"I don't want milk for breakfast, I want pumpkin juice!" Harry demanded. Severus, hiding behind The Daily Prophet, was very close to losing his temper. In addition to being a brat at the table he'd given Severus a headache earlier today while trying to find a suitable outfit for his son to wear today. Harry had vetoed everything with flimsy reasons. Finally, Severus clothed Harry magically and made it so he couldn't remove his clothing until he accepted the outfit.

Now, as the little boy was doing his best imitation of an annoying three year old, Harry was thumping his heels in an obnoxious rhythm against the legs of his chair.

Echo placed breakfast in front of her son and then sat down to eat hers. After a few minutes she looked over to Harry and he had touched neither his sausages, nor his eggs. He certainly hadn't gone near his small bowl of fruit.

"Can I have sugar on my fruit?" asked Harry a bit mournfully.

"No," said his father sharply as he snapped his paper in warning.

Harry glowered and speared a sausage with his fork. It was really very tasty, but he'd really wanted pancakes and pumpkin juice for breakfast. He grimaced at the tall glass of milk. Milk was all right if it was on cereal, or even porridge, but drinking it all by itself was 'yucky'.

A tap-tap-tapping on the dining room window meant that an owl had arrived. Welcoming any excuse to leave his disappointing breakfast, Harry jumped up from the table. Like a cobra striking from nowhere, Severus hand shot out and caught his son by the arm.

"Harry!" snapped his father from behind his newspaper. "Sit down and finish your breakfast."

Harry almost told his father what he could do with breakfast (he was thinking of feeding it to Hector), but thought better of it. Severus' voice had that scary warning tone to it that meant he was really close to getting a smack. He flopped back down on his chair while his mother waved a hand. Her magic opened the window just long enough for the owl to come in.

Pigwidgeon fluttered and spun around the dining room doing a rather fair imitation of Harry on his sugar high at the wedding reception last night. Echo tried to catch the silly bird but he flooped up and then dove towards Severus' newspaper. Pigwidgeon tore through the newspaper and thudded against the wizard's chest before dropping into his lap.

Severus slammed down the remains of the news, picked up the owl, and dumped him on the table where he lay, gracelessly, with his claws up in the air.

Harry couldn't help himself at Pigwidgeon's antics and snorted just as he had a mouthful of milk. He coughed and spluttered, spitting out most of the milk forcefully.

"Merciful Cybele!" groused Echo. As she jumped up to Evanesco the mess Harry had made. "I've a good mind to tell Molly to bury that bird next spring."

Harry leaned over his plate and scooped up the small owl in both of his hands. "That's mean, mum!" He cuddled the bird and removed the shrunken message tied around his leg. "It's for you, Dad."

Severus had been trying to repair his newspaper so he could finish reading it, but gave up. He took the message from his son. "Thank you, Harry."

"You didn't mean that, did you, mum?" Harry asked as Pigwidgeon put up a small fuss at being cuddled like a cat.

"No, sweetheart, I didn't mean that. Why don't you put Pig down and go get him a bit of Hedwig's food?"

"Okay." Harry put the bird down gingerly on the table and then scooted off his chair and went into the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with a small bowl of owl food. "What is it, Dad?"

"An invitation to the Burrow on Christmas Eve," replied Severus dubiously. "I don't know about that."

"Why?" asked Harry as he finally started on his lukewarm scrambled eggs.

"Just that a lot of people will be there."

"I think we should go, Severus. I know that Draco and Hermione have been invited, and in case you've forgotten, Vernon Dursley is going to be introduced to the Weasley clan." Echo smiled wickedly.

Severus smirked. "Too true. I had forgotten that."

"I forgot, too," said Harry. "Why's Uncle Vernon going to be there?"

"Your uncle is dating Molly Weasley's cousin, Madison Prewett. Madison, whose only surviving family is Molly, will be introducing Vernon and Dudley to Molly and her family."

Severus stared at Echo. "How did you learn all of that?" he asked with a touch of amusement.

