Auspice

2

The Potions' Master was fearsome as ever, though these days he was often locked away in his tower office.

The arrival of the babe had been sudden and violent. With no time to transport his wife to St Mungo's, the Healers had had to make their way to the Northumberland house themselves. Though, upon their arrival, they realised that there was little to be done. The man in black was faced with a difficult choice.

The boy or his wife.

To save the boy would mean for his bloodline to be secure, his descendants confirmed and protected from the new laws set in place by the Augurey. To save his wife would mean she had toiled fruitlessly for the better part of a year. She would never bear another child. Saving her would not be a benefit in the eyes of the government terrorising their world. Saving his wife would be an act of rebellion.

Unable to speak for herself as she had lost consciousness several hours prior to the tardy arrival of the mediwitches and Healers, Snape was forced to make a decision in her stead.

Heartbroken and panicked, the wizard made the choice that seemed the most logical, the most certain to have a good outcome for his family. He had four others to think about, to care for. Three daughters that needed to be kept a careful watch on and a son becoming unstable in his all too-powerful magic at such a young age.

He chose the baby.

And he regretted it every day since.

Four years later, with the twins in school, Aurora in her final year of schooling, and Seraphina by the Augurey's side, the man had only his youngest at the house to care for when he made the trips home. They were becoming less and less frequent, further apart in time. Andromeda cared for the young boy most of the time with Teddy and his wife coming by to help since she was unable to keep up with him.

As suspected by the Snape parents, the boy's magic was an incredible thing to witness. His abilities at such a young age surpassed anything the man had ever seen. He could have never imagined having such a gifted child in his care. The spitting image of his mother, his father was unable to look at him longer than a few seconds.

The relationships within the family turned sour, and the atmosphere of the house went cold. Their home had once more become little more than an overly large house with too many empty rooms.

Due to his high standing with the Dark Lord and his eldest's position by the Augurey, he was not obligated to remarry. His youngest was impressive enough to keep the vultures at bay, though for how long he was not certain. It would be another two years until Seraphina and Scorpius married. Aurora was already publicly betrothed to Louis Weasley after much convincing and in honour of Hermione Granger Snape and her efforts in the war, despite her marriage to traitorous Deatheater Severus Snape. Octavia had been so far set to marry one of her classmates, a Pureblood boy from the Rosier family.

There were no more women to worry about, his children were mostly independent and perfectly capable of managing themselves. When they were home, they helped Andromeda and Teddy care for their youngest sibling, though it was when they were all together at the house that their father made himself noticeably scarce. Something about seeing his offspring all in one place threatened to make him go entirely mad.

His Rory, timid, loving, brilliant Aurora with the small boy on her hip as she swayed to calm him made the man's heart tear in several places, and his breathing hitched every time. Her wild mane of chestnut curls, entirely unmanageable, and freckled face was a painful reminder of what he had lost.

She leaned in to pepper the toddler's face with kisses and he squealed in delight, holding her face with both hands. Cognac eyes stared into darker ones as he traced her features with his tiny hands. Snape thought he might be sick, as his stomach rocked with nausea and bile rose up his throat.