding his shock and was probably wondering who’d snuck one of his wife’s hairs into a vial of polyjuice potion. Even so, he played along, and gave her a smile so cutesy and lovestruck that she almost wondered if she’d gone up to the wrong man.

“It sure is, snookums,” he replied, and he booped her nose for effect.

Persephone giggled, and turned back to the girl, who was staring at them with mouth agape.

“Sorry, who are you?” she asked in a saccharine tone.

“Er - Penelope Clearwater,” the girl replied after a moment, as if the shock of what she was witnessing had made her temporarily forget her own name. “Professor Snape was my Potions professor –”

“Yes, you and several hundred other students I taught during my seventeen years of teaching,” Severus reminded her with an air of annoyance, as if she’d been the one to interrupt. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t recall every student to pass through my classroom.”

“Oh - right.” Penelope looked hurt, as if she’d expected him to remember her. But he had a point - he had taught a lot of students, and he paid little attention to most of them. “Well… it was good to see you, Professor. Excuse me.”

The girl scurried out of the bookshop as fast as she reasonably could, and once she was clear of the front door, Persephone let out the laugh she’d been holding in.

“You are ridiculous,” Severus sighed, although the humour in his voice betrayed him. “What on earth was that about?”

“She was flirting with you! I had to stake my claim, didn’t I? Can’t have other girls trying to snatch you from me, no matter how pretty they are.”

“Was she pretty? I hadn’t noticed.”

Persephone smacked his arm playfully. “She was, and you know it.” She lifted the book she’d grabbed and looked at it thoughtfully. “You know, maybe it would be worth looking through this,” she said thoughtfully. “Neither of us have siblings, we’re not exactly experts on the matter.”

Severus glanced over her shoulder towards the door and smirked. “They seem to be doing pretty well,” he remarked.

Persephone turned around, following his line of sight, and spotted Abbie outside the shop, gently rocking the double-wide pushchair back and forth, laughing at something one of them had done. Her lips were moving, and at first Persephone thought she was talking, but when someone opened the door to leave, a snippet of sound came in from the outside, and she heard that Abbie was in fact singing.

While Severus went to pay for the books he’d collected, Persephone went outside to join her daughters. Abbie showed her some of the clothes she’d found for the girls; Persephone admired them, and when he joined them outside, Severus made a cutting remark about not needing to buy more clothes when they could simply enlarge their existing clothes.

Abbie, in a very mature and thought-out response, stuck her tongue out at her father, which made April giggle, then took the books from him and bent down to stack them under the pushchair.

While Abbie was busy, Persephone turned to her husband, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Severus was taken aback at first at the public display of affection, but he quickly melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around his wife to pull her in closer.

Abbie made a mock retching sound, and Persephone pulled back, laughing. She looked into her husband’s eyes, which were alight with joy and wonder, something he’d spent far too long without.

“We are doing pretty well, aren’t we?” she asked softly.

Severus smiled.

“Better than ever.”

#severus snape #pro snape #snape x oc #dad snape #soul of ice #professor snape ii #snephy

[smilingformoney]

The House Cup Tournament

Summary: Snape/OC |  In Severus' sixth year, he's chosen as the Slytherin champion for the Hogwarts House Cup Tournament. During the second task, the whole school discovers that the thing he'd miss most is one Persephone Payne.

AN: So obviously this isn't canon. I was inspired by this gorgeous art from @aurus-3d, which got me thinking about Snape doing the second triwizard task, and what would happen if Sephy was the one for him to rescue. Then I thought, what if it was actually a tournament between the houses and he was competing against James Potter? Thus this lil plot bunny was born.

Also, I apologise now for the James POV.

Read on Ao3 or below:

Emerging into an open space, James realised the movement he’d seen through the long ribbons of seaweed wasn’t a monster at all - it was Snape.

The sight was almost comical. Snape had somehow given himself gills, and skin had grown between his fingers and toes to give a webbed effect. He was looking more reptilian than ever.

They were at the final checkpoint now, and the swarms of mermaids that darted around the area told James that his prize was nearby.

The thing you’ll miss most. That was what he was looking for. He wasn’t really sure what to expect - maybe his broomstick? He thought he might find locked chests or something of the sort containing a precious item. What he didn’t expect to find was a row of four people, one for each champion, floating in the water, each with an ankle tied to the lakebed by a rope made of seaweed.

People? Had Dumbledore really taken people? It was barbaric.

He looked up at the floating figures, and some feet away, Snape did the same. Of the four hostages, James only recognised one.

