Friday

Friday morning had been the last formal day of their summer vacation, the cottage had been cleaned and they had packed and shrunk all their accumulated belongings.

Harry suffered through three Floo trips with the help of a Calming Potion and an Anti-Nausea Potion.

They were greeted in the late afternoon at the gates of Hogwarts by Dobby who showed them to their room and then gleefully informed Severus that, with the help of Minerva, he had dosed the Headmaster with a strong soporific to get the man to rest before Sunday.

Echo put a tired and cranky Harry to bed while Severus Apparated Draco to the Grangers house. He wanted to spend time with Hermione and to take the Hogwarts Express on Sunday.

Friday ended early for the newlyweds as they settled in their small, but comfortable guest bedroom.

Saturday

The next morning was the last morning Severus would have for a good sleep-in and he indulged the comfort of bed and wife until nine o'clock.

As he and Echo left the bedroom still in their dressing gowns, they found Harry wide awake and having breakfast with Dobby. Dobby was mortified at being caught eating breakfast, but Severus insisted the house elf stay put, as Harry's guest, and he and Echo settled down to their own repast.

"What are you going to do today, Daddy?" asked Harry as he munched on a piece of crispy bacon.

"I'll be visiting with Professor Weasley today. We need to work out a few things about dealing with Slytherin House and so on. You'll be busy, too, though," his father smirked knowingly.

"I will?" Harry looked up expectantly.

"You and your mother are going shopping for school clothes today in Diagon Alley."

"Yeah!" clapped Harry. "Can we have ice cream, Mum?"

"We'll see," Echo replied evasively. "You'll have to be exceptionally good. Is there anything you need for me to pick up while we're there, Severus?"

"There's a personal order I made at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary waiting for me. Also, Harry can check their junior recipe books to see if he'd like something new to brew with me." Harry grinned at his father. "But only one book, Harry."

"Two's always better," his son cajoled slyly.

"One," insisted his father. Severus rose, gave Harry's hair a ruffle and sent him off to get dressed.

Dobby had vanished with the dishes, just in case, with his little friend's disappearance his prescence might no longer be tolerated.

"Breakfast with a house elf," mused Severus.

Echo kissed her husband quickly. "Bill is going to be expecting you soon, dear, so we'd both ought to get dressed as well."

Severus sighed and slipped his arm around his wife's waist and tickled her side.

"Do you think I'm fat?" she asked out of the blue, startling Severus nearly speechless.

"Excuse me?" He'd heard the jokes before about husbands who'd honestly replied to such vain questions from their wives and regretted it. Painfully. Echo was no skinny, aristocratic witch, though. She had curves and he was rather fond of them. He certainly didn't think Echo was fat, but neither could she be called slim. If he answered, he'd be a dead wizard.

"You couldn't take your eyes off that ladies Quidditch team when we got stranded in the Paris Floo Station yesterday. And, they're all... well, rather fit. I just... wondered?" Echo looked up at her husband and at the incredulous, half-scowl upon his face.

Severus bent down so his nose was practically touching hers and then his half-scowl went into a full on scowl that he used on a student who was being deliberately obtuse. "Did I make love to that Quidditch team this morning, or you?"

His question, in that silken tone of his that she thought ought to be made criminal, shot through every nerve very pleasantly. However delightful, though, her gaze dropped to her husband's very interesting, leather slippers.

"Me," Echo stated.

Severus was about to tease his wife, just a bit more, when he saw her hand brushed lightly against the long scar that still bothered her. Deciding that teasing wasn't the answer, he drew his wife into his arms, kissed the top of the scar and then, very thoroughly, so there'd be no such questions again, he kissed Echo.

"Oh," she breathed, happily dazed. "I suppose I may have ice cream this afternoon with Harry."

"Quite so!" he agreed, yanking her close to his side and thinking he might just have to get to his meeting with Bill a bit late.

Echo still had a secretive smile upon her face as Harry and she stepped through to Diagon Alley. She had no idea what made her ask Severus such an empty-headed question after breakfast and despite the lovely consequences of her husband proving to her, enthusiastically, quite how much he liked her curves, she promised herself she'd never ask another such silly question.

"Mum! Stop daydreaming!" Harry said hotly grabbing the sleeve of her robe in annoyance. He'd been complaining about how it wasn't fair that Hector couldn't come into the castle and his Mum hadn't heard a single word because she was smiling like a silly person.

"I am sorry, Harry," she apologised sincerely. "I was just thinking of where we had to go today. "Apothecary first, I think."

