Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - NEVER ARGUE WITH AN IDIOT. THEY DRAG YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL AND THEN BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE

Harry had never seen the school so empty, even at Christmas there had always been a handful of students left and a number of teachers. He had been prepared for the fact there would obviously be no students, but he hadn\'t realised *all* the teachers left Hogwarts for the Summer - well all except his husband and Professor Dumbledore.

When Professor McGonagall had said goodbye, she had sent him a look of sympathy that he had to spend the holidays with his most hated teacher. Harry had merely smiled wanly and tried to look like he wasn\'t going to enjoy the next couple of months.

It was strange for Harry , af, after all the months of sneaking around and snatched moments, he was able to walk openly down the corridor with his husband without Snape having to glare at him, or Harry having to look angry and persecuted.

At first he had been worried that spending practically every minute of every day together would put a strain on their relationship, but surprisingly it only seemed to make it stronger. Not that they didn\'t argue. They argued quite a lot, but never about anything important and the making up was always the best part. The only real time they spent apart was when Harry went for his check-ups with Madam Pomfrey (Dumbledore had made special arrangements so she could floo in), which Harry felt was quite a shame. He wanted his husband there to hold his hand and see the little miracle when Madam Pomfrey did her spell and Harry saw the shadowy figure of their baby hovering above his stomach.

They got into a routine of waking up late, playing chess, making potions, going for walks, talking, and generally getting to know each other better. It was one day, in Snape\'s laboratory, that Harry finally broached the subject of his husband\'s family. It seemed strange to him that his husband had never mentioned them and there were no photos in his chambers.

Harry was sitting on a stool (at Snape\'s insistence), carefully chopping up flobberworms whilst admiring Snape\'s flying fingers slicing, dicing and powdering. Though Harry had found a latent talent for potions, he still hadn\'t had the time to practice them.

\'Severus?\'

\'Yes?\' he replied distractedly.

\'Do you have any brothers or sisters?\'

\'No.\'

\'So no aunts or uncles for our baby?\'

\'Afraid not.\'

\'What about grandparents?\'

Snape stopped what he was doing and looked at his young husband.

\'If you want to know about arenarents stop beating about the bush and ask me.\' He said levelly. Harry stared back at him.

\'Are they alive?\'

\'Yes.\'

\'Do you ever see them?\'

\'I haven\'t seen them in twenty years.\'

\'Why not?\' asked Harry, looking concerned.

Snape touched his left arm almost unconsciously.

\'My parents disowned me when they discovered I was loyal to Voldemort.\'

Harry looked surprised.

\'I got the impression from Sirius that your parents were heavily into the dark arts. He told me you knew more curses than most seventh years when you started school here.\'

Snape snorted.

\'Your godfather believes what he wants to believe. Yes I admihad had a working knowledge of quite a few curses, but I also knew just as many charms and a hell of a lot about potions. My father is a scholar and always encouraged me to learn as much as possible before I started school; my mother works in the field of research into healing potions.\'

\'So did you get on?\'

\'My father was always quite strict and not someone it was easy to get close to, but yes, my mother and I had a fairly good relationship.\'

He sounded almost wistful when he mentioned his mother.

\'But surely you told them that you had turned spy after I got rid of Voldemort the first time?\' Harry said curiously.

\'No I did not,\' Snape replied stiffly. \'I had still betrayed all they believed in and I don\'t believe any redemption will be enough for them. Besides, I knew that Voldemort was not truly dead and I believed he would eventually return.\'

Harry just stared at him.

\'You didn\'t make up with your parents because you *thought* Voldemort would come back?\' he said incredulously.

\'Well I was right, wasn\'t I?\' Snape replied irritably.

\'Even so, it took fourteen years and if I had the chance, I wouldn\'t miss the chance of being with my parents again.\'

\'That is totally different,\' protested his husband. \'Your parents died protecting you, my parents disowned me without a second thought.\'

\'Ah,\' said Harry, believing he finally understood. \'Now we get to the *real* reason. You\'ve never forgiven them for turning their backs on you and now your too proud to tell them that you\'ve changed.\'

\'That\'s not true.\' Snape replied stubbornly, shaking his head.

\'Lie to yourself if you want,\' Harry replied calmly. \'But *I* know the truth.\'

\'You know nothing.\'

\'I know you, Severus. Whether you like it or not.\'

\'This is not a subject I wish to discuss any further,\' Snape replied tight-lipped. From his expression, Harry knew he had pushed it as far as he could.

\'This isn\'t finished,\' Harry warned. \'One day, when this is all over, I want our child to know its grandparents. Family\'s important. I should know, I\'ve spent most of my life wishing I had a proper one.\'

\'I know,\' Snape replied softly. \'One day, perhaps, we will speak of this again, but for now it isn\'t even feasible for our child to know its grandparents. I can\'t put them at risk as well.\'

And that was whehe che conversation had ended.

The next momentous event had been Harry\'s birthday. The day had dawned bright and sunny, and because they were in Harry\'s room, they actually got to appreciate it.

