Harriet Potter's Forbidden Love

Chapter 26 - Severus and Harriet

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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The years had accustomed Harriet to being in the constant company of her children.

When she woke before her little ones one day, she cuddled against Severus to use his warmth as a shield against the autumn morning's chill.

Her movement instantly roused him.

Severus cracked his dark eyes open before he instinctively pulled his wife into his comforting embrace.

"My love........?" He asked as Harriet laid her head on his chest, "Is it-"

"-No." She replied in an exhausted whisper, "No, it's not, but I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day, Sev. I'm exhausted."

"Have you spent another night not resting well?" Severus frowned as he let one elegant hand idly stroke Harriet's back.

"You know at this stage I can only sleep for an hour or so at a time now." She sighed as she pressed a hand to her belly.

Severus snaked his free hand between them to join hers there as he continued his attempt to relax her.

He watched his wife closely as her eyes began to flutter while he kept up his soothing ministrations, "Are you drowsy now, my love?"

"No, Sev......." Harriet yawned as she tried to fight off sleep, "I'm fine."

Severus let out a gentle purr as he kissed her forehead and held her close, "Rest. I'll occupy the children."

"No......" Harriet insisted. Her voice dwindled to a whisper as she closed her eyes, ".......I'll be fine."

A slight smirk curled Severus's thin lips as he felt his mate go limp in his arms once she succumbed to her fatigue.

Although he stopped rubbing her back, his other hand remained splayed across the vast swell of her belly.

It made Severus want to smile as he felt the echoes of motion that rippled from within his mate's womb.

He laid there, with Harriet in his arms, as the morning's first light drifted through the curtains until he heard quiet voices issuing from the hallway.

Careful not to wake his darling, Severus deftly slipped out from under her and tucked a pillow in his place before he pulled on his morning robe, pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, and silently left the room.

As Severus walked down the hallway, he wore a frown of worry.

He hastened his pace in an effort to find his children and quiet them, his wife needed her rest.

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The two sets of Snape twins shared a single room with double bunk beds.

To outsiders, it may have seemed cruel, but the four boys had insisted on those exact sleeping arrangements since their second and third birthdays.

Severus did not begrudge the fact that the shared room also made addressing each of his youngest sons at once much easier.

Quietly, he turned the knob to the bedroom door and swept into the room.

Four sets of familiar dark eyes darted to him as the boys' whispering conversations came to a sudden halt.

"Good morning." Severus greeted his children.

Their answers came in singsong replies.

"Good morning."