"Okay." He smiled, happy that he now had Echo's full attention again.

Harry enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley as parents did last minute shopping for school supplies for their children. He and his mother had to dodge other shoppers a few times, but despite that, most everyone was rather polite.

"Harry!" There were several shouts of his name coming from Ron and Ginny Weasley. They were with Molly who, though tired by her day so far, put a genuine smile upon her face in greeting.

"So how is the new Mrs. Snape?" asked Molly with a teasing lilt to her voice.

"Very well, Molly. How are you doing?" replied Echo.

"I'm getting too old for this routine. Thank Circe that I've only these two monsters left."

Ron rolled his eyes while Ginny just ignored the loving insult. Ginny smiled down at Harry. "You look like you got a lot of sun this summer, Harry. Did you have fun on Solonus?"

"Oh yeah! I hope we get to go back someday. I want to see Draco win the brooms race again."

"Draco won a race?" asked Ron incredulously.

"Yep. He was really good, even when he almost got knocked out by a bird."

Ron sniggered at that. "I would love to have seen that!" Ginny glared warningly at her brother. "I didn't mean it that way, Gin. I know we're friends with him now, okay?"

Ginny let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Hey, Echo?" Echo stopped talking to Molly and settled her attention on the youngest Weasley. "Maybe you and Harry would like to join me, Ron, and Mum at Fortescue's in about two hours?"

"Ice cream?" Harry's eyes sparkled at the promise of something sweet.

Echo laughed. "Sure. We can do that, Ginny. I think we might be done shopping by then."

"Two hours, then, dear," said Molly patting Echo's arm and then gathering her two youngest to her side.

Echo directed Harry towards Madame Malkins, but paused before stepping inside. They were fine clothes and robes, but even without glancing at a price tag, Echo could tell this shop was expensive. Harry wasn't quite growing out of his clothes at a rapid rate, but he was hard on them. Trousers were torn, shirts were stained beyond magical cleaning, trainers were worn out, as was everything else. Custom made clothing just wasn't suitable for a busy little boy, nor was it practical for a family that had to start watching their sickles and knuts.

Consulting a small map of Diagon Alley Severus had drawn for her, Echo steered Harry a little ways down to Abroms Second Hand Treasures, a shop that sold second hand clothing.

Harry was delighted with the narrow, yet long shop that was just crammed with clean, but very nice second hand clothing. There was a section just for boys and Echo helped him to pick out jumpers, shirts, shorts, trousers, trainers, and a very nice pair of boots for winter. Harry was a discerning shopper and put back his least favourite colours: yellow and orange. He declared those colours were for girls.

The boring part was trying everything on to make sure it fit. If something was a bit too big, they kept it since Echo could use an Alteration Charm on the clothing. The last thing they looked for was winter outer wear. Harry was in luck when he spied, in his favourite colour of purple, a set that included a heavy, woolen outer robe, a woolen hat, gloves, and a jumper to wear under the winter robe.

Echo found some clothing for herself, and a beautiful, dark green frock coat in the men's section for Severus. She also picked out a few white work shirts.

The only time she lost her smile was when she passed the Maternity section of clothing. Her heart skipped a beat and she had to quickly turn away. She wanted to look, but a part of her rose up superstitiously in warning. Echo wrenched herself away from that area, and went to the counter to pay for everything.

Echo shrank everything down so she could slip it into her pocket and then they headed over to Eyelops Owlery for food for Hedwig. On the way there, they passed a small shop that had a For Rent sign in the window. Echo and Harry both peered into the shop through the windows as they tried to see the interior.

"Could we live there?" asked Harry.

Echo grinned. "It's a bit small for living and you said you needed trees." Harry giggled. "It would make for a lovely little bookshop, though, wouldn't it?"

"What would you call your shop, Mum?"

"Hmmm. That's a good question. Why don't you and I both think on that? We'll get Daddy to help, too. Maybe the three of us could come up with an interesting name."

"Okay," agreed Harry. "I'll think up some names tonight."

Their last stop was to pick up a quill kit which included a dozen quills, a penknife with a Safety Charm on it, and three bottles of ink. As Echo was about to go and pay for the kit, she caught Harry looking wistfully at all the bookbags.

"Mum?" he asked hopefully, his fingers on one that had a snowy owl on it that was very much like Hedwig.