"Gossip, m'dear! Where else?" Echo grinned. She rose to her feet and with a wave sent her dish and Severus' dish into the kitchen and into the sink. "You ought to reply, Severus, and let Molly know that we'll be there."

"I'll take care of that now, Beauty," replied Severus. He rose, glanced at his ruined newspaper, then aimed a glare at Pigwidgeon before heading for his study.

"Finish your breakfast, Harry," said his mother as she went into the kitchen.

"It's cold," he complained as he stirred the remainder of his eggs around his plate. Echo warmed up his food and then gave Harry a warning glare. Harry huffed and dutifully finished his breakfast.

In the kitchen, Dobby was washing the dishes as he hummed slightly off tune Christmas carols.

"Dobby is wondering, Madam, is you and Sir and Harry going Christmas shopping today?"

"If not today, Dobby, we will tomorrow. Is there anything we can pick up for you?" asked Echo.

"No, no, Madam. Dobby is needing to do holiday shopping, too, but Dobby is not wanting to leave when Family are gone."

"I'll know this afternoon what our plans are, Dobby. Severus has a bit of work he has to get through," she explained.

"Is fine, Madam." Dobby grinned and went back to his humming.

Later that morning Echo sat on the floor on the left side of the low coffee table in the living room. Harry, on his knees, was just to her right, leaning on his forearms as he watched his mother draw. Echo was working on the layout for her research library.

"Where do you want everyone to sit?" Echo asked Harry.

He studied the layout and then pointed to an empty area. "There. You could put some windows in the corner and then here is where the tea lady could be. Will you have coffee and pumpkin juice, too?"

"I don't see why not. At least your father would be happy to have coffee served," smirked Echo as she glanced quickly over her shoulder to Severus who sat by the fire.

"Oh! Mum, you should serve cream puffs, too!" Harry declared brightly.

Severus looked up from some paperwork he was going through. "Is this going to be a research library, or a cafe? Coffee, tea, crumpets, biscuits, cream puffs. I haven't heard a thing about books."

"We've got books, Dad!" Harry picked up the parchment and brought it over to his father. He leaned against the arm of his father's chair as he pointed out various features. "See, the store part is going to be here, in front. There's going to be a lot of books people want to buy. Then over here is where the tea lady will be serving tea to customers. If you want to do research, then you go through here and see these lines?"

"I see them, Harry. What are they?" asked Severus.

"Those are wards. A lot of books are really old, or rare and people might try to steal them, so mum's going to have these wards that keep people from stealing. And, there's also going to be spells to keep really, really old books purrzerved."

"Preserved," his father corrected. Severus pointed to an area beyond the research area. "What's this spot going to be?"

"Scrolls. That's going to have its own special wards because scrolls are more... uhm... what did you say they were, mum?" Harry asked as he turned towards his mother.

"Delicate, Harry," she replied.

"Yeah, that's it. They're delicate." Harry pointed to another area near the scrolls room. "And right next to the scroll room is mum's office. See that little box right there?"

Severus pretended to squint so he could see the little box that had two tiny letters beneath it. "H. S. Hmmm, what could that be, I wonder? Hungry Snakes?"

Harry grinned at his father's teasing smirk. "That's MY desk! Mum says I get a place, too!"

Severus took the parchment from his son and studied it thoughtfully. "I don't see a place anywhere for me. How about a potions lab?"

"We could do that," said Harry, taking his father's jest seriously.

Severus chuckled softly. "Thank you, but I think I'll stick with the lab I have, Harry."

Echo snatched the layout plans from her husband. "We'll work on this later. Severus, are you at a place in your paperwork you can leave?"

Severus glanced down at the proposed contracts he was reviewing. "I think so." With a flick of his wand, he sent the contracts to his study. "Do I sense plans in the air?"

Echo kissed his forehead. "Yes, time for Christmas shopping."

"Yay!" Harry began to dance around the living room and then he ran up the stairs to his bedroom before his father could chide him for running in the house.

Severus watched his son vanish. "That was a short celebration," he mused as he rose to his feet and summoned his winter cloak and Echo's cloak. "What does he need from his bedroom?"

