You Promised It Would Be Forever - Edit

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 47 ~ Epilogue

Hermione Snape spent a total of forty-five months out of the next six years, pregnant, bearing Severus five children, three boys and two girls.

Argus Jacob Snape ~ Severus' nose, eyes, Hermione's hair and complexion. Dark-natured.
Sarah Minerva Snape ~ Severus' eyes, hair, skin color and sarcasm. Hermione's nose.
Albus Odysseus Snape ~ Hermione's eyes, hair, complexion. Severus's nose and snarkiness.
Severus Arsenius Snape, Jr. ~ All Severus. Slightly smaller nose. Less snarky than Albus.
Melissa Jane Snape ~ All Hermione. Spitting image and temperament. A bossy little know-it-all.

All the children were home-schooled by Severus and Hermione and had been waving wands since the tender age of five, based upon Severus' claim that at five years of age a child has a basic grasp of what's right and wrong and can handle basic spells and charms. Hermione discovered Melissa adapting spells at age eight without any formal training. There were a few instances of siblings hexing each other during disagreements and turning each other into small reptiles and mammals. After a frantic search that lasted three hours, Severus found Sarah transformed into a newt, locked in a very wet terrarium underneath a very closed-mouth Albus' bed. She had eaten four crickets during her incarceration. All five children entered Hogwarts well prepared, the entire clan enrolled in the school by Argus' sixth year. Together they were a force to be reckoned with.

All the boys were sorted into Slytherin, Sarah into Ravenclaw and Melissa into Gryffindor. Not a Hufflepuff among them. The children's talents seemed to be clearly defined along the lines of sex. The boys were excellent at Potions and the girls showed great ability in Charms, Spells and Transfiguration. They all had excellent grades and were very competitive with each other, but if you messed with one Snape…you messed with them all. Any offending student was guaranteed to pay dearly.

"Don't fuck with the Snapes" became a school mantra.

Their father, Headmaster Severus Snape had no problem with showing abject favoritism toward his progeny during conflicts, though Hermione, who had full tenure as the school's Spells Mistress, tempered his favoritism and made sure the children were properly punished whenever she discovered them in the wrong. This only made them sneakier when getting revenge or wreaking havoc within the walls of Hogwarts. All of them had Slytherin tendencies, even the girls though they were sorted in different houses. This was most likely due to Severus teaching them to follow the Slytherin philosophy.

The first time Argus was caught in his sixth year shagging a very vocal seventh year Hufflepuff behind the statue of the humpbacked witch, his father deducted one hundred points from Slytherin House and assigned him a week's detention for getting caught.

"Always use a silencing spell and if necessary a disillusionment spell before the act," his father chided him, "or, if you don't have access to your wand, a hand clamped over the witch's mouth can be equally effective for short trysts. You should always be sure to cast a contraceptive spell on yourself before indulging. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell your mother about this bit of advice. She's a witch. She doesn't understand these things. A wizard must get experience," Severus told his son before dismissing him.

Later the Potions Master had quite a candid talk with his son about sex, and the finer details of possessing witches successfully, his son turning all kinds of colors as his father explained things about the female anatomy that the young wizard didn't even know existed. Severus pulled no punches with the boy as he instructed him, saying sex was as much an art as Potions, and if Argus were going to indulge in it, then he had an obligation to himself and the witch he would be fucking to be as good at it as possible. Severus gave this talk to each son when he reached his sixth year. The young wizards were quite successful in the shagging department as a result.

Severus left the sexual education of his daughters to Hermione. When Sarah approached him with a question of a sexual nature, he promptly told her to just say "no" and go ask her mother. But the Snape girls had very little to worry about in the sex department. With their very protective brothers and father, few wizards dared approach them, though Sarah was the object of quite a few young wizards' fantasies. She was tall, slender and moved with her father's feline grace, but in a more feminine mien. Her dark eyes, dark hair and alabaster complexion made her stand out and be noticed. She was a bit sharp too, and had no patience for idiots at all, and was known for dressing down wizards and witches who dared lock horns with her.