Harry was awake early, excited that for the first time he wouldn\'t be spending his birthday at the Dursley\'s, but with the man he loved. Plus Sirius had promised to be there as well.

\'Happy birthday, Harry,\' was suddenly purred in his ear. Harry turned to face his husband, a smile on his face.

\'Where\'s my present?\' he demanded with a sparkle in his green eyes.

\'What makes you think I\'ve got you anything?\' Snape replied mildly.

\'Because you love me,\' Harry replied confidently. \'Oh...and I saw you wrapping it the other day,\' he admitted sheepishly.

Snape gave him a mock glare.

\'You\'ve been spying on me? Well in that case I\'m not sure you *deserve* your present!\'

Harry fixed him with an innocent gaze.

\'Haven\'t I been good?\' he asked teasingly.

\'I suppose you\'ve been fairly good,\' Snape replied, a heated look in his eye that Harry knew all too well and always welcomed. \'But there\'s always room for improvement.\'

\'Come here and I\'ll show you how good I can be,\' Harry said with an edge of promise in his voice.

Snape moved the few inches that brought him as close to Harry as possible and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

\'This is already turning out to be the best birthday ever,\' Harry murmured huskily as they parted to catch their breath.

\'Believe me, it will only get better,\' Snape promised, moving in for another kiss.

Just then there was a very unwelcome knock at the door and a \'Harry are you in there?\'

\'That\'s Sirius!\' exclaimed Harry excitedly, he hadn\'t seen him since their wedding day.

Snape sighed. \'Can\'t we leave him out there?\' he said hopefully. \'You haven\'t finished showing me how good you can be.\'

\'Severus! We can\'t leave him out there whilst we make love.\'

Snape gave a put upon sigh. \'Oh well, it was just a thought. I guess you\'ll have to make it up to me later.\'

\'Absolutely!\' Harry promised, dropping a swift kiss on his husband\'s lips before getting out of bed. He put on his dressing gown and walked as quickly as possible - which wasn\'t very fast any more with the huge stomach he now had - to the door.

\'Sirius! Remus! It\'s great to see you both!\' Harry said, slightly surprised to see Remus again so soon.

Sirius hugged him.

\'Happy birthday! How does it feel to be an adult?\' he asked.

\'Better if we didn\'t have to get up so early because my husband\'s insane godfather appears to have forgotten how to tell the time.\' Snape replied snarkily, coming up behind Harry and putting his arms around him, hands resting on his protruding stomach. Sirius looked slightly put out at the possessive gesture.\'

\'Well I wanted to spend as much time with my godson as possible on his birthday,\' Sirius replied stiffly. \'But if this is too early, we\'ll come back later.\'

\'No, don\'t be silly!\' cried Harry, giving his husband an angry look. \'Can you give us a few minutes to get dressed?\'

\'Sure,\' replied Sirius, relaxing a little. \'We\'ll wander dto tto the kitchens and get some breakfast.\'

Harry shut the door and turned to Snape, glaring.

\'What the hell was that about?\' he demanded.

\'What?\' asked Snape, arching an eyebrow.

\'Answering Sirius for me and then acting like you own me.\' Harry replied, his voice raising a little. \'Sirius is my godfather and I\'d like to spend some time with him. If you can\'t handle that without being horrible to him, then I\'d rather spend time with him alone!\'

\'Fine,\' replied Snape quietly. \'If you do wish to spend any of your birthday with me I\'ll be in my rooms.\' And without a backward glance he headed to the fireplace and floo\'d back to his own chambers.

Harry sank down on the bed.

*So much for the best birthday ever* he thought despondently. He wondeif hif he had been a little harsh, but it was too late now.

He got dressed quickly and headed down to the kitchens where Sirius and Remus were tucking into a hearty breakfast.

\'Hello again,\' he said as brightly as he could manage, sitting down and letting the house elves serve him.

\'Hi Harry, where\'s your miserable git of a husband?\' asked Sirius cheerfully through a mouthful of bacon, making Harry very glad he was through the nauseous stage of his pregnancy.

\'He went back to his rooms,\' Harry replied shortly.

\'So has Severus given you your birthday present yet?\' Remus asked.

\'Not yet,\' admitted Harry.

Remus and Sirius both looked surprised.

\'I\'m amazed he\'s lasted this long,\' said Remus. \'When he owled me to invite me here for your birthday he said he could hardly wait.\'

It was Harry\'s turn to look surprised.

\'*He* asked you to come today?\'

\'Yes, he thought that as we had such a nice time at your wedding that it would be good to repeat it for your birthday.\'

Harry groaned and buried his head in his hands. He had just lost his temper with Severus and accused him of being too possessive and now it turned out in a totally unpossessive gesture, he had invited Remus to spend the day.

\'What\'s the matter?\' asked Sirius, looking slightly alarmed.

Harry explained about their argument and Sirius shook his head in despair.