"I think he's getting his list and his saved up allowance," she explained as she put on her heavy, burgundy velvet cloak.

A moment later Harry came thumping noisily down the stairs. Severus frowned. "Harry James Potter Snape!" Harry froze at the sound of his father's raised voice.

Harry stepped slowly and meekly into the living room. "Yes, Dad?"

"I have told you over and over again NOT to run in the house. Why don't you listen to me?" Severus demanded.

Harry stared down at his feet. He really had no answer that would satisfy his father. Running was the next best thing to flying and it just got you to where you wanted to go faster.

When no answer seemed forthcoming, Severus said firmly, "No answer? Fine. Listen up, young man. The next time I catch you running in the house, it's five smacks and 20 minutes in the corner."

Harry's head shot up and his jaw dropped. "But, da-ad!"

"No buts. I'm tired of telling you not to run and you not listening. One way or another, you're going to learn to listen when I ask you to do something." He held out his hand. "Accio Harry's purple robes!" The robes sped out of the closet and into his hand.

Harry glared at Severus and crossed his arms over his chest belligerently. "I don't wanna go now."

Severus quickly counted to ten and then let out a sigh of exasperation. "I suppose it's your plan to punish all of your friends, then?"

Harry frowned. He didn't understand how he was punishing his friends. He was just angry that his father made such a big fuss about him running in the house.

"I'm not punishing anyone," he asserted, his glower faltering somewhat.

"Oh?" Severus right eyebrow rose appreciably. "If you choose not to go Christmas shopping today, then there will be no gifts, from you to your friends. We won't be taking you out another day."

"That's not fair," muttered Harry.

Echo took Harry's winter robes from her husband's hand. "Life's not always fair, sweetheart. Now, come over here and let's see if we can salvage this day."

Harry gave up his rebellion, for now, and let his mother help him into his robes, hat, and she wrapped his scarf once around his neck. The little boy then followed his parents out of their house and down the long walk to the Apparation Point Severus and Albus had fashioned when they re-did the wards on Fairwinds. When Harry automatically wrapped his arms around his father, Severus knew that at least for today, he was forgiven for being an over-bearing parent. He patted his son's back and then they Apparated to Hogsmeade.

Light flakes of snow were just beginning to fall over Hogsmeade when the Snape family arrived on the main street. Up and down the busy thoroughfare were witches and wizards making their last minute purchases for Christmas. Storefronts glittered with fairy lights, candles, or had windows wreathed in holly and ivy. Everywhere one walked were the wonderful aromas of pine, bayberry, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. A group of carolers in front of the Three Broomsticks were the final touch for the holiday atmosphere.

Echo and Severus would go their separate ways, in order to be able to surprise the other, or Harry with their gifts on Christmas day. Harry went with his father, first, and would shop with his mother after they had lunch.

Severus' first stop was Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. Harry followed behind his father kicking at little snow drifts on the side of the sidewalk. When he'd kicked snow at the back of his father's legs for a third time, Severus caught the boy's hand and made him walk at his side. Once they were in the shop, Severus let Harry go, but with a quick warning not to touch anything.

Harry rather liked the Scrivenshaft's. The quill rests, quill holders, and the inkwells were the most interesting thing in the store. They ranged from purely functional to decorative to outrageous. Harry saw a set of crystal inkwells. There were seven inkwells, each a colour of the rainbow. The set also came with seven, small bottles of ink. Taking out his list, and glancing about to see where his father was, he made a quick change on his shopping list and then moved away from the set.

Severus was nearly done with his shopping in Scrivenshaft's and walked over to where Harry was looking at all the elaborate accessories.

"Did you need to purchase anything for someone on your list, Harry?"

"Hermione, maybe. Up on that shelf I can't reach." Harry pointed and Severus looked up to see several porcelain quill rests.

"Is there a particular one you like for Miss Granger?" asked Severus.