Lily.

Of course it was Lily; who would he miss more than the fiery redhead who had for so long denied their destiny to be together? Well, now he would save her, and she’d have to fall in love with him then.

Wait - but Snape was friends with Lily once, before she saw sense. James sometimes saw Sniv watching Lily longingly across the Great Hall; he definitely missed her. Wouldn’t she be the thing he’d miss most too?

A sense of panic shot through James’ heart, and he began swimming towards her in a panic. If Snivellus got there first, he’d save her, and maybe she’d fall in love with the ball of grease!

He glanced to his left and saw Snape was also swimming towards the hostages. Oh no you don’t! James thought angrily. He swam faster, and when the gap between him and Snape closed, he pushed the greasy git aside, pushing his trajectory away from Lily.

The force of the motion caused James to lose his own trajectory, and he flailed slightly as he righted himself before tearing the seaweed from Lily’s leg and hoisting her away from her trap.

He turned in the water, grinning, ready to flip Snape off. But Snape was already gone, swimming away with one of the other hostages.

Severus felt guilty for leaving Lily behind - if he could, he would have saved them both. He would have saved them all. But the rules were quite clear - each champion was only to save one hostage. They were to choose, and choose quick, who to save. Lily had Potter to save her, and the other two champions were surely close behind to save their own hostages. Severus had known, the moment he’d seen the four faces, which was the one he’d miss the most.

His journey back towards the surface was significantly less eventful than the journey down. Perhaps the lake monsters were under instruction from Dumbledore not to intervene once a champion had their hostage. Whatever the reason, Severus found himself emerging from the water in a matter of minutes, although the strain of carrying an extra body through the water made it seem much longer.

Upon emerging, Severus was met with cheers and applause, and Dumbledore’s voice boomed over the water, announcing Slytherin as the first to return. Next to him, Payne emerged from the water too, and the moment the air hit her face, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath, shortly followed by a string of swear words.

“This way, Mr Snape!” a voice called from the shore, and in the distance Severus could see Madam Pompfrey waving them over. He used the last of his strength to swim to the shore, every bone in his body aching with exhaustion, and right now the thing that mattered most to him was getting out of the water.

Over the cheers and chants of the Slytherins, Severus couldn’t hear much, but he could see Madam Pomfrey’s face form into an O of shock, and he looked around quickly, expecting to see a final monster emerging from the lake - and instead he saw the water rippling violently where Payne’s head had just descended below the water again.

Without hesitation, Severus ducked his head under the water, ignoring the stinging of the lake water in his eyes. The gillyweed had worn off the moment he’d emerged from the water, so he held his breath too, and almost released it immediately when he saw Payne, wandless, struggling against the grip of a grindylow.

Severus shot a blast of what he hoped was a useful spell at the grindylow, but just like all the offensive spells he’d tried so far under the water, all he seemed to be able to do was shoot warm water at the creature. He swam down towards Payne, who was still descending into the water, and reached out his hand. She took it, and he pointed his wand up this time. He spotted a rock jutting out from the lake’s edge, cast carpe retractum, and felt himself being pulled up through the water.

He grabbed the rock with one hand, and used the other to pull Payne up towards the edge of the lake. Someone on the ground grabbed her under the arms, and together they heaved her out of the water and laid her down on her back on the grassy bank.

The grindylow, sensing the air on its skin, immediately let go of Payne’s leg and retreated into the water. Severus, meanwhile, felt fear rising in his chest when he realised Payne was unconscious.

He suddenly forgot that he was a wizard, and the CPR he’d learnt at muggle primary school came to the forefront of his mind. Magic or no, it seemed to work, and Payne was awake, coughing up water from her lungs.

Everything had happened so quickly. It felt like a moment between being put to sleep in Dumbledore’s office and surfacing from the Black Lake with Snape. Persephone had begun to swim to the edge and had hardly had time to process the meaning of being the hostage for Snape when something had grabbed her legs and pulled her down. Water had flooded her lungs and she must have blacked out because the next thing she’d known, Snape was breathing life into her and she felt like she was vomiting as water came rushing out of her lungs.

She looked up at Snape, who was looking at her with fear and worry, and was about to thank him when she was lifted to her feet, and Madam Pomfrey ushered her to a nearby tent to be fussed over.

Persephone sat in the tent on her own, a towel wrapped around her shoulders and a potion warming her from within. Outside, she could hear the excited chatter of the crowds. She emerged through the tent flaps and saw that the task was still ongoing - two images were projected into the sky, showing the last two champions still under the water. One looked to be on her way back, while the other was struggling against the seaweed that kept his prize hostage.