Echo bit her lip in indecision. Harry had his backpack. One with a dragon on it that Remus had given him. It was a bit rough around the edges since he used it a bit for collecting things, but it still had at least a good year's worth of use left in it. Echo had to shake herself mentally. Severus Snape was not a poor man and had a sufficient nest egg that his family would hardly go wanting for anything. It was Echo's uneasiness in accessing the Snape vault that had her pausing. While married to Oland she never had access to any coin but what her ex-husband had given her.

Anger at the dead man flared briefly and she grabbed the bookbag from the hook it hung on. "Is there anything else you'd like, Harry?" Harry just smiled and shook his head.

At the counter, Echo had tucked the last of the coins she'd been given by Severus that morning into her purse and tucked that away in her pocket. With the addition of the bookbag, her purchases exceeded what she had on hand. With only a touch of trepidation, she signed a credit slip authorising a withdrawal for the purchase amount from the Gringotts Snape vault. When no lightning struck, Echo let out a small breath of relief.

"Ready for ice cream, Harry?" asked Echo with a smile.

"Yeah!"

As Echo and Harry walked towards Fortescue's there seemed to be an argument going on between brother and sister.

"...kissed her!" blurted Ginny. "Why do you think Gabby's going to tolerate you kissing someone else, you blockhead?"

"I didn't kiss Lavender! She kissed me!" spat Ron in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Sure, she kissed you and then you kissed her back. Doesn't matter who started it, Ron," Ginny firmly explained. "You finished it and Gabby caught you both. She has every right to be mad at you."

"Well, it's not like I belong to Gabby or something," he muttered darkly.

"Really?" scoffed Ginny. "You sure act like she belongs to you! Or, was it somebody else that punched Dean Thomas for just looking at Gabby?"

Molly saw Echo and waved at her. The older woman looked like she could use rescuing from her arguing teens.

"Hello, Molly. Are you sure you're ready for six students on Monday?" asked Echo sitting down across from the witch.

Molly grinned. "Oh! I can't wait! Arthur built a lovely little red schoolhouse for me. It's just like the one I used to read about when I was a girl. We're a bit late getting it connected to the Floo network, so be sure to let Severus know he'll have to Floo into the Burrow come Monday."

"I will, Molly," nodded Echo. A waiter came over and took their orders.

"Are you playing Quidditch again this year, Ron?" asked Harry.

Ron shrugged. "I think so, but this is gonna be a tough year, with NEWTs and all. At least I'm not having to put up with Potions or Divination anymore."

"How come you don't like Potions?" asked Harry.

"I'm pants at it," chuckled Ron. "Besides, I think Snape probably thinks his class is safer without me in it. He's still got Neville, though."

"And Draco," chimed in Harry. "But my Dad's not teaching Potions no more."

"Yeah," said Ginny with a grin. "I wonder what Bill's going to be like as a teacher."

"Bet he'll give you a break, Gin," smirked Ron.

Ginny snorted. "Don't count on it."

"You'd better not wind up with any detentions, young lady," interjected Molly with a warning. "Honestly, you're as bad as Fred and George sometimes."

Ginny huffed. "I am not!"

"I suppose the gnomes covered my Azaleas with fairy floss?" asked Molly mildly. Echo giggled.

"That was a mistake, Mum," Ginny asserted. "And I cleaned it up, too." She elbowed Ron who was sniggering madly.

"Why'd you cover alzalelas with fairy floss, Ginny?" asked Harry curiously.

"Azaleas," corrected Ginny.

"Okay. Why?" Harry persisted.

It was Ron who answered, "Ginny wasn't s'posed to, but she was practicing some spell, and she did it wrong and all this blue fairy floss shot out of her wand!" the big boy laughed again. "Covered herself, too, and got a spanking!"

Ginny's cheeks went as bright red as her hair, and she smacked her brother's shoulder, hard. Ron winced.

"You got spanked?" Harry goggled with surprise.

Ginny crossed her arms tightly and Ron answered again. "She's not supposed to practice magic during the summer. No one under sixteen's allowed."

"Shut. Up. Ron."

The tension between the siblings was broken as ice cream arrived for everyone.

Once home, Echo and Harry put away all their packages. Echo placed the folded shirts on their bed for Severus to look over, and suspended the frock coat in the air. She smiled at it. It really was a lovely piece, with small, black onyx buttons, very slight, lighter green embroidery on the wide cuffs and hem. Severus would look very handsome in it.

Leaving the bedroom, Echo caught Harry settling down with a book. "Harry, it's time for your nap."