"The one with the pink ladies on it." Harry watched as his father lifted that one from off the shelf so he could have a closer look. It had a tray with a French countryscape on it in dusky pink and the holder itself had a bust of a pretty French country girl on it. Harry smiled. "Yeah. I think Hermione would like that. Can I afford it, Dad?"

Severus turned the quill rest upside down, and found the magically glowing price tag. "Two sickles."

"Cool!"

"Let's go pay for our purchases, then." Severus placed a hand against his son's back and directed him towards the counter while the youngster fished around in his purse for the right amount.

They paid for their purchases and some of them were gift-wrapped in the shop. Right before they left the shop, Severus shrank their purchases and tucked them into his pocket. They walked out onto the sidewalk and prepared to head for another shop when Harry's attention was taken captive by a commotion going on about three shops away. When he stopped, since Severus was holding onto his hand, the older wizard stopped as well.

"Harry, we're going this..."

Harry began running towards the small crowd that had gathered. Severus was about to run after his unruly child when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He narrowed his gaze to take in the small crowd of witches and wizards, and then he was loping down the sidewalk.

"Mum! Mum!" Harry had seen a portion of the burgundy velvet that was his mother's winter cloak. He pushed through the people, kicking someone in the shin that wouldn't let him through.

"That's my wife! Let me through!" ordered Severus as he bodily pushed a few gawkers aside.

The crowd parted except for one witch who was cradling Echo's head on her lap. Echo, whose olive skin rarely gave away her body's conditions, looked distinctively pale. Severus knelt down in the snow and wasn't surprised to see Harry on his knees holding his mother's hand.

"She fainted, professor," said the witch.

Severus looked up and saw that the witch was Edwina Gingold; a Slytherin who had finished school about three years ago.

Edwina continued, "She'd be better if we could get her inside, Professor Snape."

Severus scooped his limp wife into his arms, looked around, and saw Edwina directing him to a shop. "In here, sir. This is my shop." Edwina opened the door and ushered Severus and his son inside. She quickly transfigured a chair into a lounger and Severus gently put Echo down upon it. Edwina then draped a blanket over Echo.

"What happened, Miss Gingold?" demanded Severus.

Harry seated himself on the lounger at his mother's feet. Edwina replied, "Madam Snape was in here buying some yarn and notions for her sewing. She seemed just fine while we were talking and then she walked outside and I looked out of the display window just as she dropped."

"Sev... Severus?" Echo whispered as she slowly came to.

"I'll go make some tea, shall I?" asked Edwina.

"Please," Severus said a bit sharply. His voice calmed as he touched the back of his hand to Echo's cheek and forehead. "How are you feeling, my dear?"

"Fine. Did I faint?" she asked as she tried to sit up.

Severus helped his wife to adjust. "Yes, you did."

Edwina brought out the tea and handed a cup to Severus that he gave to Echo. "I fainted?" She sipped gratefully at the tea.

"Echo, I think we ought to return home," Severus suggested.

"Nonsense. I'm already feeling better," Echo stated firmly.

"At least let me cast a Diagnostic Spell." He had his wand in his hand and was about to do so, when Echo placed her hand over the wand and glared at him.

"I'm fine, Severus. Could we just finish our shopping?"

Although that sounded like a question, Severus knew better than to answer it. His wife was not asking for permission. He let out a small sigh and then nodded. "All right then, my dear. However, when we get home I'm going to contact Healer Bell."

Echo put down her tea and lowered her feet to the floor. "We will not," she snapped. "I just didn't have enough breakfast this morning." She turned to Edwina and gave her a smile. "Thank you so much for the tea."

Edwina nodded. "You're very welcome, Madam Snape."

Severus ushered his wife and son out of the shop and back out into the street. He looked down at Echo and regarded her. He was still concerned, but she looked entirely recovered. Echo was not a woman who became easily ill, which was why Severus was still worried.

Once the Snapes were home from shopping for Christmas, Severus tried to talk Echo into calling Healer Bell.

"Severus, I said I'm all right," huffed Echo as she dropped onto the sofa in the living room.

