Chapter Text
Albus Dumbledore stood his ground as Voldemort flew in the air and landed in front of him. The crowd parted around them as they sized each other up, the fighters of dark and light alike, but Septimius remained close by.
Voldemort fired the first curse, which Albus easily dodged and then sent a powerful spell in return. The Dark Lord conjured a silver shield and blocked the curse. Tom had gotten even more powerful it seemed. They dueled for a while, none of them gaining the upper hand and Albus grew frustrated. He needed to distract Voldemort so that Septimius could put an end to him and with that end this battle before the number of casualties became too grave.
He needed to strike harder, he decided and casted a fiery rope around Voldemort, which Voldemort transfigured into a snake and sent after him, he then casted a killing curse. The snake and the curse nearly struck him simultaneously, but his familiar Fawkes dived into their path. He burst into flames and was immediately reborn as a tiny, featherless phoenix.
In that moment they heard an animalistic shriek, the sound of an enraged creature, powerful and threatening yet so mournful and heart breaking it sent chills down his spine. The sound distracted even Voldemort who turned slightly to the source. And that was enough for Septimius. The man ran forward, throwing a black object at Voldemort and then Voldemort was the one screaming. Albus watched in stunnishment as something was sucked out of the dark wizard, vaguely aware of the killing curse that the crumbling man casted in Septimius’ direction. Soon, the Dark Lord dropped to the ground, his red eyes wide with terror and empty of life.
Albus tore his eyes from the scene and started firing spells at the Death Eaters. He could feel the wards slipping back into place and he could tell the moment they were whole, it was then that they were all shielded from the intruders’ curses and spells.
“We must capture them!” he announced and started conjuring robes and binding the Death Eaters and saw the others follow suit.
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Severus woke up to someone whispering soothingly to him and playing with his hair. “Mom?” he murmured groggily.
“Yes, sweetheart, mother is here.” came the response.
“Is he awake?” asked a male voice this time. “How are you feeling?”
“I …” started Severus. He suddenly tensed and put a hand on his stomach, frowning.
“The baby is doing fine.” reassured his mother.
Severus didn’t calm down until he felt the gentle kick against his hand.
“You’ll need to rest for a while but she’s going to be alright.” said the man as he stepped closer and casted a few diagnosis spells on him. It was Andrew, he realized.
“What about Sirius? What happened to Sirius?”
“He was … injured but he’s going to recover.”
“I have to go see him.” said Severus and made to sit up but Andrew’s strong arms stopped him.
“You’re on bed rest until I tell you otherwise.”
“But …”
“No buts Severus. If you want to keep this baby you’ll need to rest.” said Andrew sternly.
Severus stopped struggling and leaned back in defeat. “If I could just see him …” he trailed off, trying to keep his emotions in check.
“Sirius is all the way back in England. He’s in St. Mungo’s, they’re tending to him.” said Andrew with a sigh.
Severus looked around. He was not in Prince Manor, the walls were covered with wood instead of stones and the furniture in the room was much simpler.
“We’re in France, at your great uncle’s house.” supplied Eileen.
“You portkeyed here. Do you remember that?” asked Andrew.
Severus nodded slowly. He had portkeyed right from the battlefield. “Did we win? Is everyone alright?” he whispered.
There was a few minutes of silence but Eileen spoke up. “We did win. Your cousins are fine but your grandfather and your aunt Noreen didn’t make it.” she said quietly.
“And Lucius.” added Andrew. He sighed again. “Your left arm is broken. Remus saw you running on it in your animagus form. Let’s just say it didn’t help and it can’t be healed with a spell. I can’t give you Skelegro either because of your pregnancy, only basic healing potions.”
Severus was now aware of the pain in his arm, but he had too much on his mind to care, he thought of how crushed his cousins were at loosing Septimius and Noreen and how Draco was going to grow up without a father and how his husband was so far away. “Do you think Sirius can come visit me?” he asked.
“Perhaps not right away but I’m sure he’ll come when he’s better.” answered Andrew. Severus didn’t like the sad tone in his voice at all.
“Of course he will! And you two are going to have so much fun here.” said Eileen cheerfully. “Everyone’s so happy that you finally came. You’ll get to see all of our relatives and go shopping for your girl like you wanted. We have so much to look forward to! We’re going to have two weddings, first for Andrew and Kayla and then Remus and Lisa, they’re family too.” she added, smiling.
Severus couldn’t help but smile back at her.
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Sirius looked out the window along the street, watching the children play. He hadn’t been in his room at number twelve Grimmauld place in years and it seemed as if nothing had changed. But he had changed a great deal since then and after getting hit with that curse looked quite different as well.
Everyone at the hospital kept telling him how lucky he was that Bellatrix had missed, that he hadn’t lost an eye to the dark curse but he didn’t feel lucky at all with the ugly scar that covered half his face. It started from his temple and went down over his cheek, all the way to his neck. He had wanted to be alone, he didn’t want anyone to see him like this, he didn’t want Severus to see him.
His parents and Regulus had been with him the whole time and had taken him home with them when he had refused to go back to Prince Manor. The Princes were not happy about this and had tried to persuade him to go back with them, but he just couldn’t.
Sirius stood from his perch on the bed when he heard voices from the living room and slowly climbed down the stairs.
