The Purple Blankets: A Snarry Tale

Chapter 30 - Albus's Joy

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy!
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The night was calm and clear when Albus, Lily, Gwendolyn, and Minerva Snape all waited anxiously in the living room of their childhood home.

Darby was in the kitchen busily brewing some calming tea for the family.

Albus paced nervously by the windows while his sisters chatted amongst themselves on the sofa.

"You're going to walk through the floorboards, brother!" Lily teased Albus with a grin, looking over at him.

"It can't be much longer now." Albus replied.

His face was solemn with worry.

The four had tried to ignore their mother's cries of pain that had been issuing from upstairs for the past several hours.

They could still hear movement from the ceiling above them but Harriet's wails had mercifully ceased.

Lily opened her mouth to say something else to Albus when swift footsteps sounded as someone quickly descended the stairs.

All four of the Snape children glanced up as their father appeared on the staircase.

"Is Mum alright?" Gwendolyn asked with a worried frown.

"Your mother is doing well." Severus replied. His low voice rumbled with the hint of a purr as he announced, "If you'll all follow me, there's someone whom she and I would like very much for the four of you to meet."

The girls exchanged excited smiles with Albus before they stood from the sofa.

The four Snape children followed their father up the stairs, down the hallway, and towards the bedroom that Severus and Harriet shared.

Severus led his son and daughters into the room, with Albus directly behind him, followed by Lily, Gwendolyn, Minerva, and Darby.

As soon as Albus stepped through the doorway, a wide smile spread across his face at what he saw.

The three girls gasped.

A pleased smile crossed Darby's face.

In the corner, the midwife was packing up her supplies.

From her nest on the floor, Harriet smiled tiredly up at her children.

Her cheeks were still flush from the exertion of her efforts, but a fierce pride burned brightly in her green eyes.

That same pride was evident in Severus's face as he looked approvingly down at his wife and their newest little one........their youngest son.

"Albus," Severus spoke as he looked at his eldest child, "I'm certain that your sisters won't mind if you're the first of his siblings to hold him?"

Behind Albus, his three sisters giggled in approval.

They knew well from the many discussions the family had held over the last few months how excited Albus was to finally have a brother.

Severus and his daughters watched Albus step forward and kneel next to his mother so that she could place the tiny, red-haired, baby boy in his arms.

After Harriet handed Albus the infant, she struggled not to weep when she saw her oldest son's eyes grow watery as he smiled joyfully down at his new little brother.

Albus met his mother's gaze with his own as he praised her by declaring, "He's beautiful, Mum."

It was no use in trying to hold back the flood of emotion.

Harriet and Albus both had tears streaming down their cheeks by the time she grabbed Albus by his face and pulled him towards her to kiss his forehead.

While Albus cuddled his baby brother, his sisters and Darby crowded around him and admired the infant, glad to have someone new in the family.

For the girls, being present for the birth of a sibling was a foreign experience.

Lily didn't remember anything about the twins' arrival.

Before a few moments earlier, Minerva and Gwendolyn had been the youngest.

Harriet sighed contentedly as she observed her children.

Severus silently glided over to her, crawled into her nest, and positioned himself behind his beloved so that she could rest against him.

"What are we going to name him?" Harriet asked as the cooing newborn elicited a quiet eruption of laughs from his sisters while his parents and brother watched.

"I'll let you decide, my love. You named our first, it's only fitting that you should name our last." Severus purred.

"You'll have to change your accounts then." Harriet replied.

"I beg your pardon?" Severus asked with narrowed eyes as he scowled at his wife.

"I want to name him after his father." Harriet grinned.

Severus bent down and pecked Harriet gently on the lips as he agreed with his son in a low whisper, "Albus spoke truthfully. You did well."

"I love you, Severus." Harriet whispered back, looking up at him to nip at his lips again while the children were distracted.

"And I love you....." Severus replied as he took that nip farther and let it bloom into a full kiss.

Severus had already announced his retirement from his position as Hogwarts' headmaster.

He and Harriet were in the final stages of completing their purchase of Hogsmeade's apothecary.

Gwendolyn and Minerva were prepared to work in their parents' establishment as soon as they completed their education at the castle.

Harriet was filled with happiness and Severus was nearly beside himself with pride.

As they kissed again, Harriet shivered in the evening chill.

Severus reached down and pulled the purple blankets over his mate, the same purple blankets that had helped their family grow so wonderfully, wonderfully well.

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Thank you so much for reading and following this story! I hope that you enjoyed it! I have many more Harriet x Severus fics coming up soon. If they interest you, I hope you'll consider checking them out! Thanks again!