Harry found Severus in the kitchen, stirring a pot of spaghetti for dinner. “Da, I’m home!” he ran and hugged Sev about the waist.

Severus smiled down upon his stepson, ruffling his dark messy hair fondly. “Hello, imp! What are you doing back here already? Did you forget something?”

Harry buried his face in Sev’s shirt and mumbled something.

“Harry? Did something happen?” Sev asked, concerned.

“Sort of. I . . .I told Dad how I got in trouble and he got mad and he said . . .he needed to talk to Mum.” Harry admitted softly, his eyes starting to tear up. “He said . . .you were a child abuser, Da. What’s that?”

Severus was speechless for about twenty seconds, a vein throbbing in his temple. “He called me a child abuser? How dare he, that arrogant cheating bas—” He broke off abruptly, having made a promise to himself long ago to try very hard not to swear in front of his children, nor to badmouth James Potter to his son, no matter how much he longed to. He swore colorfully in his head, then turned off the spaghetti and knelt down in front of his son. “Harry, sometimes your father, he . . .says things he shouldn’t.”

“I know. ‘Specially about you, Da. I . . .don’t like it when he talks like that about you. But what does it mean? Is it a cuss word?”

“No, son. But it’s not a nice thing to call someone, especially if it’s not true.” Severus hesitated, then decided to tell his son the truth. He didn’t want to lie to him. “A child abuser is someone who . . .hurts children on purpose. It can be someone who always yells at a child and tells them they’re worthless or no-good, and it can also be someone who hits a child all the time for everything and anything.”

“Y’mean, like a spanking for everything?”

“Yes, only the person could hit the child too hard and use a belt or a stick and leave marks.” Severus shuddered, recalling his own childhood.

Harry stared up at Severus and suddenly he was angry. “But you didn’t do that to me, Da! You didn’t! My bum stopped hurting after ten minutes. And you even said you were sorry you had to punish me that way. You’re not what Dad said. Why does he say mean things about you, Da? Why?”

“That’s a long story, Harry. And not one you need to hear right now. I need to get supper on the table before your mum gets back. Want to help me set the table?”

Harry nodded eagerly, he liked to help around the house like a grown-up. “I’ll get the forks and knives.” He scurried to the drawer and began to get out the silverware.

Severus watched him for a bit and then drained the spaghetti. He mentally hexed James with a plague of boils for confusing and upsetting poor Harry, who had been raised like his own son from the age of one, ever since Lily had divorced cheating profligate bloody Potter. There were plenty of stories he could tell Harry about how nasty and immature James had been back when they went to school, but he had kept his tongue behind his teeth, because he didn’t want to give Harry a complex. He gritted his teeth and thought, You’re lucky I’m not the same as I was when we were boys, Potter, that I’ve learned to control my temper, or else you’d be missing a few teeth and maybe end up with your tongue in knots too! Calling me a child abuser! Of all the bloody nerve! I am not my father, Merlin help me! I need to talk to Lily after dinner about James. This has gone on long enough. I’ve had it with him telling Harry lies about me and trying to make him hate me. It ends tonight.

He mixed the spaghetti with some marinara sauce and then added meatballs to it. He had just levitated it to the table when he heard Rosie calling from her room, she had woken from her nap and was cranky.

“One minute, Rosebud,” he called, then wiped his hands and went to get his year-old daughter.

He returned to the kitchen, cuddling Rosie in his arms, she was a round-faced cherub with her mother’s fiery hair and Severus’s dark eyes, a perfect blend of both of them. She was wearing a cute all-in-one of emerald green with lace about the collar and cuffs and written across it in graceful script were the words I’m the Baby Gotta Luv Me! She was sucking her thumb and saying, “Dadada!”

Eric wandered in from the den where he had been playing with his toys and said, “Da, when’s dinner? I’m hungry.” He was three and looked like a mini Severus, except he had Lily’s nose and pert chin and her mostly easygoing nature. Rosie had inherited her parents’ temper. He climbed up onto his special booster seat, since he was now “too big” for a high chair. That was for babies like Rosie.

“As soon as your mum gets home, Eric, we’ll eat. For now, have a piece of bread with butter.” Severus said. He snapped his fingers and a buttered roll appeared before his little son.

