The days and weeks passed easily enough for everyone concerned. Severus brewed on his days off and worked on setting up the structure for his business. He garnered contracts with St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, and several apothecaries; one in Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and two in Ireland.

Each contract required specific potions, salves, balms, or powders to distribute. Hogwarts was still stocked by potions brewed by Bill, but Severus had taken over the brewing and supplying of their more complicated stock. Potions such as his version of Skele-Gro that he called Bone Mend Potion. For St. Mungo's he brewed Wolfsbane, Deep Bruise Salve, and several varieties of Nerve Pain Relief potion.

Severus was sitting in the study going over possible contracts he was considering pursuing when Echo came in with sandwiches. She put down the sandwiches and kissed his temple.

"Sit down, Beauty," Severus commanded softly as he was still staring down at a contract. "I'd like your opinion."

Echo took the chair on the other side of her husband's desk and waited. "Opinion on what?" she asked after several minutes of patient waiting had passed.

"This," he handed over the contract. "Madame Izella's of Paris. An unexpected contract, but it might hold some interesting possibilities I hadn't considered for my potions business."

Echo took a few minutes to peruse what Madame Izella was looking for from a Potions Master. "Perfume?" she smiled. "Do Potions Masters work with perfumes?" she handed the contract back to Severus.

"Very few do. It takes a certain olfactory sensitivity," here he tapped the side of his nose, "that many in the profession do not possess. I was a little insulted at her assumption about my nose in her introduction letter..." Severus grimaced, "Anyway, I have dabbled in the Scentual Arts."

"You have? Whatever for?"

For a moment he stared uneasily at his fingers before clasping them tightly together. "I first began exploring the use of scents in my potions as a way of disguising some of the potions Voldemort required of me. For example, Veritaserum has no scent, but it is possible to colour it and make it smell like a benign Calming Potion." Severus drummed his fingertips uneasily upon the desk.

Echo, knowing that this was getting too close to memories her husband had no wish to re-visit, steered the conversation towards something more relevant. "Have you ever created a perfume, Severus?"

"I had occasion to do so. Once. Narcissa, before she married Lucius, had a Muggle Perfumer in Italy that used to create special blends for her, but he couldn't or wouldn't design a perfume just for her. Her complaints about this was, to put it mildly, annoying Lucius and he chose to complain to me one evening. I... boasted... that I could create something for Narcissa, and so Lucius challenged me to do so."

"You don't still brew it for her, do you?" Echo's eyes were slightly narrowed.

Severus smirked, "Jealous, my dear?"

"Hmph. Never!" she declared, then relented. "Hmmm, maybe?" Echo smiled. "A little."

He chuckled, "No. I only brewed it once. Narcissa loved it, but as I was quite busy with other projects, I never brewed it again. Eventually, she stopped asking."

"This Madame Izella wants three exclusive perfumes. What, precisely, does that mean?" asked Echo as she picked up the contract again.

"Financially, you mean?" Echo nodded. "Madame Izella would purchase the recipes for the perfumes so if she chose someone else to brew them, they could. This would also allow her to name them as she wished. I would, however, retain the rights over the recipes, and thus I would be able to demand a reasonable residual percentage of each bottle sold."

"How much do her other perfumes sell for?" asked Echo. She was finally seeing the potential that Severus referred to.

"She currently has a very popular solid parfum that sells for 500 galleons a half ounce."

"Oh Circe! Severus, you should take the contract!"

"Ah, so you see the potential?" he asked with a slight tease to his voice.

"I most certainly do. And, it would be quite different from all the other potions you make. Do you want to take the contract?"

"It does fascinate me," he mused. "I'll owl Madame Izella with a few clarifications and then decide whether or not I'll take the contract."

"Da-ad! Can you help me now with my maths? Please?" Harry had been waiting in the doorway of his father's study for a few minutes, but decided now was the time to interrupt.

"Come here and have a sandwich with your mother and I and then we'll work on your maths," smiled Severus.

"Harry grinned, "Thanks, Dad!" He joined his parents and grabbed a sandwich off the plate. Taking a big bite, he then asked, "Whuf's thif all 'bou' parfoo?"

"Chew first, then talk, you ill-mannered child," ordered Severus firmly, but gently.

Harry chewed, chewed, and chewed, then swallowed. He then asked, "You make perfume, Dad?"

"I will be."

"Don't make it like Daniella's auntie's perfume," requested Harry. "She makes us all cry because we can't breathe with the way she smells!"

Echo started giggling first, then Severus let out an actual guffaw, and Harry stared in puzzlement at his parents. He shook his head as they continued to laugh, and had another bite of his sandwich.