"Echo, you've never even gotten so much as a cold since we met. Now you faint and you think nothing of it?"

Harry put in his two cents as he was removing his warm winter outer wear. "It was scary, mum."

Severus took Harry's scarf, cloak, and cap and hung them up in the closet by the door.

"I know it looked scary, but it was nothing, Harry. I really am feeling just fine now," assured Echo.

Harry ran over, gave his mother a kiss, and at a nod from his father, he headed upstairs to the playroom.

"If you would just let me cast a..." Severus tried again, but the flat, dark warning look he got from his wife finally made him give up. He hung up his cloak, shut the closet door a bit too harshly, and left the living room to go work in his study. That door he slammed shut.

Echo slumped back against the sofa and sighed. Pushing herself off the sofa, she first went to hang up her cloak, and then she went to Severus' study door. She hesitated for a moment before knocking. There was no answer. She knocked again and still did not receive an answer.

"Severus? Would you please let me in?"

The study door swung open to reveal Severus at his desk pretending to be caught up in the paperwork cluttering the surface of his desk. Echo sat down, primly, on the opposite side of the desk and clasped her hands together. Severus still would not look away from his work. She waited several, very long minutes, before deciding it was up to her to speak.

"I don't want you to do a Diagnostic Spell on me because... because I wasn't ready..." Echo paused and Severus looked up just as her skin paled visibly.

Severus had his wand out very quickly and cast the Diagnostic Spell over his wife as she dropped her head into her hands.

"You're pregnant," he whispered. Echo lifted her head and he was disconcerted to see that she didn't look at all happy about her condition. "How long have you known?" His tone was faintly accusatory.

"Three weeks." Echo hated the shadowed look of hurt in her husband's eyes. She spoke quickly, "I didn't want to tell you in case..." she faltered.

"You were afraid of miscarrying?" Severus surmised.

"I miscarried at five weeks and then at seven weeks. I just wanted to wait... to be sure..." she sighed and stared down at her hands.

"You used a Pregnancy Spell?" Echo nodded. "Was it one that told you how far along you are?"

"Today marks the eighth week." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I had planned to tell you on Christmas day. I just wanted to get past those seven weeks, Severus."

Severus stared at Echo for a long while until her head dipped and she was looking down at her feet. "Are you happy about this?" He asked uneasily.

Echo's head snapped up and her hands drifted over her abdomen. "I... I was scared. At first. I haven't really given myself a chance to be happy." She gingerly touched her abdomen.

"Would it ease your mind if we contacted Healer Bell?" Severus had been worried that maybe Echo was truly not happy about being pregnant. With their child.

Echo looked into her husband's eyes and saw within them what he was not voicing. "I want this, Severus. Very much so," she said firmly. "I've just been uneasy about letting myself enjoy being pregnant. Are you happy?"

Severus didn't answer right away since he was still dealing with the fact that Echo had not told him when she knew she was pregnant. He never wanted her to be alone in this and it did hurt that she hadn't come to him. Pushing aside that hurt, he was pleased that she was pregnant. It was a joy that he'd been robbed of with Harry because Lily had concealed the truth of who her son's father was.

"I am, Echo, but I don't want to be left out of any part of this pregnancy. If you're worried or afraid, I want to be there for you. Please don't shut me out."

"I really hadn't meant to, Severus, and I am sorry about not telling you earlier. It really would have been easier if I had." Echo was quiet for several minutes and then smiled sharply. "I can't wait until I send you out for my first craving!"

Severus grimaced, then gave his wife a small, corner-of-the-mouth smile. "I think I may have a potion to prevent that."

After leaving his parents downstairs, Harry fetched wrapping paper, Spell-O-Tape, a pair of scissors, and tossed it all on his bed along with the presents he purchased. He climbed up amidst all of the jumble and was joined by Hector who claimed the end of the bed. Hedwig was watching from her perch by the window.

"This one's for Andrew," said Harry to Hector as he held up one of the many small gifts he had near him. "I got Andrew this really neat quill 'cuz he likes to write stories like Dad does. It's got some magic in it so you can change ink colours."