“It’s been a week! Enough is enough.” he heard someone say and immediately recognized the voice. It was Alexander, Severus’ eldest cousin.
“He was hurt. He needs to rest.” hissed Regulus in answer.
“Severus needs him.”
“Severus has all of you taking care of him. He’ll go see him when he’s ready.”
“It has to be now!” snapped Alexander.
“I’m not going.” said Sirius, and everyone turned to look at him. He shifted self-consciously to hide his face.
“He thinks you’re dead.”
“What?!” exclaimed Sirius. “You didn’t tell him I was alive?”
“Of course we’ve told him. He believed us at first but when you didn’t show up … He’d come looking for you himself if he wasn’t on bed rest.”
“Why is he on bed rest?” he asked. It was the first time he was hearing this.
“Why do you think? The battle and the animagus transfiguration put too much pressure on the baby and Severus isn’t getting any better with all this stress. He needs to see you, afterwards you can come back and stay here for as long as you want.” said Alexander in exasperation.
“Don’t listen to him, son. You don’t have to go if you’re not ready.” said Walburga, looking down her nose at Alexander.
Sirius closed his eyes, at war with himself but finally his protectiveness won over his insecurities. “Alright. Let’s go.” he told him at last.
Alexander nodded, looking relived and pulled a portkey out of his pocket. They both grabbed the book marker and the next second they were gone.
Alexander accompanied him to the door to Severus’ room and patted his shoulder before leaving him there. Sirius took several steadying breaths until he could work up the courage to open the door.
Severus was lying on bed with a thick book on his lap. “Still not hungry.” he said in irritation without looking up.
Sirius didn’t say anything, he just stood there as if glued to the spot. Severus looked up eventually and gasped. “S … Sirius. Is that really you?” he whispered as if afraid to talk louder.
Sirius' heart broke at his disbelieving tone and he stepped closer. He flinched when he saw Severus notice the scar.
“Does it hurt?” asked Severus gently.
Sirius shook his head and looked away.
“I saw you fighting. You were so brave, I’m proud of you.” said Severus.
“I can’t stay.” he murmured, still not looking at him.
“Don’t you want to say hello to Adelaide? She’s moving like crazy.”
A lump formed in Sirius' throat at the mention of his daughter and he slowly stepped closer. Severus took his hand and squeezed it before putting it on his stomach.
“I look hideous.” he said before he could stop himself.
“You look as handsome as you ever did.”
“What if … what if she’s scared of me? Because of the scar?” he asked, looking his husband in the eyes for the first time.
Severus held his gaze. “How can she be scared of you? You’re going to be an amazing father and she’s going to love you, I promise. You’ll be her favorite guy in the world.” he answered earnestly.
Sirius couldn’t bare looking at those intense black eyes anymore. He looked down and frown as he saw Severus’ other arm. “Why is your arm in a cast?” he asked.
Severus sighed. “It’s broken. I can’t take Skelegro because of Adelaide, so it has to heal the old fashion way.” he explained. “They can’t give me a strong pain killer either.” he added with a grimace.
Sirius felt a pang at his heart. He should have come sooner. “How have you been?” he asked
“Miserable. You how I get when I have to stay in bed.”
“Alexander said you thought I was dead.”
“I saw you die in that vision.” admitted Severus. “When I close my eyes I can still see it.”
“But you said …” Sirius made to protest.
“I lied.” Severus said simply. “You have no idea how happy I am too see you. I was scared all this time I was going to lose you. Please don’t leave me again.”
“Never.” he swore, meaning it.
“Can you hold me?” asked Severus pleadingly.
Sirius nodded and slipped under the covers beside his husband, pulling him close. He had been an idiot, staying away. Severus and Adelaide were alive, that was all that mattered.
……………………………………………………
Severus held Adelaide as she petted the ponies and ran his fingers over the girl's black locks, smiling to himself. She was one of the most precious creature on earth, he thought to himself and froze for a moment. He had seen this in his vision six years ago. That vision had been the reason he had decided to keep Adelaide. Seeing her lovely face and hearing her beautiful voice and how happy she was. His pregnancy had been hard, the hardest time of his life but he wouldn’t take any of it back.
He was drawn out of his thoughts when something slammed into his legs. Severus looked down to see his three year old son grinning at him, his blue eyes were shining with glee and he had wrapped his tiny arms around Severus’ leg.
“Adam! Where did you come from?” he asked, smiling down at the boy.
“With daddy.” answered Adam pointing to Sirius, who was walking up to them with a picnic basket in hand.
Severus put Adelaide down and took each of the children’s hands in his own. “Let’s go before daddy eats all the pie.” he told them as he walked them over to where Sirius was setting up the blanket.
Adelaide giggled. “He wouldn’t.” she said.
“I like pie.” Adam informed them.
“Me, too.” said Sirius, picking Adam up and settling his on his hip. “You want to help cut up the pie, imp?” he asked.
Severus stood there and watched Sirius as he gave each of the kids a piece, talking and laughing with them.
“Sev?” asked Sirius as he looked up and noticed Severus staring.
“I was just thinking. I have no idea how I got to be so happy.”
Sirius tugged at his hand and pulled him down, kissing him lightly. “Wait till you taste this pie.” he said.