The end of October finally arrived and Hogwarts was abuzz with all the students preparing for the Halloween Feast. After the feast there would be a costume ball for all of the fourth through seventh year students. Severus and Echo had volunteered as chaperons.

"Why can't I go to the ball?" whined Harry as his mother made some adjustments, magically, to his outfit for the day. He was growing, not by leaps and bounds, but just enough that some of his clothing was getting a bit tight.

Severus, finishing up his morning coffee, replied, "I told you already that it is for the older students. You're too young."

"But, I wanted to blast rosebushes with you, Dad!" He tried to squirm away from Echo's ministrations, but she caught him in place with a Sticking Spell to his feet. He glared at his mother.

"Harry, if you don't let me finish adjusting this clothing, you're going to risk popping the seams," she admonished. "Would you like to rip your trousers during playtime and have to have them stay that way all day."

"No," he huffed, crossing his arms. He wasn't so much mad at Echo as he was more mad at his father for not bowing to his wheedling over the party.

Severus finished his coffee and glanced over at his pouting son. "Lose the attitude, young man. You're going to have to learn that you don't always get everything you want."

Harry's jaw dropped open as he stared at his father. "Am I spoiled?" he asked sincerely.

"Not yet," replied Severus rising to his feet and unsticking Harry's feet. "But you will be if you expect me or your mother to give in to your demands all the time. Now, do you want to be a spoiled brat?" Severus purposely put all the distaste he could into the question as he regarded Harry.

Harry studied the tips of his school shoes for almost a minute, then looked up at Severus who had not moved, or changed his expression. He shook his head. "No. I want to be a good boy, Dad."

Severus rested his palm on his son's head. "You ARE a good boy, Harry, and your mother and I wish to help you stay that way."

"Will there be a time when I can blast rosebushes with you?" he asked, hopefully.

Severus chuckled. "I'm sure there will be, even though I won't be working at Hogwarts much longer."

Harry hugged Severus. "Great!"

"Well, that crisis is over," teased Echo. "Shall we get you to school?"

"Sure thing, Mum. Bye, Dad!"

Several hours later Severus Apparated from Fairwinds to Hogwarts. Severus walked through the first snowfall of the year towards the castle. Once inside the Entrance Hall, he removed his outer cloak, shook off the snow, and then shrank the garment so he could pocket it.

Severus then left the Entrance Hall and disappeared into the corridor that would eventually lead him to the library. He was nearly there when he heard someone greeting him.

"Good afternoon, Professor Snape." Luna Lovegood was seated on the stone floor with her narrow back resting against the stone wall. Although she was smiling at him in that ethereal manner of hers, he clearly saw that she'd been recently crying.

"Miss Lovegood, do you not have a class at this time?" He didn't ask the girl the most obvious question first, because he'd learned, after having the strange child in his classes for five years, that the direct approach rarely worked.

"I suppose I ought to be in Charms, but Professor Flitwick excused me. Do you need to see my note, sir?" The Potions Master promptly stuck out his hand and Luna gave him the note.

"It says you were excused so you could go to the Infirmary. This is obviously not the Infirmary."

"Dandy Flies," she sighed the explanation.

"Pardon me? What are Dandy Flies?"

"They're horrible. You'd think with such a pretty name, that they might be as pretty, but Dandy Flies are not. They're wicked creatures who give no thought to those they torment. I managed to slip away from them and so far they have yet to find me. You wouldn't tell them where I am, would you, sir?" Her pale, silvery grey eyes pleaded with him not to give away her hiding place.

Another thing Severus had learned about this peculiar Ravenclaw was that sometimes, the creatures she made up in her labyrinthine mind, did exist. In the matter of the mysterious 'Dandy Flies', he surmised that Luna was being bullied. Again.

He stretched out a hand and helped her to her feet when she grasped it. He then crossed his arms over his chest. "Can you tell me, Miss Lovegood, what mischief these Dandy Flies were up to?"

Luna crooked her finger at him and she whispered, "They'll hear me."

Severus leaned down just enough so that Luna was able to whisper in his ear. When she was finished, she pointed a slim finger towards the library.

"Wait here, Miss Lovegood."

Luna watched placidly as the Potions Master billowed dramatically into the library. She smiled at the sound of a book cracking against the surface of a table. That sound was followed by a strangled 'yeep'. Severus then emerged from the library with two, very guilty girls: a Ravenclaw seventh year and a Hufflepuff fifth year, walking in front of his wand tip. He jabbed his wand into the shoulder of the Ravenclaw girl.

"Spit it out, Miss Granier!" he snapped.