He scowled. "I'm too old for naps. Draco stopped taking naps when he was five!" Harry really didn't know if that was true, but he figured it sounded true, so he could get away with saying it.

Echo regarded him suspiciously but was really in no mood to argue. "Fine. No nap, but this is quiet time. All right?"

Harry grinned at his little triumph. He shifted more comfortably in his chair and opened his book. "Thanks, Mum!"

An hour later Harry looked up from his book and saw that Echo was stretched out on the couch, asleep. His father still wasn't back, and Harry was bored. Closing his book, he slipped off the chair and went to his little bedroom. He sighed heavily. He'd really wanted to do some drawing, maybe even get his paints out, but it was still all packed away in his parents bedroom.

Harry left his bedroom and looked around at the small sitting room and let out a huff of annoyance. Maybe he could go find Hector to play with.

The little boy was out in the corridor feeling sure he knew the way to the front entrance. Smiling with confidence, Harry skipped down the stairs from the guest quarters tower, and then along the empty corridor.

Soon Harry was out in the bright sunshine and he could see the roof of Hagrid's hut towards the Forbidden Forest. He broke into a run and was soon met by Hector who barked and jumped happily at the sight of his boy. Harry threw his arms around the dog and didn't mind as he was bowled over by the big dog. Hector, though exuberant, was always gentle with the small child.

"'Allo, 'Arry! What're ye doin' out here!" greeted Hagrid. He was carrying two coneys, three dangled from his belt.

"Hi, Hagrid!" waved Harry as he wrestled himself out from under Hector. "Mum's asleep and Dad's meeting with Professor Weasley so I thought I'd come play with Hector. Is he doing okay with you and Fang?"

Hagrid divested himself of the coneys (which he'd feed to the thestrals later), and washed his hands at a nearby water pump. "Fang's jes dee-lighted at havin' a guest. Hector keeps 'im exercised. Might lose a bit 'o' weight, maybe." Hagrid chuckled.

"Can we play some catch, Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"Shore! Lemme get Fang's big ball. Where is thet mutt, anyway?" asked the giant looking around.

"In the pumpkin patch!" shouted Harry, pointing. "C'mon, Fang! We're going to play now!"

Fang lifted his heavy head and shook his jowly jaw and slobber splattered over some nearby pumpkins. He sighed, stretched out his front legs and shook his rear in the air. Then Fang let out a low, thrumming bark and jumped over to his giant's side and nudged the hairy wizard's thigh affectionately.

Hagrid patted the dark head of the boarhound and then tossed a large ball into the air. Hector, Fang, and Harry all dove for the ball.

Bill and Severus were taking a break going through Bill's proposed lesson plans. So far Severus had mostly approved, making suggestions here and there on which potions to teach for which levels. They were discussing the new addition of an Auror Prep Class for seventh years that the professors for DADA, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration were teaching this year. It would be a small class, but an important one since more, pre-qualified Aurors were needed.

"I'm thinking of concentrating on fast-acting Healing potions for the Prep course," said Bill as he refilled Severus' teacup.

"And poison antidotes," Severus strongly suggested. Bill bent to his curricula parchment and made notes.

"What do you think of Antwerp's Antidote?" asked Bill.

"Rubbish," spat Severus. Bill glanced up at the Potions Master. "The fact that it sometimes works depends solely upon who brewed it."

"I have had an iffy success with it," conceded Bill. "What don't you like about it?"

"Antwerp's Antidote relies solely upon crushed Bezoar. When you crush the Bezoar, you crush the antidote properties right out of it. That's why it contains so much Fennel Weed to boost what you crushed out of the Bezoar." Severus stood and stretched.

Bill sighed. "There's a lot of universal antidotes, and I've used a few, but not without any real success. They slowed down the poison, but didn't really halt it."

"It's best to know a few of the top ones, and to instill the practice in your students to have additional, non-potion antidotes on hand. What Potions Journals do you read?" asked Severus.

"To be honest, I'm a bit out of the loop. During my apprenticeship, my Mentor had me subscribe to Brewer's Monthly, but that doesn't seem to be around anymore."

"The Masters Journal is the best, but I'd also suggest subscriptions to Potions Weekly, The Apothecarian, and One Hour Potions." He glanced over at the young man, whose shoulders were slumped wearily. Severus laid a hand on Bill's shoulder. "William, you will be a good teacher. Don't doubt yourself."

Bill smiled, a little shocked to receive some encouragement from someone who had a reputation for never offering a kind word towards his students. "Thank you, sir. I'm just... really nervous, I guess."