Down by the lakeside, an argument was taking place. Snape and Potter were, as usual, fighting fiercely about something, and as she approached them, Persephone began to make out what they were saying.

“I was first back! Me!” Potter insisted. “I got out the lake with Lil, and you were nowhere, Snape!”

“I was rescuing Payne from the grindylows!” Snape hissed back. “You might have been willing to leave another behind to ensure you got to the water’s edge first, Potter, but I am not so cruel!”

“First back with their hostage! That’s what Dumbledore said! Who even -”

Potter saw Persephone approaching and gestured at her, scoffing. “Who even is this girl!” he exclaimed. “I’ve never seen her before in my life, and she certainly doesn’t hang around with you. So whose hostage did you steal, Snape?”

“You expected me to take Lily, didn’t you, Potter?” Snape scoffed, although his eyes remained focused on Potter. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you pushing me away from her. Maybe you didn’t notice with your head up your own arse, but Lily and I haven’t spoken in years. She couldn’t have been my hostage. Unless you think someone else down there was meant to be your hostage?”

“I - but -” Potter spluttered, his tiny brain short-circuiting.

They were interrupted by the return of the third champion, shortly followed by the fourth, and amidst the commotion, their only options remaining were to glare at one another as the four champions were gathered in front of the crowd to announce the final scores.

“As for the Gryffindor champion, James Potter,” Dumbledore announced after reading out the scores for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, “he showed excellent use of the bubble-head charm, tackled the selkies with bravery, and rescued Miss Lily Evans within the hour, surfacing within minutes of Mr Snape. Mr Potter is awarded 40 points.”

As he spoke, images played above the lake of Potter’s actions within the lake and his return to the surface. Cheers erupted from the crowd of Gryffindors as the points were announced, and the Slytherins grumbled.

“And finally, the Slytherin champion, Severus Snape. Mr Snape showed ingenuity in his use of gillyweed and returned with Miss Persephone Payne within the hour.”

The image played back the scene of Snape arriving at the location the hostages were held. Persephone found it strange to see herself there, having no recollection of anything that had happened underwater. She watched as Snape and Potter arrived at the same time and swam quickly towards the hostages. Potter attempted to shove Snape aside, but Snape ignored him, and Potter only served to slow himself down. Instead, Snape carried on towards Persephone, barely sparing a glance for the other three hostages as he swam off with her.

“Now, although Mr Snape and Miss Payne surfaced before Mr Potter and Miss Evans, they were waylaid in reaching the bank of the lake by an unfortunate grindylow attack, allowing Mr Potter to take the lead.”

The Slytherins booed loudly. Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet them.

“This attack by a grindylow on Miss Payne was not part of the task,” he said firmly, and the crowd fell silent. “However, as the event took place during the course of the task, we must take it into account.”

Above him, the image showed Persephone struggling against the grip of the grindylow, and Snape pulling her out of the water, forcing the Grindylow to retreat.

“Mr Snape could have proceeded to the edge of the lake and come first. However, due to his quick reaction to rescue Miss Payne, he was delayed. In light of this, after discussions with the Heads of Houses, we have agreed to award Mr Snape 45 points.”

A roar of cheers erupted from the Slytherin crowd, drowning out the groans of the Gryffindors. The Slytherins rushed forwards, swarming around Snape to congratulate him. He quickly vanished from Persephone’s sight in a blur of black and green robes, and she was disappointed but not surprised that he was too popular for her to talk to at that moment.

She wanted to ask him why she was the thing he’d miss the most. She wanted to thank him for choosing her over Evans, for risking his place in the rankings to save her. She had so much to say to him, and in any other circumstances she’d have snuck away by now, leaving the others to their ruckus.

But her feet carried her forward instead, and when students saw her, they stepped aside to let her though, as if she were Moses and they were the red sea. In the centre of the scrum was Snape, looking a little overwhelmed by all the attention but overall proud to be praised for what he’d done.

It was strange - Severus could have sworn there was a crowd there before. But they all disappeared in the instant he saw Persephone emerge from between the horde of Slytherins patting him on the back, and suddenly her body was right up next to his.

“You saved me,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Am I really the thing you’d miss most?”

“...Yes.”

She smiled. Then, the unexpected happened.