Rosie whined. “Me. . .me . . .me!” she howled, then pulled Sev’s hair.

“Ow! Rosalind, stop it!” he scolded, removing his daughter’s hand from his hair, which he still wore long. “No pulling my hair.”

Rosie sniffled, looking as if she were about to cry.

“Here,” Sev conjured a hard bread end for her to gnaw on, since she only had six teeth.

Rosie took it and chewed away happily. Severus put her in her chair and summoned milk in spill-proof spelled cups for all the children and a light Sangria for himself and Lily, which they only drank on special occasions. Tonight was the fifth anniversary of their apothecary’s grand opening.

It was hard to believe that it had been five years since they had gone into business, Severus mused. They had opened the shop right after they were married, back when Severus was a newly made Potions Master without a patron and Lily was just finishing her Apothecary Degree. Together, they had pooled their savings to buy the building and opened Snape’s Apothecary upon a brilliant spring morning, complete with a potions lab beneath the shop and a flat above.

The flat was not huge, but then again, it hardly needed to be. The Snapes made a decent living, they were not filthy rich, but comfortably well-off, and content living like ordinary wizards, though both Sev and Lily were masters in their fields and had received several awards and commendations. They had worked hard to get where they were, neither of them had been born with silver spoons and inheritances in the thousands of Galleons like James Potter.

Severus thought that was a lot of Potter’s problem, he had never needed to work for a living, he had always gotten everything handed to him. He had been a late in life baby, born to parents who had never expected to have a child and they had doted on him and spoiled him. He was the quintessential playboy, rich, handsome, and very arrogant. Though he could be charming when he wished and that was how he had gotten Lily to marry him in the first place.

The Floo flared and Lily stepped through. “Hi, I’m home!”

The kids cheered, for now they could eat, since Lily was there to have dinner with them. Severus hugged and kissed his wife, then whispered, “How did it go?”

“Tell you later,” Lily said in an undertone, then went to hug and kiss her baby girl and Eric and Harry.

“Mum, is Dad still mad?” Harry asked uncertainly.

“No, sweetie. He’s gotten over it,” Lily reassured him. It was partially true. “Let’s eat.”

Everyone dug in, spaghetti was a favorite in the Snape house.

* * * * * *

After the kids had been put to bed and all were asleep, Lily told Severus what she had said to James. “I couldn’t believe he said such a thing in front of Harry, Sev! It’s like he just blurts out whatever is in his mind without regard for how it could upset his son or me or . . .anyone.”

“He was always that way, Lil. Seems like he hasn’t changed a bit since school. He’s only gotten older and richer.” Severus sneered. “I’m glad you told him off. If he keeps this up, trying to slander me, I’ll petition the court myself to have Harry removed from him forever because he’s a liar and an unfit parent. Of all the bloody nerve! If he ever said something like that in public . . .does he know the harm it could do my reputation as a reliable apothecary? Or a Potions Master?”

“James is an arse, Sev. He’s nothing but a child trapped in a man’s body. A spoiled brat who needs a good dose of what you gave Harry.” Lily said angrily.

“I agree. Too bad I couldn’t de-age him and give him a good spanking,” Severus said. “I’m sick and tired of him trying to one up himself with Harry, playing the fun dad who never disciplines and always gives out treats and presents and painting me as the bad guy.” He hesitated, then asked quietly, “You don’t think I’m too hard on Harry, do you, Lil? I try not to be, but he’s got that impulse problem like his father, and it needs to be brought under control now, while he’s young. I’m afraid that he might end up like Potter else and . . .I want you to know that I didn’t enjoy punishing him like that at all. I felt like my father when he used to . . .”

“Oh, Sev!” she said, wrapping her arms about him. “You are nothing like your father! Nothing at all alike! And don’t ever let anyone say you are. Harry deserved that spanking, he knows better, and I think he’s learned his lesson. Harry loves you, Sev. He loves you just as much as James, and he would never love a child abuser. Nor would I.”

A second later her mouth found his and he allowed her to kiss away the last of his fears and his anger at James, until all that remained was a red-hot passion for his wife, his beloved Lily, who had given him everything he had ever wanted when she had accepted his marriage proposal five years ago.