Once the Dursley’s had signed the guardianship papers Severus and Harry made their way to the park accompanied by Albus, Minerva, Poppy and Arabella for a birthday picnic. They spent the afternoon playing in the park and playing with some of the new presents Harry had received. By the time it came to early evening the six of them were heading back to Privet Drive; Albus, Minerva and Poppy needed to return to Hogwarts and Severus wanted to get Harry settled at the villa, which was already an hour ahead. Having said goodbye to Albus, Minerva and Poppy Severus swept up the stairs to the room that he and Harry had been sharing. Placing Harry on the bed he took hold of the dragon-hide holdall and with a flick of his wand enlarged the inside so that it was able to hold all of Harry’s belongings as well as his own. Another flick of his wand sent all of their belongings flying around them and into the holdall with the exception of Blackie the panther, whom Harry had not let go of since he had unwrapped it. Once everything was packed, Severus shrank the holdall and placed it into his pocket before scooping Harry up into his arms and proceeding down the stairs where Arabella was waiting

“Oh I’m going to miss you both. I’m so pleased things have worked out. Enjoy the rest of your birthday Harry…or I suppose it’s Alexander now?’ the latter was directed towards Severus

Harry also looked up at Severus questioningly so Severus explained it to him “When I become your new daddy legally at the end of the week then your name is going to change. We’re going to give you a potion as well so that you’ll look like me and I’ll be able to look after you better. And no-one will ever be able to take you away from me.”

“New name?”

“Yes, instead of being called Harry you’ll be called Alexander Lucian Severus Snape. How does that sound?”

“Alex?”

Severus nodded “Yes, Alex. Now, why don’t you say goodbye to Arabella and then we’ll go and see your new great-grandparents and the rest of your new family”

Harry, or Alex as he would now be known, leaned out of Severus’ arms and timidly hugged Arabella “Bye Miss Figg” before he leaned back into his fathers arms.

Once he had done so, Severus smiled at Arabella and patted his pocket to check that their luggage was still in his pocket before he took a pinch of floo powder. Making sure that Alex was firmly held in his arms he threw the powder into the flames and yelled “Villa Principessa” as he stepped into the green flames.

Severus took more care than usual stepping out of the floo, conscious of the toddler cradled in his arms. Looking around the library he noticed that the room was even more immaculate than normal; it was obvious that his grandma had been on a cleaning spree since Octavian had revealed the news that he had been granted guardianship. With Alex cradled in his arms he made his way into the kitchen, the most likely place for his grandparents to be.

He looked into the kitchen to see his grandpa sat at the table and his grandma bustling around bringing food to the table. He looked down at Alex who was taking in the scene curiously as he absently chewed Blackie’s ear. Severus smiled indulgently at Alex and as huge green eyes stared up at him hr pressed a kiss to the black hair.

“Welcome home my raven. These are your great-grandparents – my grandma and grandpa.”

“Gran’ma and gran’pa?”

“That’s right. Shall we go and meet them?”

Alex looked momentarily nervous and then nodded resolutely before replacing Blackie’s ear in his mouth. Having his sons unspoken agreement Severus stepped away from the doorframe, thus drawing attention to both himself and Alex.

Both Lucrezia and Antonio spun round as they heard the movement in the doorway and both of their faces lit up at seeing their grandson and their new great-grandson.

“Severus! And Alex! We were hoping that you’d get here soon. I’m sure you’re both exhausted but you’re just in time for dinner. Now, lets just raise this seat for you Alex and then you can sit between Severus and Antonio”

Alex plucked up his courage and spoke “Sit wiv Daddy and Gran’pa?”

Tears sprang to Antonio’s black eyes, so much like Severus’ own, at hearing himself called grandpa by the youngest scion of his family. “Yes, that’s right little man. You’re going to sit with daddy and grandpa. Is grandpa going to get a hug from you?”

Alex looked torn for a moment at the thought of leaving the shelter of his daddy’s arms but this, his new grandpa, looked so much like his daddy that he had to be nice. So, still clinging to Blackie, he allowed himself to be passed to his grandpa before eventually being placed in his own chair.