Severus had dreamed of it for months. Years, even. Since the moment he’d hit puberty, her face was the one he dreamed of, her lips those he craved. And yet, all his daydreaming hadn’t set him up for the bliss of her lips crashing against his.

The crowd of Slytherins cheered again, but Severus ignored them. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close, kissing her desperately. They were both still wet from the lake, and her lips were salty, but he didn’t care. She buried her hands in his hair, holding him firmly as if she had any reason to believe he’d pull away. 

“Get it, Snape!” one Slytherin shouted.

“Clear the dorm tonight, boys!” shouted another.

He could feel her trying not to laugh as she moved her lips against his, her tongue reaching out for his, and he could feel a twitch between his legs as his more carnal desires got their hopes up.

They pulled apart, panting for breath, only when Slughorn appeared to usher the crowds back up to the castle. Even then they didn’t move, her eyes staring up into his, both alight with wonder and lust, desire and desperation, and an unbridled amount of joy that they had finally crossed the line that they had both been resisting for months.

The crowd dispersed, Severus kissed her again, slower this time, and she responded in kind, her lips firm but gentle against his. He became suddenly aware of someone’s eyes on his, and when he reluctantly pulled away to follow his instinct, Severus realised Potter and Evans were still there, staring at the ground as if they’d just looked away very quickly.

“Something the matter, Potter?” Snape called over challengingly.

Potter folded his arms defensively. “No,” he said stubbornly. “Just… who even is this girl?”

“His girlfriend,” Persephone replied, and Severus’ heart skipped a beat. “Problem?”

Potter pouted, trying to think of an insult. Evans sighed in frustration.

“No problem,” she said, although the bitterness in her voice was evident. “Come on, James.”

They left, and Severus let out a breath when they were finally alone.

“Sorry, that just kind of slipped out,” Persephone said quickly. “I thought it’d piss him off.”

“No - it’s okay,” Severus replied. “I don’t mind. I’d - I’d like it very much if you were my girlfriend.”

Persephone smiled.

“When’s the next Hogsmeade trip?”

#severus snape #pro snape #snape x oc #snape fanfic #soul of ice #snephy

[smilingformoney]

The Beautifying Potion

Snape x OC | one-shot | fluff

Just a li’l Snape x Persephone one-shot I thought of after this discovery by @sapphiremouse​ + a conversation with my ever-inspiring muse, @sevsnapes​ 💚

Warning: implied mention of child abuse

The door to the Potions classroom swung shut behind Severus as he left his third detention of the year. He rarely got in trouble usually, but somehow Filch kept catching him and his friends out after curfew - informed, no doubt, by Potter and his gang and their stupid map.

The only saving grace was that the detentions were with his head of house, Professor Slughorn, who took a shine to him because he excelled at Potions. Slughorn always got students in detention arranging or preparing ingredients, which Severus actually quite enjoyed. It was peaceful.

His first detention of the year he’d been on his own and once he’d got over the shame of being in detention, he found silently working on the ingredients to be quite calming. So he was a little annoyed the next time he turned up for detention, when he found out there was someone else in detention too.

Oh no, had been his first thought when Persephone Payne had appeared through the door. Then, What’s she doing here?

Payne never got in trouble. She was quiet and kept to herself. She must have just made a little mistake to end up here. Maybe she’d stayed up in the library too long.

She glanced at him when she came in, but she didn’t say anything. Severus was relieved. He’d never dared to speak to her; he was afraid if he did he’d make a total fool of himself. He couldn’t explain why, but something about her intimidated him. He’d tried to approach her in the library a few times, even going so far as to dare to sit at the same table as her, but he never found the nerve to say anything.

It was infuriating, he thought to himself as they both commenced disembowelling toads at Slughorn’s request. He hated feeling powerless, and around her, he didn’t even have the power of speech. How could she do this to him? Was there a spell he didn’t know about, once that she silently cast to stop anyone from talking to her?

The second detention had been as silent as his first, but it was nowhere near as peaceful. As soon as Slughorn dismissed them, Severus grabbed his bag and dashed out of the door, desperate to put as much space between himself and Payne as he could in the hopes of avoiding an awkward walk back to the common room.

His third detention came a week before Christmas. Filch had caught him on his way back from a late-night hangout again, and so he once again found himself in the Potions classroom at 7 o’clock on a Saturday night.

So, it seemed, did Payne, and two other students, some fourth-year Slytherins who Severus had never spoken to. Slughorn announced that today, since there were an entire four of them, they’d be pairing off to either scrape flobberworm mucus or count billywig stings. Severus immediately chose the flobberworms. He knew it was weird, but he actually liked slimy stuff. He looked back at the other three, expecting them to be fighting over who had to join him - Severus Snape and flobberworms were two things that were never anybody’s first choice. To his surprise, Payne was already standing beside him.