"Sorry!" she yelped. "I mean, really, we didn't mean any harm, Lovegood. It was just a prank. That's all. I swear!"

"I'm sorry, too," echoed the Hufflepuff girl.

"This prank appears to hurt, Eliza." For emphasis, Luna pulled up the sleeve of her school robes on her right arm. Her pale skin was inflamed with dozens of tiny blisters.

"Fifty points each from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," intoned Severus' most dire voice from behind the two girls. "And detention with Madame Pomphrey for one week. Go!"

The two girls didn't protest, but took flight the moment the older wizard admonished them.

"Miss Lovegood, you ought to be able to get to the Infirmary now without the worrying interference from Dandy Flies."

The girl smiled and nodded as she pulled down her sleeve. "I'll be fine, Professor. Thank you." Luna started to walk away down the corridor, but then she stopped. "Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Lovegood?"

"I'm very happy that you're no longer plagued by Wrackspurts." Luna spun away before Severus could say anything. He could only watch, with a firm smirk on his face, as she skipped down the corridor and vanished when she turned a corner.

Severus entered the library and saw various students eyeing him warily after he'd hustled Eliza Granier and her Hufflepuff co-conspirator out of the quiet library. Upon meeting his cold gaze, the students eyes dropped hastily to parchment or book. He made his way to the Restricted Section where he found Echo sitting at the top of a ladder her head bent bent over a large tome upon her lap. She was obviously reading and quite absorbed by the content.

"I thought you were supposed to be cataloging these books, not indulging your curiosity."

Echo's head shot up, startled by her husband's silent arrival. She slammed the book shut and looked like someone who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I am!" she stated with a smile.

Severus walked over and lifted the book from his wife's lap. "A Detailed History of the Vampire by Scion Alucard." He put the book down upon a nearby desk gingerly. "I think I'm jealous. No wonder you get caught up reading."

"That's from the Riddle library. There are some astonishingly fascinating books! Some of them that I'm rather surprised the Ministry sent on to Hogwarts." She started down the ladder, catching her husband's hand as he assisted her. "Come look at this one, Severus!"

He followed Echo over to one section where she drew out a rather fragile looking, soft, leather-bound book with no title. "Handwritten," she spoke reverently. "It's a journal that belonged to Salazar Slytherin which outlines discussions he had with the other Founders over the dangers of wizards mixing with Muggles."

Severus took the narrow book and carefully opened it. He had read some books authored by Slytherin, but he'd never seen anything handwritten. It was intriguing to see the ancient wizard's strong, elegant script on the rough edged, parchment pages.

Echo gave her husband several minutes in perusing the delicate journal before she interrupted him. "Severus, I've been thinking..."

He closed the journal and replaced it on the shelf, giving his full attention to his wife.

Echo laced her fingers through her husband's long fingers and dropped her gaze down to their hands. "I loved my bookshop, but after seeing all these wonderful books, I'd like my own library." She lifted her eyes to Severus'. "A research library." Her voice sped up slightly. "There was a wonderful one in Salem, and I spent a lot of time there. It was a cathedral of books. An absolute wonder. I've never heard of such a library here. It seems like all the libraries are privately owned. It might take all my life, but how extraordinary would it be to collect books such as Salazar Slytherin's journal?"

Severus released one of his hands and caressed Echo's cheek. "You're not asking me for my permission, are you, Beauty?" A slight smile ghosted across his mouth.

Echo shook her head, then spoke, "Well, maybe I am. It would hardly contribute an income to our family... and... I'd have to travel sometimes in pursuit of particular books. It could take me away from you, until I could afford to hire a book hunter."

"If it's what you would love doing, then I think it is something you should pursue. I also see no reason why I couldn't help you in hunting for books. Such travel could also be educational for Harry if he isn't in school at the time."

Echo threw her arms around Severus. "Yes, oh yes, it would be! Thank you for agreeing, Severus. Could we begin hunting for a proper building, soon?"

"First decide where you want your library, Echo, then we'll look for a proper place to house your library. I think it might be a good idea for you to sketch the interior of the library. Make certain that you have a visual idea of what you want." Severus smiled at his wife's obvious excitement over her new project.

"I'll do a sketch tonight. Harry can help me." Echo grinned and then suddenly frowned. "What are you doing here, Severus? Shouldn't you be interviewing for new contracts?"

"Today is the little Halloween party at Harry's school," he grimaced.

"Oh! I completely forgot! Let me go sign out for today and I'll meet you outside the library." Echo quickly ascended on tiptoe and kissed her husband's cheek before slipping away.

Severus strolled back out of the library, casting warning glares at some of the students; just to keep them on their toes.