All five children graduated Hogwarts with honors, and a few years later after receiving his Potions Master's degree, Argus married a pretty, red-haired and titled young witch named Lady Molly Hornswallow.

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Percival and Ginny outdid Ginny's parents, the witch producing eight children for the wealthy wizard, seven boys and one girl, two sets of twin boys among them. Three of them had the flaming red hair of the Weasley clan, and the rest sported wavy brown hair like their father. And just like Percival wanted, their family was close, boisterous and loving.

Ginny did not allow their status to go to their heads. Despite their father's wealth, the children found themselves doing chores, budgeting their allowances and doing odd jobs for extra money. Of course, Percival slipped them a few galleons when Ginny wasn't looking, but the witch was as all knowing as her mother was. Percival was allowed to give his children elaborate gifts only on birthdays, Christmas and truly special occasions. As a result, each child had his or her own Pegasus…which Ginny insisted they care for personally.

Their children started Hogwarts a couple of years after the Snapes, and initially there were quite a few clashes between them…as the Hornswallows were all as fiery tempered as Ginny was, and Molly had the same skill with the bat-bogey hex as her mother. She never hesitated to use it either. She met Argus while she was in her seventh year, when he came to Hogwarts to visit his father. He had just received his degree and was entering the Main Hall when Molly literally bumped into him, and the books she was carrying in her arms fell and scattered all over.

Argus made no attempt to help Molly pick them up, so the irritated young witch then verbally dressed the tall oaf down as he stared at her with his black eyes, his head cocked, a small smirk on his face.

"Little girl, you seem to have the need to expel some of that excess energy," he said to her silkily, arching an eyebrow at the irate witch. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," she snapped, picking up her last book. "And I'm not a little girl. I will be eighteen next month."

Argus's eyes raked over her. She was pretty. Fiery.

"And then you will be all grown up I suppose," he said to her, studying her face.

"Yes, I will be," she said, still angry, but looking at the wizard with some interest. He was very attractive, if somewhat stiff. He was older too.

"Perhaps I will come back and find out just how grown up you are," Argus said, giving her a small sexy smile that made the witch tingle all over. Then he just walked away.

Argus had much the same effect on Molly as Severus did on Hermione back in her seventh year, though the young wizard had to come up with creative ways to enhance her attraction, since he didn't work at Hogwarts, and then, when she graduated, figure out how to keep in contact with her as she attended university. It was when she was in her second year of college that they…er…connected.

After a rather tumultuous relationship between Argus and Molly that involved a break-up and a make-up, the couple found themselves in the middle of a standoff between the Snape family and Hornswallow family that would have certainly resulted in mass destruction if both sets of parents hadn't interceded. Molly was pregnant, and her brothers were set on avenging what they considered their sister's defilement. Argus's siblings were intent on protecting their brother.

The couple had agreed to meet to discuss their situation in a discrete, private location at a local park. Their plan was discovered by both sets of siblings, who followed them. Luckily, Hermione found out about it by overhearing Albus and Sarah, and contacted Ginny. The witches and their husbands showed up as just as their children faced off, wands drawn, threats and insults flying back and forth from both sides

Hermione and Ginny were the voices of reason that ended the standoff, true love winning the day of course. Percival and Severus were no help. Both wizards were more than willing to join their children in glorious battle. But since a child was on the way, the fathers grudgingly made peace and their children were married.

Both the Snapes and the Hornswallows were contented with how their lives turned out. They had large, loving families and lived long, prosperous and happy lives. When they finally departed this world, they left behind stories, legacies and traditions that endured for generations to come.

There were many more adventures to be had by the offspring of Severus Snape and Lord Percival Hornswallow the 2nd.

But that, dear readers, is another story.

THE END

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A/N: And that my friends is the end of "You Promised It Would Last Forever." I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a last review. I already have another idea percolating in the works. :) Catch you next story. ~ Ms_Figg