Lucrezia, Antonio and Severus watched indulgently as, having eaten his dinner, Alex proceeded to fall asleep at the dinner table, nearly falling face first into his dish of pasta. Severus scooped him into his arms as the three adults made their way onto the terrace

“Now Severus, we’ve arranged a birthday party for Alex but feel free to say no to anything we suggest.” Severus inclined his head to show Lucrezia that he was listening “Now, we’ve arranged things for Saturday which gives Alex three days to get settled in and take the Paternitas potion. Juliana and Octavian with their children will be here in the next couple of days to help sort out the finer details for the adoption, Sophia’s already sent the potion. Then Cygnus, Andrei, Bellerophon and Ciceron will arrive to merely witness the adoption papers on Friday. This way Alex will get used to people a few at a time. Goddess knows our family is big enough.”

“Thanks grandma, that sounds wonderful. Albus and Minerva will be here on Friday for when I administer the potion. The papers are all ready to be signed. Now, I’m going to get this little one ready for bed and then I’m going to got to bed myself – it’s been a tiring day for both of us. Night grandma, grandpa.”

“Night love”

“Night Severus.”

Severus slowly made his way up the stairs and into the old nursery that was, conveniently, next to his own room. Upon entering he noticed that the room had been freshly decorated; the walls depicted fantasy scenes of unicorns, dragons, enchanted forests and elves and the ceiling had been enchanted in a similar manner to the ceiling of Hogwarts Great Hall.

Three days later, the morning after they had administered the Paternitas potion Severus woke up to tiny hands patting his face and he reluctantly started to pry his eyes open. Feeling a small weight on his chest he correctly deducted that the person patting his face was his son. He thought back to the previous days events and then his eyes sprang open of their own volition. There, perched on his chest, was a miniature version of himself. The Paternitas potion had almost completely changed the child’s physiology. The only features he had retained was the almost elfin facial structure although his cheekbones were now higher and Severus was eternally grateful for the fact that he hadn’t inherited the Snape nose, instead taking more after his great-grandmother and the Cavallo line. Instead of James and Lily Potter’s messy dark brown/black hair and emerald green eyes he now had Severus’ silky straight ebony-black hair and the deep black eyes of the Principessa family. Severus chuckled as he saw the long thin fingers, so similar to his own, “It looks like you could be a potions master just like your daddy, my raven.”

Alex looked up, his head cocked inquisitively like a little bird “Look like Daddy?”

Severus nodded through the tears that were threatening to swamp his eyes “You do look very much like daddy. Would you like to see yourself in a mirror?”

Alex nodded and then squealed in delight as Severus scooped him up and held him close to his chest, carrying him through to the en-suite bathroom. Once inside the room, he placed Alex on the counter next to the wash-hand basin in front of a large mirror allowing them to see themselves and the other in the mirror. Alex looked at himself for a few minutes and then looked up at Severus before looking back at himself before he smiled happily

“Look like Daddy. My Daddy.”

Severus turned as he felt a hand on his back to see his grandmother stood there proferring a glass of wine. His face ached from all of the smiling and greeting that he had had to do; he had forgotten just how large the Principessa side of his family was. The Snape line itself ended with him and his son, his paternal aunt having died years ago and his father having died not too long before Severus graduated from Hogwarts. His eyes shifted to where Alex was sat watching his cousins Actaeon and Leonidas play a game of Exploding Snap. He had met them several days previously and as such was more comfortable with them than the slightly older children of Diego and Sophia Ortez. He had to admit to himself that he was more than relieved there were many cousins around the same age as Alex within the family as it meant that he would not be completely isolated whilst the father and son lived in Italy. Albus had agreed to allow Severus two years away from teaching in order to spend time with Alex and allow them to grow more comfortable with each other. Alex’s social skills would be aided by the fact that his cousins Actaeon and Leonidas lived in close proximity to the Principessa estate as did Blaise Zabini. He smiled as he saw Albus and Minerva deep in conversation with Cygnus and Lyssaphra Delacour, the French couple accompanied by their five year old daughter Fleur. He was drawn out of his thoughts as a small body collided with his legs and looked down to see Alex clinging to them

“Daddy, daddy! The cards ‘sploded!”

Severus chuckled as he allowed the child to start scaling his legs before taking pity on him and scooping him into his arms. “That is the whole point with a pack of exploding snap cards. Where are Actaeon and Leonidas?”

“Went to play with Mi’uel and Gill. Want to play kidditch but I’m too little.”

Severus nodded as he understood what the child was saying after some translation. He recognised the names of Diego’s two eldest children, Miguel and Guillermo. At the ages of 10 and 8 respectively, they were old enough to play quidditch on children’s brooms as were the two Salieri children under Italian quidditch laws.

“In that case, shall we go and see grandma and grandpa for a bit my raven?”