\'Really Harry, you may be married to him, but you don\'t seem to know him very well. Of course he\'s possessive of you, you\'ve only been married a few weeks. And anyway Snape and I have to keep up at least some pretence of dislike or we wouldn\'t know what to say to each other. What you\'ve got to look at is the things he does for you, like asking Remus to the wedding and your birthday. And do you know it was Snape who suggested I get you a new dress robe for your wedding? Honestly, if he was as selfish as you implied would he do any of those things? And just wait until you see your present...that\'s if he decides to give it to you.\'

\'Okay, okay, I overreacted.\' Harry admitted. \'Do you think he\'ll forgive me if I blame it on my hormones?\' he asked hopefully.

\'Harry, he\'d forgive you pretty much anything,\' replied Sirius with a smile. \'And now would be a good time to go and ask for it.\'

Harry looked down at his nearly full plate.

\'I can finish my breakfast first, right?\' he said, only to be met with two equally stern looks from both Sirius and Remus. \'Okay, fine, I\'ll just starve myself and go and beg my husband\'s forgiveness.\'

\'They\'ll be plenty of breakfast available when you come back,\' smiled Remus at Harry\'s overly dramatic attitude. But don\'t you dare come back without Severus.\'

With a martyred look, Harry left the kitchen.

\'They really are an odd couple, aren\'t they?\' Remus said.

\'I know,\' sighed Sirius. \'But they love each other for some bizarre reason and at least I know Snape won\'t let anything happen to him.\'

\'So you actually trust Severus?\' Remus asked, htlyhtly surprised, he never thought he would hear the animagus admit to such a thing.

\'I guess,\' Sirius said, looking rather surprised himself. \'I mean I know he\'s on our side now and he risks an awful lot going to these Death Eater gatherings, but Harry also told me that he hasn\'t spoken to his parents in twenty years because they still believe he supports You Know Who and I can kind of relate to that. After all I can\'t go near mine because they\'d probably hex first and think later and I\'d be back in Azkaban before I knew what was going on.\'

Remus laid a sympathetic hand on Sirius\' arm.

\'One day, Padfoot, they\'ll all know what fools they\'ve been.\'

Slightly subdued, they finished their breakfasts and waited for Harry and Snape to reappear. Eventually they did, slightly flushed and holding hands. It did not take a genius to work out of what their making up had consisted. In his free hand, Snape was holding a large package wrapped in silver and green.

\'Present time!\' Harry said gaily, seeming to have forgotten all about breakfast.

Dutifully Sirius and Remus brought out their cards and gifts for him.
\'I\'m surprised Hedwig hasn\'t brought anything,\' Harry suddenly said, looking slightly crestfallen. \'I thought I might hear from at least *one* of my frien
\
\'Actually we intercepted all the owls on the way in,\' admitted Sirius with a smile. \'They weren\'t too keen on giving up their stuff, but we managed to persuade them.\' And with a flourish he brought out another load of parcels and cards.

Harry looked awed; he had never received so much for his birthday before. Eagerly he started opening the cards. There were ones from Hermione, Colin, Hagrid (who was spending his holidays at Beauxbatons) and Mrs Weasley; but nothing from Ron.

Harry opened his presents, which included a new cloak from Sirius, a cake from Hagrid, a book on bringing up babies from Hermione, socks from Dumbledore, a whole host of knitted baby garments from Mrs Weasley and his very own foe glass from Remus. But it was Severus\' present that blew him away. As he opened it he realised it was some sort of deep bowl and then became realised it was a Pensieve. At first he was a little ppoippointed, but then Snape explained that it was a special Pensieve into which he, Remus, Sirius and Dumbledore had stored all their memories of Harry\'s parents. Harry was stunned. No longer would he have to just stare at his photos or listen to other people\'s memories of his parents. Now he would actually be able to *see* them.

\'Thank you so much,\' he whispered, looking at his husband, overcome with emotion. \'This is the best present I\'ve ever had.\'

Snape looked a little uncomfortable.

\'It wasn\'t just me,\' he said. \'We all helped.\'

\'But it was your idea,\' Remus replied generously.

\'Anyway, as that was more of a joint present, I also bought you this.\' Snape put his hand in his pocket and brought out a small package. Harry eagerly opened it and found a large emerald set in silver on a chain.

\'It\'s meant to be a protective amulet,\' Snape explained. \'Not that I believe in that sort of thing. But it was given to me by my grandmother and is one of the few heirlooms I have.\'

\'I can\'t take that!\' Harry protested. \'It\'s part of your family history.\'
\'You *are* my familyhe rhe replied seriously. \'Besides, it matches your eyes.\'
\'Thank you,\' Harry said, putting it on. \'But I\'ll only keep it until our son or daughter is old enough to have it.\'

Snape nodded his agreement.

\'Well if that\'s all the gift-giving done, I guess now I can have my breakfast!\' Harry said cheerfully.

They all laughed and spent the rest of the day enjoying themselves. It was truly the happiest birthday Harry had ever had, but secretly he looked forward to next year when he would have their child with them.