Harry cut a too large piece of blue paper and wrapped the quill box twice around. The ends of the paper went a bit too far beyond the actual box so he twisted the ends and tied some curly, yellow ribbons around each end. He then picked up a small card and wrote: To Andrew from Harry, on it and stuck it to the package.

"This next one's cool, Hector." He lifted up something that looked like a graduated tube. He put the narrower part of the tube up to his eye and looked at Hector through it. "Know what this is?" He held the tube by each end and then squashed it together. "A telly-scope! It's charmed so you can see all different kinds of patterns in different colours, and you can see dogs, or kneazles, or birds, or hippogriffs. I wanted to get him a pirate eye patch cuz you know Hammy likes pirates. I told him about that ship captain we saw this summer and he said he wants to be a captain someday. Or a pirate. I don't think pirates are really that neat, though. What do you think?"

Hector barked once and Hedwig chimed in with her two cents by hooting and ruffling her feathers.

"Yeah, that's what I said, but Hammy still likes pirates. He's read the story of Treasure Island and said that there were lots of bad pirates in it, but Long John Silver was really a good pirate. He never hurt the kid in it. I asked for that story for Christmas. Do you think Santa Claus will bring that to me?" Hector barked again and Harry grinned. "Cool!"

An hour later Harry emerged from his bedroom with his arms loaded with wrapped presents. He also was bedecked with red, green, silver, and gold glitter in his hair and he'd tied several curly ribbons around his wrists.

He descended the stairs carefully since he couldn't really see where his feet were going. When he spotted his mother in the living room, he shouted, "Mum! Help me!"

Echo was quickly on her feet and made her way over to her son. She divested him of some of the presents and directed him over to the Floo where they piled them.

"Should I put yours and Dad's there, too?" asked Harry.

"No, those can go under our tree, Harry." She stacked the gifts with ones that she and Severus had purchased and wrapped.

Once his arms were empty of the gifts, he started to leave the living room when Echo stopped him.

"Harry," she said, patting the sofa beside her, "would you come over here? I need to talk to you for a few minutes."

Harry hesitated. His mother's voice didn't sound angry, but it definitely had that timbre to it that made him think he was in trouble. He stayed where he was standing; several feet from the sofa. "I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

Echo patted the sofa again. "Harry, come here." Though the command wasn't shouted, it most definitely was a command. Harry shuffled over and then sat down beside his mother. "I wanted to speak to you about your running in the house."

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not gonna do it anymore, mum. Dad said he'd swat me."

"I know he said that, Harry, but I'm telling... no, I'm asking you not to just say you won't run anymore, but to mean it. You're not too bad at following the rules, but this one seems to be hard for you to listen to."

"I like running. It's like flying," Harry explained. "I don't see what's wrong with running in the house when it just gets me places really much faster than walking."

"Running is for outside. It isn't particularly safe to run in the house because you might run into someone, or knock something down and break it. It also causes a lot of unnecessary noise."

Harry slumped against the back of the sofa. For a moment he frowned, then spoke, "You know I'm a kid, right, mum?"

Echo smirked, "I do think I've noticed that, Harry."

"Well, kids run. A lot. It's just something we have to do. It's... uhm... it's like... breathing! Yeah, see that's it. So you and Dad are telling me not to breathe." He grinned at his very logical argument.

"As brilliant as that argument appears to be, you're still not to run in the house. That's one of the rules and it is non-negotiable."

Harry frowned. "What does that mean?"

Echo smiled and planted a kiss onto his forehead. "It means that no matter what, the rules don't change."

"Grown-ups are too fond of rules," Harry groused as he slipped away from his mother. "When I'm grown-up, I'm going to let everyone run in my house!" With a triumphant laugh, he left the living room and headed up the stairs to his bedroom.

Echo leaned back against the sofa, stretched out her legs, and then placed her hands over her abdomen. "So, little one, what do you think of your big brother?" It was too soon for an answering kick, but Echo answered for her unborn child, "I think you'll absolutely fall in love with him."