“Looks like it’s you and me, Snape,” she said, and Severus’ heart did a somersault. She was talking to him!

Why is that so amazing? He asked himself, puzzled.

He tried to say something, but no sound came out. Instead he nodded, then turned his attention to the flobberworms.

After twenty minutes of trying to steel his courage, Severus finally managed to speak.

“How’d you draw the short straw?” he asked, and he was relieved his voice didn’t break.

“What do you mean?”

“Flobberworms. Over billywig stings. Who’d choose that?”

She laughed, and the sound made Severus’ heart leap. He wished it would stop doing that.

“It is what it is,” Payne said with a shrug. “But I’d rather work with you.”

Severus was so shocked, whatever had come over him and given him the power of speech quickly faded, and he spent the rest of the evening in silence, trying to focus on the flobberworms, but her words kept echoing in his head. I’d rather work with you.

At the end of the detention, the fourth-years hurried off, and this time Severus didn’t try to hurry off either. He left at the same time as Payne, and as they walked not quite together back towards the common room, he tried to think of something to say.

“What you up to tomorrow?” Payne asked.

It took Severus a moment to remember his plans. “Practising some potions,” he said. “I managed to get hold of a crocodile heart so I’m gonna try the beautifying potion.”

“Oh, Potions. Yeah, I gave that up at NEWT.”

“Why?” Severus asked, genuinely puzzled.

Payne shrugged. “Dunno. Shouldn’t have, really. Wish I’d continued it. Bit late now, I guess.”

“I could teach you,” Severus suggested hopefully, and immediately he felt a pang of regret. What a stupid thing to say! She was a seventh year, why would she want a sixth year to teach her anything? Besides, she was probably far too busy with her NEWT exams coming up, and she’d probably rather do anything other than spend time with the weird Snape kid.

“Yeah, that’d be cool, actually,” she said, and Severus looked up from his feet to look at her in surprise.

“I’m gonna be doing it after lunch,” he said quickly. “The beautifying potion, I mean. Maybe you could… come along? I could show you how to do it.”

She had a peculiar expression on her face, as if she was as surprised as he was about the conversation they were having.

“Okay. Yeah, after lunch.”

They climbed through the secret door into the common room, and Severus suddenly lost her in the crowd of students staying up late on a Saturday night. He looked around, hoping to say good night to her, but she must have already left, and he didn’t see her again until the next day.

She wasn’t at breakfast, or lunch, and on his way to the Potions classroom, Severus realised he was disappointed. She wasn’t coming. Of course she wasn’t. She’d probably been too embarrassed to say no and spent the whole morning hiding from him instead of going to meals. It was stupid of him to suppose someone like her would want to spend time with someone like him.

He was surprised, then, when he entered the classroom to find her already waiting for him. She had her head in a copy of Advanced Potion Making and she was munching on a sandwich.

“Ugh, finally,” she groaned as he entered, and Severus suddenly panicked. Was he late? No, he’d said after lunch, and it was after lunch.

“I found this spare textbook in Slughorn’s cupboard,” she explained. “Thought I’d do some catch-up reading this morning. It’s the beautifying potion you’re doing, right? Can I chop the crocodile heart, or did you wanna do that?”

“Oh - no, you can do it.” Truthfully, Severus had been looking forward to chopping up the heart, but he didn’t want to say no to her. “In fact, you should do it now, ‘cus we need to leave it to drain.”

Payne frowned, looking back at the book. “It doesn’t say anything about draining it.”

“No, but it’s better that way, otherwise the re’em blood doesn’t set in as well.”

“Whatever you say, teach,” she said with a shrug as she put her borrowed textbook down.

The potion took most of the afternoon to make, and Severus began to realise she was a lot easier to talk to than he’d thought. He wondered why he’d ever been afraid to talk to her in the first place. She was a quick learner, and fortunately she didn’t question his revisions to the recipe.

It was almost curfew when they finished. The potion was finally a gross pink colour, which meant it was ready.

“This is the fun part,” Severus told her. “Trying it out.”

He’d planned to try it on himself - he wanted to try and cover up the scars on his body. But now Payne was here, and he didn’t want to show them to her. He’d never shown them to anybody except Madam Pomfrey, and that had only been at her insistence whenever Potter’s gang had inflicted a new one on him.