"Your first year will be rough, William, which is why I wanted to stay as your assistant until Christmas. Next year, you'll be an old hand. Luckily, you do not have your brothers, Fred and George, to blow up your classroom."

Bill laughed heartily. "Ohh! I'd drink to that, Severus! How you managed with those two, I'll never know."

"I learned that allowing to indulge your brothers penchant for experimentation in class often had less explosive results when I was nearby to award detentions and point losses," Severus smirked.

"Well, it certainly kept their heads on their shoulders." Bill cleared up the paperwork and excused himself for several minutes. He'd had quite a bit of tea and needed to take care of the end result of that tea.

Severus, once he was alone, took a longer look around the quarters that once had been his home. It was quite different. Bill, it seemed, enjoyed the colours of the desert. Severus supposed it was the influence of Egypt, which had been Bill's last post. In fact, there was a magnificent painting of a lost Pharaoh's grand, inner tomb and sarcophagus over the mantle. There were several objects, or artifacts that were Egyptian including a remarkable set of alabaster canopic jars. Nearby the canopic jars, just leaning against the wall, was an ancient Egyptian wizard's staff. Carved with hieroglyphics and decorated in bright enamels, it was topped by a teardrop Lapis Lazuli. Very few wizards used staffs anymore so this one was quite a rare, and undoubtedly an invaluable possession.

Looking away from the staff, Severus quite liked the sandy creams and golds that decorated the main living room. It suited the addition of three narrow, but tall enchanted windows that each held a different view of the grounds surrounding Hogwarts. Severus stepped up to one of the windows and saw his son below, playing catch with Hector, Fang, and Hagrid. He smiled at the sight and wondered where Echo might be. Perhaps the shopping had worn her out.

Turning away from the window, he was startled to see Bill sporting a set of teaching robes with the crest of Slytherin upon them. The robes were dark green over a pair of dark grey trousers and a matching, dark green waistcoat. A silver watch fob glittered from the pocket.

"Not too much is it?" asked the young man.

Severus shook his head. "Quite suitable," he said, smirking mildly at the fact that a Gryffindor stood before him in Slytherin colours and with the Slytherin crest.

Bill grinned. "If I have to be honest, I always did prefer green to red. But don't tell that to Minerva. She'd kill me."

"That she would. Have you any concerns about my Snakes, William?" asked Severus.

"You did give me rather a revealing... treatise on your current students, Severus. I felt like I was learning a lot of Slytherin secrets." He removed the teaching robes and hung them up.

"In a way, I did," confirmed Severus. "The fifth, sixth, and seventh years are going to be the most difficult to deal with, William. This will be a fractured year for many of them. Far too many had parents that were either loyal, from a distance, to Voldemort, or they lost their parents who had been Death Eaters. They are going to require a firm, yet understanding adult."

Bill motioned for Severus to sit back down and he sprawled in his favourite chair. "Are you worried that I'm a Gryffindor and Head of Slytherin?"

"Not at all. I believe that your experience in working with other magical beings will give you a singular understanding of the prejudice my House has been subjected to for rather too long. The unity between the Houses is coming, but there will still be whispers of 'Dark Wizards' that only come from Slytherin. You must be their champion, William, not just here in Hogwarts, but beyond as well."

Severus then went on to explain that one of the greatest secrets, a shameful one, of the House of Slytherin, was the underlying thread of abuse that many of its children came from. Children of abuse were survivors and this alone was usually enough for the Sorting Hat to put a child into Slytherin. It wasn't until Severus Snape, himself a victim of abuse, had come along and had begun to staunchly address this shame in his House that the House of Slytherin had become stronger within and adopted the Potions Master's noble ideals.

Severus outlined his decree of mandatory examinations for all his first year students and individual interviews. There were regular House meetings, inspections, and Leisure Night where he'd be in the Slytherin Common Room as his Snakes read, chatted, or played. No homework was allowed. This gave him the chance to spot the beginnings of trouble.

Bill was surprised, and then duly impressed by the older wizard before him. He knew of Severus' time as a spy for the Light, but he had no idea how much the man felt protective over the children of his House. Even the worst of the lot, those irrevocably lost to the whims of Voldemort, were wounds upon Severus Snape's soul that would never heal.

By the time their tea was finished and Severus had taken his leave, Bill found a whole new respect for this teacher who had very often been maligned by students, and his peers. Bill could only hope to do as well for the Slytherin snakes as Severus had done.