As Alex nodded they wandered over to where Severus’ grandparents were talking to the Principessa twins Bellerophon and Ciceron, who had both acted as witnesses for the official adoption papers.

Severus sat with Alex who stared in amazement at all the people who had come to his birthday party. Alex couldn’t believe that instead of an aunt, uncle and cousin who hated him he now had a daddy, two sets of grandparents and what seemed like hundreds of aunts, uncles and cousins. He looked on in curiosity as three blonde heads came towards him and his daddy; a man, woman and a little boy who looked to be the same age as him, holding a battered stuffed unicorn.

Severus looked up and grinned at the trio of people who walked up to him and Alex and jumped up to greet them. “Luc, Narcissa, I’m so pleased you made it. And this must be Draco.”

Lucius Malfoy smiled as he watched his wife kiss his best friend on the cheek before he hugged him briefly “Indeed, this is your godson Sev and this must be Alex. We weren’t going to miss the chance to meet the new Snape family heir. Besides cousin, it’s been far too long since we’ve seen you.”

“Yes, Merlin forbid you wouldn’t want to meet your godchild as well.” Severus commented, knowing that he hadn’t formally asked the Malfoy’s to be Alex’s godparents. As such, he had the enjoyment of seeing the jaw of both the Malfoy patriarch and matriarch drop in astonishment.

“You want us to be Alex’s godparents?”

As Severus nodded Narcissa squealed in excitement “Oh Sev, we would love to be. We can sign the papers later but yes we would love to be his godparents. Besides, it looks as if Draco and Alex are already making friends.”

The three parents looked down to see their sons introduce themselves to each other and sit down to play with their stuffed toys. The two children made a striking pair, Draco looking like the spitting image of his father with his white-blonde hair and grey eyes whilst Alex had Severus’ fathomless black eyes and silky ebony-black hair.

Alex smiled shyly at the little blonde boy stood in front of him. Although the other children that he had already met were very nice they were several years older than him with the closest in age, Fleur Delacour, being three years older than him.

“Hi, I’m Alex. What’s your name?”

The blonde smiled back “I’m Dwaco. Do you want to play?”

Alex nodded happily “This is Blackie.”

Draco produced his toy unicorn and proudly announced “This is Snowy. He’s a uni’orn.”

Severus, Lucius and Narcissa sat down and started discussing the probability of the adoption being discovered within the British Ministry of Magick in low tones so that the children wouldn’t hear them, keeping a close eye on the children as they did so. They were interrupted a while later by a voice calling out “Severus!”

The three of them looked up to see the familiar figures of Niccolo and Lucia Zabini accompanied by a less familiar figure – that of what appeared to be their son. Severus and Lucius stood up and shook hands with Niccolo and kissed Lucia on the cheek as Narcissa shared kisses with the couple. Niccolo conjured several chairs and the couple joined Severus and the Malfoy’s leaving their son to introduce himself to Alex and Draco.

Alex and Draco looked up at the small dark-haired, olive skinned and dark eyed boy that clutched a toy dragon. The two of them smiled up at him and Draco spoke up for the both of them “Hi, I’m Dwaco and this is Alex. Who’re you?”

“My name’s Blaise and this is Dragon.”

The three happily sat and played with their toys as their parents talked. Lucius watched the children for a moment before turning to Severus. “I have to admit, whilst we know the truth about Alex’s parentage, his birth parents I mean, what are you going to tell the rest of the world? I mean, the Paternitas only shows you as the father doesn’t it? What are you going to say about the mother?”

Severus smirked “It’s all worked out Luc. Yes, the Paternitas potion only shows me as the father however, the birth certificate of Alexander Lucian Severus Snape also lists a pure-blood Italian witch as his mother. The story that we will be telling anyone who asks is that, after we graduated from Hogwarts, I had an affair with an Italian witch. The relationship didn’t last long but she became pregnant. Even though we had no intention of getting married there was no option to abort the foetus as we’re both pure-bloods so she carried the child to term and looked after him for the first 2 years of his life. Sadly, she died following a tragic accident leaving the child to me.”

Lucius and Niccolo both smiled before Niccolo spoke “That’s brilliant. It ties in with the unofficial pure-blood laws regarding children here in Italy and with her being an Italian no-one back in England is going to know the family. I take it that this is something that Albus came up with?”

Severus laughed and nodded “How could you tell? I have to admit, it is very clever and actually rather Slytherin for Albus.”