“Okay, so the book says don’t actually drink it, right?” Payne said. “Just put it on your skin. Can I try it?”

Severus tried not to let the relief show on his face and he nodded. Payne took a small amount of the potion onto her fingers and applied it to her face. After a few moments, she said, “Is it working? Do I look any different?”

“No,” Severus replied, his brow furrowed. He looked down at his notes again.

“We did it all right, didn’t we?” Payne said.

She sounded a little disappointed, and Severus began muttering to himself as he ran through ideas in his head. “Pewter cauldron - yes. Stir for forty minutes - we did that. Maybe it doesn’t work if you’re already beautiful…”

He was so intent on figuring out what went wrong, it took him a good few seconds to realise what he’d just said. Did I say that out loud?

He had. He’d said it out loud. He felt his face heat up, and he stayed staring resolutely at his notes, hoping the hair hanging in front of his face would hide his embarrassment.

She wasn’t saying anything. Why wasn’t she saying anything? Oh fuck, she was probably disgusted right now. She probably thought he’d only invited her here because he fancied her or something. But it wasn’t true - yes she was beautiful, but he knew she was way out of his league. He’d really just wanted to show her some NEWT-level potions.

To make it worse, she let out a laugh. It was a wonderful laugh, but all Severus felt was shame. People had laughed at him his whole life, and now she was laughing at him too.

“Well, that was stupid,” she said, and Severus finally looked up at her. Yes, he knew it was stupid! Did she really have to be so mean about it?

But she wasn’t looking at him. She had her borrowed textbook open again, and she was looking closely at the last instruction.

“We missed a bit.”

“...What?”

Severus was confused now. So she hadn’t been laughing at him? And how could he have missed something? He’d read this recipe over and over again, he practically knew it by heart.

Payne leant over to point at the same section in his book. Her hand brushed against his forearm, and with his sleeves rolled up, he felt the warmth of her skin against his. He quickly pulled away, as if he’d felt an electric shock.

“Here.”

He looked down at the sentence she was pointing at.

Leave to stew for a full day.

Duh! Of course! Payne was right - he had been stupid. He’d completely forgotten the potion had to stew before it could work. It had to be pastel pink, and the potion was still a dark shade of pink.

“I guess we’ll have to find out tomorrow if it worked,” she said casually as she began gathering up her robe, which had been discarded in the heat of the brewing potion, and her bag. “We should totally do this again after Christmas, Snape. I don’t know when, though - I’ve got so much on ‘cus of NEWTs. But I’ll let you know. If you want to, of course.”

Severus was still reeling, and all he could manage was a mumbled “uh-huh” before she disappeared out the door.

He glanced down at the spot on his arm her hand had brushed against. The cigarette burn from when he was five was still there, but suddenly it was his favourite part of his body. He decided it was the first scar he’d try to erase tomorrow.

#severus snape #pro snape #snape fanfic #professor snape #snape x oc #snephy #one shot

[smilingformoney]

sometimes Sev and Sephy will dance together at home when no one’s around. and I mean no one, not even Abbie. Sephy hums along to a romantic ballad on the radio as she potters about and suddenly Sev pulls her into his arms and they’re dancing together. it’s soft and gentle and intimate and a little bit sexy. then an upbeat song comes on and Sev can’t bring himself to let go of her so he reluctantly gets into the swing of it with her. it ends with the two of them giggling and kissing and laughing and reminding each other that they are completely and utterly in love with the other. and then they shag

#snephy #just some midnight thoughts #oh to be this in love 🥲

[smilingformoney]

THANK YOU to @turpinsimp-blog​ for this gorgeous Snephy smut!! It has killed me and I am dead rip

Check out the full scene in Chapter 27 of Soul of Ice!

#severus snape #pro snape #snapedom #snape smut #turpinsimp #snephy

[smilingformoney]

Thinking about Snape and Sephy as I often am and

When she told him to stay away, he had to tell Voldemort. He had a good source of information, a potential new recruit, and now that was gone because of Snape, because of course he took the blame for it. He had to endure hours of torture as punishment, all the while struggling to keep his mind shielded. When it was over, he wanted nothing more than to retreat to a place of safety, but he didn’t have that anymore, because his safe place was her and he wouldn’t violate her demand to stay away.

So he took the punishment, took the torture, and went back to his cold, empty house, still twitching from the effects of the cruciatus curse.

But at least she was safe from him.

#anyway. them. #Snephy #soul of ice #snape x oc